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Odd Is on Our Side |  | Authors: Dean Koontz, Fred Van Lente
Creator: Queenie Chan
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $10.99
Buy New: $7.41
as of 9/8/2010 07:18 PDT details
You Save: $3.58 (33%)
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 1945
Media: Paperback
Edition: Original
Pages: 192
Number Of Items: 1
ISBN: 0345515609
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9780345515605
ASIN: 0345515609
Publication Date: October 5, 2010 (In 27 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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Product Description
When things get scary, it’s nice to know that Odd is on our side.
The one and only Odd Thomas is back—in his second edgy and enthralling graphic-novel adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling suspense master Dean Koontz.
It’s Halloween in Pico Mundo, California, and there’s a whiff of something wicked in the autumn air. While the town prepares for its annual festivities, young fry cook Odd Thomas can’t shake the feeling that make-believe goblins and ghouls aren’t the only things on the prowl. And he should know, since he can see what others cannot: the spirits of the restless dead. But even his frequent visitor, the specter of Elvis Presley, can’t seem to point Odd in the right direction.
With the help of his gun-toting girlfriend, Stormy, Odd is out to uncover the terrible truth. Is something sinister afoot in the remote barn guarded by devilish masked men? Has All Hallows Eve mischief taken a malevolent turn? Or is the pleading ghost of a trick-or-treater a frightening omen of doom?
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
 Edgy and enthralling? I think not... September 7, 2010
N. S. Michael (New Mexico)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For anyone not familiar with Koontz' Odd Thomas character, the long and short of it is he's a fry cook who can see ghosts who try and help him to prevent tragedies... for the most part. He's got a girlfriend named Stormy who loves guns and is suitably chaste and the ghost of Elvis (and later Sinatra, though not in the comics) hangs around to help.
I have to admit, I'm a bit of a Dean Koontz hater... and I say this in conjunction with the fact that I've read and own a great deal of his books. He's like Stephen King-lite and I'm not that much a fan of King, either (a good many of whose books I also own). Here, Koontz has lent his characters to a writing/art team that has decided to dumb down his already paper thin heroes even further.
This, the second Odd Thomes OEM (Original English Manga), centers around Halloween and an, of course, inevitable tragedy that Elvis communicates to Odd via hip gyration (which must be analyzed by one of Odd's aquaintences by a dance relay of sorts, since she can't see ghosts). There's a "Devil in disguise" on the loose and its Odd's job to find him or her before the town's ghost population increases.
Exposition includes a traditional Pumpkin Toss where the town's teens steal pumpkins to smash for a rudimentary "water" slide and a stereotypical cranky old man who went nuts and gave kids poisoned candy (can we say cliche?) way back in the day. Quirks include how Stormy LOVES her gun. Man, does she love her gun. And Odd's writing mentor is a fat pig. Nice. Travesties include a saccharine Halloween origin story that pointedly leaves out any mention of pagans or Samhain. You've got to be kidding me. Giving the homeless Jesus treats? UGH!
Odd is On Our Side is a Bible Camp Scooby-Doo mystery without any kick. I mean, seriously, the villian reveal? All I can hear is "and I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those pesky kids... especially that girl with the gun." It's an exercise in bad writing with competent, but underwhelming art. It's too violent for the elementary set and too insipid for anyone older. The only joke that came close to hitting the mark passed between the Sheriff and an anonymous kid who wants to wail. If your supporting cast and an extra are stealing the show, it's time to ask for a rewrite.
Odd fans should pass, manga fans should run away screaming, and anyone who aspires to write should feel great about their chances of getting published if this is an example of what makes publishers happy.
 Ok, but short September 7, 2010
Jeff (Sonova Beach, FL)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I didn't know this was a graphic novel. It's way too short and leaves you hanging.
I do like Kontz's Odd series, but give me good old text any day.
Not what I expected. September 3, 2010
Mental Mommy (Portsmouth, VA United States)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I had no idea Odd was a comic strip. The book is page after page of comic strip-style writing. That's fine, just totally not what I had expected. I've never read the "Odd" books, so this was a first for me. Overall, entertaining. The first few pages explained this guy's ability to see things others can't, which was nice. You aren't wondering if he's just crazy the whole way through the book, which was a plus for me. I don't think I will read any more "Odd" books, just because I felt like I was missing something. I felt like I needed note to explain to fill in places, not because there were plot holes, but because I am not accustomed to reading things in boxes with pictures, or at least not 100+ pages of that. Good story, cool stuff goes on... Wasn't a waste of time, just not my thing.
