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The Stand: Graphic Novels #1

The Stand: Captain Trips

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Exclusive hardcover edition, collects The Stand: Captain Trips series of comics (#1-5) into one Hardcover volume. It all begins here: the epic apocalyptic battle between good and evil. On a secret army base in the Californian desert, something has gone horribly, terribly wrong. Something will send Charlie Campion, his wife and daughter fleeing in the middle of the night. Unfortunately for the Campion family, and the rest of America, they are unaware that all three of them are carrying a deadly cargo: a virus that will spread from person to person like wildfire, triggering a massive wave of disease and death, prefacing humanity's last stand.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

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About the author

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

404 books459 followers
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the television series Glee, Big Love, Riverdale, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He is Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics.
Aguirre-Sacasa grew up liking comic books, recalling in 2003, "My mom would take us out to the 7-Eleven on River Road during the summer, and we would get Slurpees and buy comics off the spinning rack. I would read them all over and over again, and draw my own pictures and stuff."
He began writing for Marvel Comics, he explained, when "Marvel hired an editor to find new writers, and they hired her from a theatrical agency. So she started calling theaters and asking if they knew any playwrights who might be good for comic books. A couple of different theaters said she should look at me. So she called me, I sent her a couple of my plays and she said 'Great, would you like to pitch on a couple of comic books in the works?'"
His first submissions were "not what [they were] interested in for the character[s]" but eventually he was assigned an 11-page Fantastic Four story, "The True Meaning of...," for the Marvel Holiday Special 2004. He went on to write Fantastic Four stories in Marvel Knights 4, a spinoff of that superhero team's long-running title; and stories for Nightcrawler vol. 3; The Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2; and Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing.
In May 2008 Aguirre-Sacasa returned to the Fantastic Four with a miniseries tie-in to the company-wide "Secret Invasion" storyline concerning a years-long infiltration of Earth by the shape-shifting alien race, the Skrulls,and an Angel Revelations miniseries with artists Barry Kitson and Adam Polina, respectively. He adapted for comics the Stephen King novel The Stand.

In 2013, he created Afterlife with Archie, depicting Archie Andrews in the midst of a zombie apocalypse; the book's success led to Aguirre-Sacasa being named Archie Comics' chief creative officer.

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5 stars
44,127 (63%)
4 stars
17,044 (24%)
3 stars
6,587 (9%)
2 stars
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838 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 420 reviews
Profile Image for Matthew.
1,221 reviews9,471 followers
September 8, 2018
When it comes to being true to the source material, this is about as good as it gets! I have read The Stand twice and this volume faithfully follows the first 100 to 150 pages or so.



And, not only is it faithful, but the adaptation is very good is well. Being true to the original book does not necessarily mean that the transition is smooth, followable, etc. But, this was done very well.



And, the art is pretty good, too. I was joking with my wife (who has also read The Stand) that this is probably one of the last books you would want to be accompanied by visual aids. As you can see by some of the photos I have included, this is definitely the case!



Great art, true to story, well done adaptation - 5 stars all the way it and I am looking forward to checking out other volumes. If interested, you should probably start with the book. But, if you are a more casual reader and not ready to commit to such a huge tome, this is a very good alternative.

Profile Image for Tiff.
385 reviews37 followers
June 28, 2023
Man, graphic novels give so much color to a well-known story. I've seen all adaptions, and this series really brings it to life in a new way.
Profile Image for Paul Nelson.
674 reviews149 followers
August 2, 2015
After reading the uncut version of The Stand by the king last year and being totally blown away by it, I decided to seek out the graphic novels to see if they portrayed the overall feel of the original novel. Captain Trips is the first edition and collects the first 5 comics of the series.
 

And yes this does just rock, it’s tightly bound to the king’s masterpiece and the artwork is pretty awesome. Flagg or the walkin’ dude stands out significantly looking truly evil and as far away from that Billy Ray Cyrus lookalike from the TV series as possible. Fran’s giggles are there, although not when the superbug hits home and her mother still wants a good slap. Larry’s home after everything goes Pete Tong and I want to listen to his song, I’ve seen the words that many times. Maybe the King should’ve released a single ‘Baby, can you dig your man’, number 1 for sure.
 

Nick takes his beating, Lloyd does his killing and Stu is locked up as the muppets in hazmat suits inject him with the virus. Trashcan man is not there yet, neither is Harold but there is a big character list to this and theysa comin’.
It’s all cool bring on the next one.
 
If you want to see the pictures http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
Profile Image for Rodrigo.
1,232 reviews640 followers
January 11, 2021
Genial, me encanta los dibujos son espectaculares, y el color, bueno todo.

