On the edge of the dark sea of darkness: the graphic novel

by Andrew Peterson
2026 / 224 pages
Rating: Great

The Wingfeather Saga is getting the graphic novel treatment and the first in the series is both more and less than I was hoping for.

For those new to the series, it’s about siblings Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby – two brothers and a little sister – who have been raised in a little cottage on a cliff overlooking the dragon-filled Dark Sea of Darkness. Those dragons don’t like their enormous grandfather Podo, who once plied that sea as a pirate, but has now settled in as the family’s protector. Their mother Nia is protective too, because even besides the sea’s dragons and the forest’s fearsome toothy cows, dangers abound all around. After all, in the nearby town of Glipwood there’s an entire troop of Fangs from Dang!

If you don’t know what Fangs are, they look exactly like humans. Except for their large venomous fangs. And their long slithery tails. And the green hue of their scaly skin. But other than that, just like humans. Fangs serve Gnag the Nameless who lives in Dang on the other side of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Gnag’s Fang troops have conquered Glipwood and the whole continent of Skree, and ever since Gnag has been searching for the “Jewels of Anniera” and now, for some reason, he thinks the Igibys know where those jewels are. Which means the Igibys have to run!

The original is a grand romp of an adventure that is on par with the very best Christian fantasy ever written – in Andrew Peterson’s 4-book Wingfeather Saga, we have a worthy modern heir to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. Peterson’s tale is made all the more memorable for Dark-Sea-of-Darkness, Gnag-the-Nameless goofy wordplay, and the hilarious footnotes found throughout.

The graphic novel doesn’t have room for all of that, but what the new version does allow for is just a bit of re-invention. This is not quite the same story we’ve heard before, because Peterson has allowed adapter Matt Mikalatos some freedom to make intriguing tweaks. Like the animated series, this has been adapted to fit its new medium.

So, for example, in the original, a “Ridgerunner” named Zousab betrays the Igibys to the Fangs, but in the graphic novel he warns them instead. That seems a pretty notable change… but just wait, he’s still just as treacherous – he only saves them because he thinks that will give them time to collect the jewels that he’s after too.

There are a lot of little differences like this throughout, some obviously done for abridgment reasons, but others seemingly done just to give a now familiar tale a fresh new look. That made it a clever addition to Peterson’s epic story. The artwork is attractive – mostly bright and colorful throughout, though I will add that a few of the night-time scenes could benefit from some sharper contrasts between the characters and the shadows all around. On a few rare occasions it can be hard to see quite what’s happening.

The other critique I’ll offer is that there are a few moments where I think a reader entirely new to the story would have a hard time following what was going on. For example, the first appearance of a tooth cow is dramatic – bursting out of the woods in a full-page charge – but also for a reader unfamiliar, totally weird. Scary cows? What’s going on? Whereas in the original it’s still odd but more hilarious, because we get introduced to the idea of a fearsome moo-ster with the help of an illuminating footnote warning “woe to the man who considers not the lethal potential of that bovinial thrump!”

That means the comic doesn’t quite stand alone. It’s instead a fun addition to the collection, but best read after reading the books. The twists in the tale make it a fun read for those already in the know, but for newbies it isn’t the best introduction to the series. Still, the art is super, the story is fun, and the twists in the tale are a great addition, making this a super fun gift for the fans.