Dante's Inferno, The Comic Book

Link: You can see DC comic's website where they sell the comic books here. 
Entry: I like comic books, so I thought I would look up if Dante's Inferno had been done as a graphic novel. However, what I ended up finding was an adaptation  by DC comics, that is much different than the original tale. Based off of a video game by EA, the six issue mini-series begins as a much more heroic tale. Dante is this kind of warrior/super-hero being that must travel into hell to save Beatrice, who was murdered while he was fighting in the crusades.

Above, the cover art for "Dante's Inferno Issue #1".

Obviously, the story of our pilgrim has been changed from a story of self/world redemption by a spiritual journey, into an action-packed Heroic epic about someone who is fighting against Hell itself. While this is widely different from the original, it is also a very clever adaptation that applies to modern readers as well as lovers of the graphic novel/comic book. Action, bravery, battle - all these things excite and entice modern readers, more so than questions of spirituality and righteousness (for better or worse). In addition, the story between Beatrice and Dante is intensified, as the Devil tries to make Beatrice his wife! Rather than fighting for himself, physically or spiritually, Dante is fighting for love, instead of his love fighting/looking out for him.

Despite all the differences, the story does keep many elements of the narrative in tack. Even though Dante is descending into hell for a different purpose, he is doing so with the same fears about his purity/ability to do this and how this journey will change him if he does survive.

In the third book of the series, Dante's original circles of hell still keep their integrity. The second circle, of lust, is where the Devil wants to marry Beatrice (Cleopatra acting as maid of honor), so Dante must fight through Cerberus in the third circle of gluttony in order to rescue his wife!

But he is too late, and Beatrice becomes "Queen of Fire". The cover art to issue 4 is to the right. Dante must choose to either kill his love, or be killed by his love . . . Is Dante going to be the Hero of the story, and rescue his love, or will he become but a shadow of the warrior he once was after his journey through Hell? Read DC comics' to find out!

Demosthenes' hidden message

Title: The unknown tenth circle of Dante's Inferno. 
Link: Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult-this novel is available in the stacks.
Entry: I love reading Jodi Picoult novels, although this is not one of my favorites. It was through this novel that I found out about Dante's Inferno and that propelled me to read the Inferno in high school. I chose to write about this novel because I wanted to show how much of the Inferno Picoult incorporated and how well and interesting she made it. A brief synopsis about the novel: it centers around a family(daughter, wife and husband) that are going through a rough patch. The husband, Daniel,  is a comics artist and his wife, Laura, is a professor at the local university. There is an obvious strain in their marriage that is made worsen by the wife's affair with one of her students. The plot centers around the murder investigation of the daughter's, Trixie, boyfriend, Jason. Throughout the novel, Daniel is writing   The Tenth Circle, a comic book that parallels his life. The comic book is also included in the novel and is spread out in particular places(mainly at the end of each chapter).
Picoult describes (through the character of Laura) Hell as a place where people are motionless and trapped in the ice which is to be juxtaposed to Heaven, a place full of motion and energy. That was their punishment for those at the very bottom of Hell. However, from what I have read in the Inferno, motion is still given for the Hell prisoners. This can be seen in Canto III as those that reside in Limbo are psychologically tormented and they sighing and moan-two actions that require motion. Also, in the entrance of Hell, the cowards are chasing down a unmarked flag as well as weeping and screaming-again three actions that require motion. Maybe Picoult interpretation comes from the fact that no motion at all is painful and it could be seen as a punishment. Or maybe it is an allusion to the ninth level of Hell...
The main character from the Inferno still play a big part in the novel. Daniel, who takes the place of Dante, is led by a more modern day Virgil through the levels of Hell. The comic book cover is an direct  allusion to the Inferno because it is a drawing of the gates of Hell and on the gates read: "Abandon All Hope ye Who Enter Here." The one major difference is that, unlike Dante, Daniel is on this journey to find his Trixie who was taken by Satan as well as a psychological/philosophical inner journey on finding out his identity.
The entrance of Hell, which is depicted in Canto II as the place for the cowards who were denied access into Heave and Hell, is filled with dead bodies of these cowards. One interesting spin Picoult puts in the novel is that the beasts which Dante meets in Canto I-II are the same beasts Daniel meets, but these beasts hold the "souls of the non-believers doomed to spend eternity as formless, nihilistic shadows"(pg. 59). Nihilistic is an intriguing word to describe those in the entrance of hell. For a person to be deemed a nihilist or nihilistic is that they denied all existence. Sound familiar? The unidentified people in the entrance of hell are seen as non-existent- they are not there, they don't exist. This is an amazing parallel with the Inferno and the novel that makes the novel even more interesting.
This novel has many intrinsic links to the Inferno that make it an interesting and enticing read, but I recommend reading it after finishing the Inferno. For that reason, I do not plan on saying more about this novel to avoid spoilers and give others the opportunity to find the links themselves. However, I do plan on expanding this blog entry once I finish the Inferno. 
After doing this blog and seeing the intrinsic links, I can now say that the Tenth Circle  is my favorite Jodi Picoult novel so far.
*For those who decide to read the novel, I have left a little message within the title that I hope you will understand. You must read the novel to understand what my title is talking about.