The Message (Mini-Review)

The Message by Chris Grine is an adaptation of the third Animorphs book by K.A.Applegate. Cassie and Tobias start to have identical dreams where someone is calling out for them. This causes the Animorphs to investigate what is calling out to them. But it turns out Visser Three is also receiving these messages. Who will get to the Andalite first? And will he want to help humanity?

I tend to have Mini-Reviews be spoiler free. But as this is an adaptation, I am not going to hold onto that rule like usual. So if you don't want spoilers for the graphic novel adaptation or the original book, I suggest you read those first before continuing.

The beginning of this adaptation differs from the original. In the original book Cassie is already in the barn starting her plan to morph into a squirrel. The adaptation starts off with her having one of the dreams and then going into the barn to morph into a squirrel. The only thing gained by changing the order of things is to give a strong visual right out of the gates. Which is extremely important when dealing with a comic where visuals are extremely important. This does make me wonder, though, if Chris will alter the order of events in later adaptations.

One of the things I anticipated the most was the appearance of Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Of course he isn't the first Andalite to appear in the series, but this would be the first time in the comic adaptions that his human morph would be shown. The books describe his human morph as looking like the love child of four of the other Animorphs. His human morph is also described as looking oddly beautiful. Chris does not disappoint with Ax's human morph. It is a thing of beauty and you can recognize each of the other Animorphs in it.

The scene with Tobias and Ax meeting for the first time (though neither knows each is related to the other yet) is heartbreaking in its tenderness. Unlike the other Andalites shown thus far, Ax is more open with his fear and uncertainty. So when he sees Tobias, he truly sees what this band of humans is willing to sacrifice against the Yeerk threat.

As with the other comic adaptions, the morphing is extremely uncomfortable to look at. The books do a good job at telling readers how creepy the morphing process is and if you saw it without knowing what was going on you would run away screaming. But it's a whole 'nother experience seeing bodies twisting and turning in unnatural ways.

The main morph for this book is the dolphin. The dolphin is chosen as it will allow the Animorphs to search more easily for the crashed Andalite ship. With the realism given to these adaptations, such as the update about alpha wolves not being a thing, it's strange to still have dolphins as innocents. These are creatures that will rape and get high. They will pass each other puffer fish like people do bongs/blunts. Of course the Jesus whale is a pretty big plot point so I can understand why the update wasn't made.

I would suggest The Message by Chris Grine to those who love science fiction. I would also suggest The Message by Chris Grine to fans of the original Animorphs books.