I learned about cartoonist Ira Marks through the many of his Skillshare classes I took to become a better artist. Ira Marks is more than a talented teacher but also a gifted graphic novelist. He has, at the moment, created two graphic novel stories. For today’s review, we will be looking at “Spirit Week,” a novel that is inspired by the classic tale of Stephen King’s novel The Shining and uses many nods and hints from that book as well as the 1980 Stanley Kubrick movie to tell a story made for younger readers to introduce them to a different take on a familiar source material.
Suzy Hess is an Aspiring Engineer who offered to look after the Underlook Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Along the way, she bumps into an amateur filmmaker named Elijah Jones, who thinks he’s been offered to make a documentary film about horror novelist Jack Axworth. The caretaker of the underlook hotel, Rena, shows both of them the ropes and introduces Jack’s son, Danny, whom Suzy reluctantly ends up tutoring and forming a likable relationship with. However, with news of the Underlook Hotel being ready to be demolished, thanks to Jack, the unlikely group of friends must solve a big mystery and find a way to keep the hotel from being torn down before it's too late.
The Story is less of a parody of The Shining and more of a soft reboot done with different characters and a story that is more for the younger crowd. Just because it was made with young readers in mind does not mean that the writing is anything but juvenile. There is a well-put-together mystery that will keep readers of all ages interested while also adding many laughs and little hints to The Shining story itself through callbacks and visual references. The main goal is to save the hotel from being bulldozed to the ground. It sounds rather cliched initially, but the storytelling executes the plot well, and the likable characters help to elevate the narrative to be irresistibly enjoyable. The only thing that the story could have done a bit better is to make the situations the characters end up in feel a little more edgy and darker. I’m not saying make it for mature audiences only. It would have been even more interesting if the stakes were more risky and deathly. Kids can handle dark subject matters to a reasonable extent, which would have made the journey from start to finish even more impactful. Even with that being said, this story has fun and mysterious moments that make this novel a worthy recommendation.
The Characters are just too irresistible and fun and make the story's journey all the more worth it. Suzy is the main teenage character who dreams of being in an engineering competition and is the most emotionally flawed of the group. What I like about her is how her insecurities and flaws get naturally more resolved little by little while still being a likable character and having moments of reflection time to remember her past traumas. Elijah is by far my favorite character in the group. He is the cameraman who is passionate about what he does, and honestly, he has the cutest quirks that make him so geeky and fun, which is something I can relate to being geeky myself. Rena is the oldest of the group and the underlook hotel's primary caretaker. It took me a few pages to realize Rena was a female, but her laid-back attitude was immensely engaging to take part in. Danny Axworth is Jack Axworth's son. He genuinely feels like a real kid as he’s constantly curious but tends to get into trouble, sometimes by accident. Other notable characters include Jack Axworth, who is a different version of Jack Torrence from the book and movie, Edith who is Suzy’s mother and has a few chances to help out in the story herself, and finally, there is that obsessive reporter, Donna Dunkin who comes into the story many times to interrupt to main characters journey with hilarious results. The characters and their relationships with each other are well-handled, making the tale feel alive with their well-defined personalities.
The illustrations take Ira Mark’s visual style and translate well into a graphic novel that is visually engaging and even somewhat unique. The character designs have that personal touch from Mark’s distinct visual style. Each one is identifiable in their postures and their expressions. Some characters, like Elijah, have enormous expressive eyes, while others have smaller ones to make them look older. The look of the Overlook Hotel in the 1980 movie noticeably inspires the look of the Underlook Hotel. Many visual nods call back to The Shining movie, but it never becomes too overbearing as the references are short but sweet. Ira also nailed the look of the outside Colorado mountain areas in the winter. As a former Coloradan, the graphic novel really got the Colorado mountains' visual beauty down very well. Panels are laid out well to make the transition from one panel to the next feel exciting, and sometimes, the panels get creative by making the background all black to evoke darker places the characters visit in the story or to show film grimmy photos made to simulate somebody filming from an old camera. Ira Marks did not disappoint in the visual department. This book makes me curious to see any other graphic novels that he produced, hoping they look just as good as this.
I am reluctant to say that this graphic novel is 100% perfect. Still, this is an impressive retelling of The Shining that is aimed at younger audiences but will give them a chance to experience a story that may be tamer than the original Shining story but still offers a good mystery with very likable characters and visual style that Ira Mark’s is most well known for. I’m curious to see what other stories he has in store. Aside from Spirit Week, the other graphic novel he has done is called Shark Summer, which I hope to read very soon. Judging by what I've read in this story, I'd say there is a new graphic novelist in town, and I hope he can make more stories for us to get lost in
(Final Grade: B+)