 Skip it and read an actual Koontz book instead... September 3, 2010
S. M. Robare (Duluth, GA USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Sigh. I should have seen it from a mile away, but my biggest disappointment with Odd is On Our Side is that it reeks of being one giant cash grab. Apparently Koontz's character Odd Thomas, who has appeared in four previous novels (penned by Koontz) and one previous manga volume, is pretty darn popular with teens, which explains a few things to me. First, why these further adventures of Odd are presented in the manga format (actually, technically these are the previous adventures of Odd as these books take place before the prose series), and second, why Koontz didn't bother to write them himself. Take a popular character from a well known writer, truly make it a branded product by passing it off to another writer, package it in a profitable "hot" format that the target audience seems to respond to, and bam, instant profit. Along with the current boom in interest in graphic novels and adaptations, we've been seeing this equation again and again. Stephen King's Dark Tower series (Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born) and Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake novels (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures - The Complete Edition) have both been adapted in the comics format by Marvel to varying success, and Koontz is just the next stop in the line.
Before I start to sound too cynical, I will say that my interest was peaked with Odd is On Our Side because the material was new, whereas the trend has been to adapt and abridge into the comics format (which was the case with both King and Hamilton's comics.) On the whole, I can look past the trends and popularity if the work has some genuine passion and creativity behind it, but unfortunately that just doesn't seem to be the case with these Odd Thomas manga volumes. My main gripe is with the writing though. Fred Van Lente turns in a really uneven script full of over-exaggerated characters and 4th wall breaking. In an early sequence Odd, narrating to the reader, comments that he doesn't like potty mouths who speak in symbols, which is a direct reference to the speech bubble in the panel where a driver is yelling profanities that are obscured as symbols ($#%&!) Though it may seem edgy or "meta", this is really just an unfortunate example of how the author breaks the suspension of disbelief. The writing is also rife with groan-worthy puns, platitudes and far too many wink & nods to the reader.
On a positive note, the artwork by Queenie Chan is mostly well done and for those unfamiliar with manga's artistic eccentricities, don't fret as they're kept to a minimum (there are a few sweat/tear drop uncertain moments, and the occasion surprised starburst, but no sleepy snot bubbles or anger crosses.) Of course this does raise the question again of why the project was presented as manga, especially if these icons and symbols typical to the medium are kept to a minimum, I'm guessing to make it more palatable for an American audience. I'd be willing to bet that Koontz's main audience is of an older demographic, but since this character appeals to a younger set the publisher decided to target them by presenting the story in a format that's popular, manga.
At the end of the day the story is serviceable enough as an introduction to the character of Odd, but I'm betting Koontz fans will want to take a pass on this book unless they're die-hard completists. For manga fans, this series feels like downright pandering, and a watered down version of the original Koontz creation, and they'd probably be better off seeking out some of Chan's own original manga (The Dreaming Collection.)
 Another great Odd Thomas story in graphic novel form September 2, 2010
Brian Reaves (Anniston, AL USA)
If you read "In Odd We Trust" last year, you'll be prepared for this next chapter in the story. If you've only read the novels featuring Odd Thomas, then you might be a little confused coming into this. For one thing, these stories occur before the book "Odd Thomas", which explains a major character you'll see in the story who's dead in the current storyline. Other than that, this is the same feel and flavor as any other Odd Thomas story you're familiar with.
Odd Thomas can see dead people, but they don't talk to him for whatever reason. In this story, Pico Mundo is getting ready for the annual "Safe Halloween Celebration", but Odd's talents let him see the gathering of bodochs and that is never a good thing. As Odd races to unravel the mystery of what will happen and who will be responsible, the clock ticks on toward the gathering of innocent children and parents. Their lives are in Odd's hands...here's hoping he can figure it all out in time to save them.
If you are into the manga art style, you'll find a lot to like in this. If you are a just a casual Odd Thomas fan awaiting Koontz's final chapters in Odd's life, this will tide you over and show you more about Odd's relationship with Stormy before that first book came out. It's written by Koontz and even though it's a graphic novel I found it just as enjoyable as Dean's regular novels. Odd speaks with that same polite yet intelligent timbre from the novels. It's easy to see why Dean loves the character so much. Highly recommended.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
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