Pullman makes time for graphic novel

BOOK REVIEW

Fans of “His Dark Materials” trilogy are eagerly waiting for October, when author Philip Pullman will release “The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage,” the first book in a new trilogy that will continue the adventures begun in “The Golden Compass.”

Before Pullman revisits Lyra, daemons and alethiometers, however, he has collaborated with illustrator Fred Fordham on an original graphic novel, Pullman’s first.

“The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship” — released Tuesday — is a time-traveling science-fiction adventure that weaves together characters from a number of centuries,

all connected by a sinister modern-day plot and a 1919-vintage schooner.

Throughout the various oceans of the world, the Mary Alice appears inexplicably out of the fog, on what seems to be collision courses with tankers, cruise ships and family sailboats.

Just as suddenly, the schooner and her mysterious crew disappear again.

Tracking these appearances are a young woman who works at a San Francisco-based maritime organization, an officer in the British navy and the head of the all-powerful Dahlberg Corp.

During a storm, the Mary Alice encounters an Australian sailboat carrying a family of four. Serena, the teenage daughter, is swept overboard and rescued by John Blake, a young man whose history is tightly wound with the ghost ship’s secret.

Serena meets the rest of the crew, including Capt. Quayle, a merchant seaman from the early 20th century; Charlie Banks, a deck hand from London who was lost at sea during a battle in 1790; and Dick Merrifield, a simple fisherman who was taken into slavery by Barbary pirates before his own rescue by the Mary Alice.

Serena and John develop a friendship, which carries them through a variety of adventures, including a complicated chase scene while the ship is docked on the island of Fiji.

Pullman’s story alternates between the present-day adventures of those trying to catch up with the ghost ship, flashbacks to the ship’s history and explanations of the complex science that has facilitated the time travel.

The story is told in spare dialogue, accompanied by Fordham’s action-packed illustrations. Time-travel scenes are executed in moody sepia or blue tones.

Occasional full-page illustrations are saved for the most dramatic moments — when Serena falls overboard, for instance, or when the Mary Alice appears suddenly out of the mist.

“The Adventures of John Blake” is vastly different from the “His Dark Materials” books, but it shares a few common threads — brilliant scientists who use their knowledge for good and evil, and teenage protagonists worth rooting for.

“The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship” (Scholastic, 160 pages, $17.99) by Philip Pullman, illustrated by Fred Fordham