# reto literario 2021. 9. Un libro con ilustraciones/ novela grafica.
# reto popsugar 2021. 35. Un libro en un formato diferente al que lees normalmente (audiolibros, libros electrónicos, novelas gráficas, etc.).
# reto macabro 2021
Profile Image for Calista.
4,388 reviews31.3k followers
October 31, 2017
I know this is only the graphic novel and I like graphic novels. Still, this has the power of the full novel and I got so engrossed. I want to read them all. They did an amazing job with one of the greatest stories of the 20th century.

The art is amazing. It can also be disturbingly gross, which fits the story. The characters are there and the story shines off the page. I am needing to finish this whole thing. Whoever decided this would work in graphic novel format was a genius and thank you that we can read this story in a quick way and still get the story. 4 more parts. I'm in.

Does this replace the novel? No. This is a great add on to the novel when you don't have 50 hours to read it. Does anyone know if there is a graphic novel for IT? That would be nice too.
Profile Image for Marc-Antoine.
419 reviews56 followers
April 3, 2015
The Stand was my first Stephen King novel and reading the graphic novel sure brings me back. I hope I don't get the sniffles again this time around! Well done.
Profile Image for PUMPKINHEAD.
41 reviews15 followers
September 14, 2015
Stephen King's stuff in graphic novel form is just a wicked good combination. Love, love, love the artwork in this, and I can't wait to read the rest in the series. The visuals are fantastic and the pace moves a lot quicker than the novel (for obvious reasons).

Randall Flagg is such a creepy character, a villain who one day walks out of the night and into everyone's nightmares. I loved seeing him drawn in comic book form.
Profile Image for Encarni Prados.
1,137 reviews83 followers
October 30, 2021
Un cómic que, por desgracia, recuerda un poco a lo que vivimos el año pasado y, seguimos viviendo aunque con menor intensidad. Me ha enganchado la historia y seguiré con los volúmenes posteriores, también me ha dado ganas de leer la novela porque, ya se sabe, las novelas gráficas están muy bien pero las novelas tienen muchos más detalles.
Profile Image for Becky.
1,448 reviews1,803 followers
December 16, 2015
The Stand has always been one of my all time favorite books, and this adaptation was fantastic. "Captain Trips" covers probably about the first 8th of the book, if that, but and it manages to show a large chunk of the details and story that happen in that section of the book, and does it in a way that doesn't feel like there are huge gaps. I was quite impressed. I knew that there would be a lot left out, and I had prepared myself to be disappointed in the way it was done, but obviously, I was far from disappointed, and actually loved it. The only thing that I felt was missing was Harold Lauder, but I am quite sure that he will be introduced in the next installment.

The artwork was amazing. I loved the representation of the characters, and this was another area where I'd been nervous - I've known these characters for half of my life! If they are depicted in a way that doesn't mesh with the characters I know, it could be very bad. But, while they did look different than they do in my head (and in the 1994 mini-series adaptation), they represented their characters well. In a couple of frames, Larry Underwood even looked a little like Hugh Laurie, that sexy beast. ;)

Sticking with the artwork, this is definitely not what you want to be reading when dinner is served. It's quite graphic, and doesn't sugar-coat or gloss over the illness caused by the superflu. There's phlegm and grossness EVERYWHERE. It was awesome. :D

I loved this, and am headed to read the second installment right now. The 3rd is on my Christmas wishlist!
Profile Image for Edith Romero.
172 reviews29 followers
December 23, 2020
Leí Apocalipsis hace como 5 años aproximadamente, y me había tardado en leer la adaptación al comic que tengo los tomos desde hace tiempo, y es fantástico, todo vuelve a mi memoria como si lo hubiera leído ayer. Está demás decir que la historia es fenomenal.

En este primer tomo, vemos el comienzo de todo, la aparición del Capitán Trotamundos, los personajes importantes que tendrán un papel decisivo en la historia, y lo que finalmente nos deparará en los tomos subsecuentes.
Profile Image for Nicolo.
2,555 reviews151 followers
March 26, 2012
The Stand: Captain Trips is the first of a set of miniseries that adapts Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic novel, The Stand. This review centers on the hardcover collection of the series which include sketchbook material, creator comments and sample scripts. It is should be noted that I haven’t read the original novel and I aim to do when opportunity presents itself, so in order to gauge if this is a faithful adaptation of the source material, I rely on the various synopses available online.

