Book Review: Clue a graphic novel written by Paul Allor, art by Nelson Daniel (2018)

Cover of the 2018 graphic novel Clue, based on the board game. The cover art is by George Caltsoudas, the art inside is by Nelson Daniel, and the graphic novel was written by Paul Allor.

Full disclosure: I love the board game Clue and the classic 1985 movie based on the board game. I’ve written about the movie here, as well as written reviews of the novel based on the screenplay, and the “storybook,” released as a movie tie-in. Chances are, if you fire a line from the movie at me, I’ll be able to respond with the next one.  

I didn’t hear about the 2018 graphic novel version of Clue when it was released. It was originally published as a 6-issue comic, and later as a book collecting all 6 issues. The graphic novel was written by Paul Allor, with art by Nelson Daniel. Looking at the sample of the graphic novel online, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I really love Clue. On the other hand, I knew nothing in this graphic novel was going to top Madeline Kahn’s “flames on the side of my face” speech. I knew the graphic novel was not based on the film, so I wasn’t expecting it to be faithful to the film, but I was hoping that the graphic novel would have captured more of the film’s wacky charm. 

Like the film, the graphic novel features a chatty butler. Sadly, Upton, the butler in the novel, is not as entertaining as Tim Curry’s Wadsworth. Upton fussily insists on constantly breaking the fourth wall, eventually even dragging the editor of the graphic novel into it. Upton intruding on the narrative wasn’t a device I found effective. Just get on with the story. It also would have been nice if some of the “And here’s where our issue stops, find out what happens in our next issue” stuff could have been edited out for the book, since it doesn’t apply.  

Visually, the exterior design of the mansion is good, but the rooms and interiors are lacking the kind of little visual details that a house like that would have. The character design is fine, if a bit blocky for my taste. One of the smartest things the graphic novel of Clue does is to update and diversify the cast. It’s not just a bunch of white people anymore. (Although in the 1970’s version of the board game, Miss Scarlet was Asian.) There are a few new characters in the graphic novel, Dr. Orchid, and detectives Ochre and Amarillo.  

There are a few callbacks to the movie, such as Senator White saying, “Capitalism is never just a red herring,” a slight changing of the movie’s line “Communism is/was just a red herring.” For me, the funniest movie callback was Detective Amarillo quoting the final line of the movie. The graphic novel loses points for not including Yvette, the sexy French maid played by the stunning Colleen Camp. Oh well.  

A major difference from the movie is that in the graphic novel, a lot of the main characters die during the course of the evening, whereas in the movie it’s the supporting characters who get killed. I’m not sure how successful this is in the graphic novel. I’m sure part of the reason was to increase suspense throughout the six issues, but when all of the issues are combined into one, the deaths perhaps lose some of their impact, because you’re like, “Oh, that character is interesting. Well, now they’re dead.” I wonder how much of the plotting arc of the graphic novel was influenced by having six issues, and wanting to have six climaxes, whereas if the novel was written as a standalone project, perhaps it would have one climax.  

Most of the characters in the graphic novel are connected in some way, but the one exception is Miss Scarlett. (The graphic novel gives her two t’s at the end of her name.) In the graphic novel, Miss Scarlett is a pop singer who has been brought to the mansion to entertain after dinner. She hasn’t met any of the other guests before that evening, so her storyline feels pretty low stakes compared to the other characters.  

I found Clue the graphic novel to be moderately interesting, but it also feels like an opportunity lost.