Book Review: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin by Jim Butcher and Mark Powers

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin is a graphic novel by Jim Butcher and Mark Powers that offers a completely new story to the Dresden series which takes place between the action of Fool Moon and Grave Peril (the second and third books in the series.) In this graphic novel Harry leaves Chicago at the request of a small town deputy to help in a isolated Missouri town. The Talbot family has been plagued with early deaths and gruesome 'accidents' for generations. Harry is on a mission to save the last remaining members of the family, but to do so he needs to fight the small town sheriff, dark secrets, and two deadly creatures. Can he save the Talbot family without sacrificing himself?

I think that Ghoul Goblin is a great addition to Dresden's story. I enjoyed getting to see Harry in a new place and facing danger outside his comfort zone. He is still very much the flawed hero with all know and love, with the smart mouth that never fails to make me smile while it gets him into deeper trouble. The art was good, and captured the story and action very well. My only disappointment is one any fan faces when a book or series they love have graphic novels, movies, or television series made. I did not connect my Harry with the face that was used here. Maybe it was because I just rewatched the old television series, or because I just have a different picture in my head, but I was a little distracted by seeing this face of Harry.

I would recommend Ghoul Goblin to all fans of the Dresden series. However, do not be like the people complaining on Amazon that they expected this to be a novel. This is a hardcover graphic novel that collects a series of comic book issues which quickly became hard to find when this volume was published. I do recommend reading this only after Fool Moon has been read, only so that some of the references Harry makes to Karen and the shapeshifters make sense, other than that you can enjoy this graphic novel on its own merit.