A graphic novel adaption of Patterson's 'non-fiction thriller' tells the stories of both Tutankhamen and Howard Carter. It was a light and pretty fast read that gives a very vague version of both stories with the Tut aspect of the book being simplified to the point of idiocy.Tut's tale tells of his father - Akhenaten - and his (non-biological) mother - Nefertiti - who both preceded him as Pharaoh. Tut's rule is short and it's not long before Patterson makes the claim that the royal scribe - Ay - was responsible for Tut's death, after he had fallen from his horse and broken his leg, by suffocating him. His evidence for this seems to be that Tut's broken leg and cracked skull were neither serious enough to cause his death and suffocation was undetectable. It all seems a bit to pat for my mind.
The Carter sections deal with his employment as an artist in Egypt before becoming a tomb-hunter himself. Everything else is glossed over and ignored so really you don't get to know anything about the man other than his obsession with finding tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
There are two artists involved. Christopher Mitten has a lovely unorthodox style which is used to great effect on the Tut sequences. The Carter section is by Ron Randall and is less pretty, certainly not bad but nothing to get you wet. The nicest surprise on the art front was the discovery on the back of several Darwyn Cooke pieces that look an awful lot like Samurai Jack.
Deeply flawed but it passed some time.
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