It seems strange that all the regular novels featuring Artemis Fowl disguise his actual looks from us, and yet here is the character's creator collaborating on the graphic novel of the first book in the series. With the great intelligence of Fowl at large it is understandable that no-one knows what he looks like, with his technological nous and Butler's bulk to protect him from hidden CCTV and whatnot. And now we do know what he looks like, what is the result? Well, a bit of an unattractive sight it has to be said. The funny shape of his head certainly does not coincide with many twelve year olds I know (and I work on behalf of thousands of them a year so I do know of them), and although not exactly Manga-style distorted, comes across as a bit like a cheap Thunderbirds baddy, with odd haircut, deep-set eye and harsh eyebrows. Yegads, he'll grow up into Jimmy …show more content…
There's also Mulch Diggums, the flatulent dwarf criminal that likes to get down and dirty when there's gold (or a reprieve) at the end of it. Artemis, with absent father and seemingly insane mother, tries to translate the sacred texts of the fairy world, and use that knowledge to capture their technology, and attain a great big pile of gold at the same time. Things aren't of course quite so easy. On his side is Butler, and I did like his look - the great hulking minder dwarfing Artemis and a contact while driving them round Saigon City. Other characters do not come across quite as well - a lot of the time Butler's sister and Holly are hidden by glasses and other headgear. Foaly doesn't get many long-shots for a good look, a troll as a minor character has a major problem with scale, and for some reason goblins look like the Sea Devils from the old-school Doctor