I imagine that there were a few Artemis fans who groaned inwardly at the prospect of a graphic novel adaptation of Eoin Colfer's imaginative, engaging and hugely successful books. No wonder, as in the wrong hands, fondly imagined scenes can be ruined and the whole magic of the original tainted. Lucky for them then, this is a really superb retelling of the early adventures of boy genius and criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl. Colfer's witty novel has been made flesh by some very tight, smart editing and well-crafted storytelling by Colfer and co-scripter Andrew Donkin. Remarkably, the care and disciplined attention to pace and page layouts compare favourably even with the industry Gold Standard of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' `Watchmen' series, which speaks volumes for the whole team involved. Of course, if your script is of a high standard, any reasonable art should function pretty well, but the art of Giovanni Rigano is a revelation. I'm unfamiliar with his prior work, but based on this evidence he's a very talented guy and is an inspired choice for this project (and hopefully for future instalments). His very elegant, almost spidery line style makes the Manga-inspired character designs far more textured than the bulk of the work it's derived from. It's a great combination of Asian and European graphic styles and some of the backgrounds are mind-bogglingly detailed. Icing on this particular cake: the colouring. Paolo Lamanna's sophisticated palette and very careful use of colour effects really enhance the artwork and make the whole piece look like a book that should cost twice as much as it does. Hyperion really have to be congratulated for publishing a book of such high standard rather than going for a cheap knock-it-out cash-in. In fact, forget the kids (who should be so lucky to get this as a present); if you're an adult, treat yourself to this, read it and leave it lying casually on your coffee table for kids to chance upon; they'll be staggered at your cool.