Comic < Novel?

PARTIAL SPOILER

As you probably know (because you are probably in my class), we are each studying individual muckrakers.  The one that I was assigned was Jack London, author of "Call of the Wild".   Naturally, I just needed to buy a copy.  Me and my friend Sophie decided to go to my favorite local bookstore, Babbo's Books.  She was looking for Jacob Riis's "How the Other Half Lives," and I was looking for "Call of the Wild".  However, when I could not find a copy, I decided to get the closest thing to it: an old comic version.  I am so glad that I got it.

The main character of the book is Buck, a dog who is sold countless times, going from one owner to the next From a Judge, to a cruel dog seller, to an abusive owner named Françoise, to a kind man named John  Thornton, and finally on his own.  The book is full of emotion and action packed images.  However, compared to the real novel,  it is little more than a pamphlet in size.  I certainly got a story out of it, and a good one at that,  but could it really be just a good as the original? I haven't read the real version, I just bought it from Barnes and Noble today,  But I suppose that I can figure out if compare it to the general, archetypal comics and novels and what they consist of. 

In general, comic books (not including graphic novels), are shorter than novels.  Often the comic book uses the exact words of the novel that it is based on, only it takes out most of the words, therefore not having as much of the store.  (One point for novels) .  However, much of the writing that is taken out is description, which is not necessary in a comic, because most of it is illustrations (one point for comics).  A novel can be read and enjoyed over a very long time, and reread, and it will still be amazing.  A comic, on the other hand, takes about a half hour to read, depending on its size,  and because its hard to miss anything in the text, wouldn't be so great to read again (one point for novels).  In a comic,  the illustrator gives you everything to look at, leaving you no imaginative space, where as a novel gives you at least a little creative legroom (one point for novels).

The scores are three to one, novels winning.  But I got so much out of the comic that I bought!  I thought that it was just as good as any book. But maybe the real book is better.  I've never read the original version of "Call of the Wild".  If it's as good as this comic, I will be pleasantly surprised.  Perhaps comics that are based off of classics are really just aids for reading the original, like if you were having trouble understanding what is going on in the story.  I would love it if there were a comic version of "Great Expectations".  I suppose that a comic is the same idea as going in early to school to ask a teacher a question about something you are having trouble with.   It is a thing to read when you are lost, when you do to understand what is going on.  So I suppose that you really can't compare a novel, because they are totally different things.  its sort of like comparing jello to a jello mold; you don't need a mold to make jello, but if you use it, the jello looks much more impressive.  Novels would be the jello, and comics would be the mold.  there are many other metaphors that I could use, but I would never be able to finish this post.   If you can think of another, I'd love to hear it, so post it as a comment!