The story, as adapted and scripted by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa introduces the characters and sets up the events that lead to the depopulation of the continental United States by “Captain Tricks”, a biological warfare agent that is a mutated strain of the human influenza virus. It is an excellent starting point as Aguirre-Sacasa fleshes out the background of the characters who are soon to have major roles as this adaptation progresses from this initial miniseries.

The art is a revelation. I didn’t know Mike Perkins is this good. He usually has a secondary role in Captain America by Ed Brubaker where he supports main artist Steve Epting with inks and the occasional pencils in maintaining consistent visuals with their similar styles. Perkins provides art with an emphasis that is almost photorealistic and the figures move with a grace that is not static or posed that often plagues realistic art. His depictions of the phlegm bloated corpses of the plague victims are both vividly gruesome and fascinating because of the detail. The standout chapter of this collection is the Randall Flagg-centric one where the line art and colors unite beautifully to give you a tale of the story’s evil force. Reading it gives you a feeling of the malevolence that emanates from the character and gives a chill to your bones.

This is shaping out to be an excellent adaptation of a Stephen King book and an excellent starter to one of his more acclaimed novels. I have no problem of buying the succeeding chapters, if they do somehow end up in the bargain bookstore where I got his copy.
Profile Image for Kandice.
1,615 reviews341 followers
March 28, 2016
I can't believe how quickly images can get across a story that takes hundreds of pages in words. O_o

The Stand is one of my favorite Kings so I have put off reading this comic series, but after devoting most of a year to all manner of Dark Tower everything, including the comics, I figured it was time. Much like the mini-series, I have problems with the way some of the characters are drawn, but find others perfection. Perfect: Frannie, Larry, Nick. Not so great: The Walkin' Dude (his pants are supposed to be PEGGED for one!), Stu and Lloyd.

Even with those small complaints I can't wait to continue.
Profile Image for Brandon.
935 reviews246 followers
October 2, 2012
The first five issues in Marvel's adaptation of Stephen King's famous novel The Stand, are contained within the first collection, Captain Trips. A virus is let loose from a top secret government facility causing people to exhibit symptoms in line with the flu. However, this strain is 100% fatal. Following the lives of a few select individuals who appear to be immune, King lays the groundwork for the ultimate battle between good and evil.

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa does a fine job adapting the source material. The story moves along well considering the length of book. It's been two years since I originally read it but I'm not really getting the feeling a whole lot is being left out.

The characters match up pretty well with how I envisioned them, which is always a nice touch when moving from a novel to a more visual medium. A lot of credit to Mike Perkins and Laura Martin for their excellent artwork which I really enjoyed.

I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of Trashcan Man the most so hopefully I can get my hands on Volume 2 a lot sooner than I hope.
Profile Image for Licha.
732 reviews111 followers
February 1, 2014
This is Vol.1 of The Stand in graphic novel format. I was wondering how this was going to be pulled off in just 5 volumes, being that this is a 1000+ page novel, but so far I’m impressed with the introduction to the story and some of the main characters. It seems to be covering the main chapters quite well. That being said, I think this format is an excellent visual supplement for someone who has read the novel. Anyone reading The Stand this way will miss so much of what makes this such a Stephen King classic.

Was the illustrator trying to draw Stephen King into some of the scenes? Some of the random people in the crowds look an awful lot like SK.

Rating this 4 stars for how well the introduction was pulled off in this format and how fun it was to read this way.
Profile Image for Bradley.
Author 4 books4,346 followers
February 15, 2020
This is a good faithful start to the King classic. The art is very good, the story quite streamlined but not divergent, and it gives us a very good graphic look at the even more graphic deaths.

Timely, no? Well, Captain Trips is slightly more deadly than just about anything out there. It's good to think about how bad it could really get and be thankful we're not losing everything now.
Profile Image for Jesus Flores.
2,187 reviews50 followers
May 28, 2023
Una adaptación al comic de una de las mejores novelas de Stephen King.

En este primer compendio es básicamente ver como se expande la epidemia que acabara con la enfermedad y mostrarnos la vida de algunos de los personajes principales.

Me gusto el diseño de personajes, quizá el único que si lo vi muy diferente fue al chico sordo, quizá tengo muy presente la imagen del mismo de la miniserie de tv.

La imagen donde se ve a las primeras victimas de la gripe (las personas del coche que choca en la gasolinera) impresiona bastante.

4 stars

En cuanto a esta edición, me gusto, que trae extras incluyendo las portadas alternativas
.
Aunque he de despotricar, en los extras hay una serie de entrevistas de un tal Sean T. Collins, y vaya que de una imagen de ser una persona despreciable, inicia su reporte de entrevista diciendo que le gustaría que los fans en un evento para fans, se murieran como en el comic para así poder hacer su entrevista más a gusto.
Profile Image for Trudi.
615 reviews1,625 followers
March 31, 2009
Impressive adaptation that so far, is following King's epic narrative very closely. The art is truly impressive, and I don't think I've ever seen the "Walkin' Dude" look so fierce (very cool). It's been a fun, nostalgic ride re-entering the world of Captain Trips, visiting with Stu, and Franny, Nick and Larry (and Flagg of course) all over again. Unlike many Constant Readers, The Stand has never been one of my favourite King novels, but I do recognize it as a staggering achievement in storytelling and am certain of its lasting cultural legacy. It's been a delight to see this story re-imagined in graphic novel format. I can't wait for the Marvel team to launch The Talisman (now THAT should be something).
Profile Image for Zai.
805 reviews18 followers
October 27, 2021
Este cómic es un buen recordatorio de la novela de Stephen King, Apocalipsis, si no la han leido yo recomendaría leer primero el libro, aunque si lo leéis primero es muy probable que os motive a leer la novela.

En este primer volumen lo que vemos es el inicio de la historia nada más y más que nada lo que hacemos es ver como avanza El capitán Trotamundos y las mentiras que se tejen en torno a él y de paso iremos conociendo a los personajes.

Las ilustraciones a cargo de Mike Perkins y Laura Martin son magníficas y muy bien definidas.
106 reviews20 followers
June 21, 2012
The artwork in this is equal parts stunning and (where appropriate) absolutely gruesome. I actually cringed a couple of times. This being my favourite Stephen King book, I was pretty excited to see it had been turned into a series of graphic novels. Given how long the novel is that struck me as very ambitious.

The most surreal bit was how closely the characters resembled my imagined versions of them, especially considering King doesn't go into a lot of detail about physical characteristics so much as the 'feel' of a character. Nick Andros is a character that's stuck with me years since reading The Stand. I love him to death.

There are some chilling scenes in this first instalment that set the scene beautifully. One of my favourite bits is Larry Underwood on the phone concerning a friend who's been hospitalized, and the woman speaking to him is describing how everybody is sick and dying and nobody has answers. Larry chalks it up to paranoia in a wide panel showing a crowded New York city street where nearly everyone is coughing into handkerchiefs. That particular panel gave me shivers.

I really can't praise the artwork enough. As an artist who struggles all the time with faces, it's cool to see this realistic approach pulled off so well. Everything (the pencils, ink and colours) are fabulous.
Profile Image for Mariota.
683 reviews31 followers
November 6, 2021
A este cómic le doy un 3 por varias razones: la primera, porque es agobiante leer una historia acerca de un virus que a priori dejan escapar cuando estamos en pandemia. El cómic refleja muy bien cómo el virus se va propagando sin que sus portadores sean conscientes. El Gobierno niega y cubre la verdadera situación y te da miedo, mucho miedo. La segunda, porque el personaje de El Caminante o El hombre del saco se queda a medias, no sabes de dónde ha salido y bueno, pues ahora mismo no tengo ganas ni de leer el libro ni de seguir con la saga...
Las ilustraciones magníficas.
Author 2 books20 followers
November 17, 2010
The art is a bad sample of a big trend right now: digitally painting photographs and pasting rendered figures onto the image. And that’s just how it looks—pasted. Glad this one was a library borrow.
Profile Image for Amanda M. Lyons.
Author 58 books153 followers
April 16, 2010
I don't think this book does much justice to the original story it was based on. The cuts are sharp and jarring for those of us who've read the original novel and many of the better scenes from the book are brutally chopped to make it all into digestible chunks for the comic book format.

Unfortunately I also don't think this book does much justice to the comic book medium either. Don't get me wrong the art style is great, even excellent but the story is nowhere nearly well displayed as it has been in other novel to comic book pieces I've seen.

Here there's so much jumping that the rhythm of the story is lost and we hardly get time to know any of the characters much less absorb what's going on with them. For readers of the novel this means we feel the loss of several scenes. For new readers this means that either they get a watered down and drastically cut story or they don't like the story at all! What a terrible waste of great source material!
Profile Image for David jones.
197 reviews
May 13, 2012
I read this book in a couple hours. And I loved it. This graphic novel talked about the first 200 some pages of the actual book, The Stand, which is the first 26 chapters I think. It was really good. I like how it managed to condense that many pages into a little under 130 pages. They even got much of that part of the story right; even detailing some of the filler information that was in the book. The illustrations in the book are amazing and I give props to whoever drew them. Now, I don't usually like graphic novels (I used to) but I have been getting more into them. I give this book high praise. And plus Stephen King is my favorite author. Another thing is that I have parts of The Stand but had given up on it. I am gonna trying reading it this summer. Anyway this book is recommended for people who enjoy graphic novels, or have read the novel The Stand.
P.s: there is a few graphic scenes in the graphic novel, so if you have a weak stomach you have been warned.
Profile Image for Rossy Montaño.
404 reviews27 followers
November 8, 2021
Y pensar que esta novela fue escrita hace varios años ya, cuando era solo ficción imaginar que un virus podría propagarse con tal magnitud y ver que en los últimos meses hemos sido afectados por un virus, aunque no con el mismo grado de letalidad, es de locos...

Esta entrega es solo la puerta de todo lo que se viene, ya que vemos el origen, propagación y gravedad del virus, además de la conexión de algunos personajes, aunque dado que el cómic es corto no he podido conocerlos en profundidad, lo cual me hace plantearme la lectura del libro original, para tener una escena mas clara.
Los gráficos están bien y reflejan el horror de la situación que se quiere transmitir, ciertamente también seguiré con los siguientes.
Profile Image for Richard Dominguez.
922 reviews113 followers
October 18, 2023
The first in 6 volumes (of which I only have 1 & 2) was a good adaptation. The story moves well and at a quick pace. Much like the novel the story reads just as well, the illustrations and coloring really suit the story and adds to the atmosphere.
As in reading over a movie I love reading thoughts. In a movie the actor speak whats on there minds but in a book we can read what they are thinking and personally that adds a lot to the story for me.
Profile Image for Holden Attradies.
642 reviews21 followers
July 30, 2013
Okay, let me get this out of the way real quick because it really has nothing to do with the content of the book: It is fucking retarded that The Stand comic adaptation is not presented in a way that makes it clear it's all part of the same story and what order the volumes go in. The comics themselves read as an ongoing story, so why it is published as some six or so books with different names each consisting of 5 comics with no real help as to what order to read them in other than having read the past volume and knowing where the story is... well that's bullshit. One should not have to go on line to figure out the order to read a series of books that all tell a straight forward story.

Okay, rant aside, this was okay but it didn't wow me. The Stand is one of the few books I was never able to finish and I'm giving the comic series a try to see if I can finish it there. I enjoyed the pacing and for the most part the art. My biggest complaint comes from the seemingly over the top graphic nature of the art in this pretty mundane story. The dead bodies all seem way more grotesque than need be. I read this part of the book and that was not what I pictured. Also anytime a gun is fired off there are ridiculous blasts coming from the muzzle and what ever it hits. I don't know if this is a comic artist trying to sex up a mundane story by comics standards, or simple a comic artist being unable to pull things back for a mundane story, but either way I did not much care for it.
Profile Image for Cudeyo.
1,035 reviews57 followers
November 14, 2021
Un accidente en una instalación militar de la que escapa sin ninguna precaución uno de sus trabajadores causa que un terrible virus, muy parecido a la gripe en sus síntomas pero mucho más mortífero, se expanda por todo el país. El gobierno intenta ocultarlo, por todos los medios posibles, pero la verdad siempre sale a la luz de una manera u otra, y es que la muerte no se puede ocultar.

No me acordaba de que ya había leído el libro de King hasta ya empezado esta novela gráfica, aunque fue hace muchos años, por lo que la trama aunque me suena no la recuerdo en detalle suficiente.

La historia en este formato se lee muy bien, es fácil de seguir y mantiene el ritmo del original.
Profile Image for Mario.
325 reviews35 followers
July 30, 2017
La historia de Apocalipsis (La Danza de la Muerte) es una de mis favoritas de King, y también una de las más extensas y con más desarrollo de sus personajes. La buena idea de una adaptación a novela gráfica ya probó su validez con la serie de Dark Tower, y no podían dejar atrás este monstruo de historia. Creo que la calidad artística de la adaptación es buena, pero no se compara a aquella de Dark Tower. Sin embargo, me ha resultado agradable.
Profile Image for Palmira Capurso.
194 reviews30 followers
June 1, 2020
La forma de ilustrar una novela de más de 1500 páginas. Bien logrado y definido
Aquí se presenta El Capitan trotamundos con imágenes crudas y realistas me gusto mucho y reúne exactamente todo lo necesario para presentar el contexto y la primera parte
Profile Image for Andre.
261 reviews13 followers
March 23, 2017
This book accomplishes an almost impossible feat, translating the epic 'Stand' novel into comic form. Absolutely brilliant and keeps remarkably true to it's original.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 420 reviews

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