Amulet (manga)

AUTHOR: Kibuishi, Kazu

ARTIST: Kazu Kibuishi (illustrator); Amy Kim Kibuishi (colorist); Anthony Wu (colorist); Jason Caffoe (colorist)

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION: 2008-2010

PUBLISHER: Scholastic Books

Publication History

The inspiration for Amulet began at the end of Kazu Kibuishi’s studies in college and with an idea about two children moving into a mysterious puzzle maker’s house. After a short stint in animation, Kibuishi pursued a career in comics and went on to edit and contribute to Flight (2007- ), an anthology of comics by creators mainly from the animation industry, and published first by Image Comics and later by Random House. Gathering stories for the fourth volume of Flight, Kibuishi discovered he had a collection of child-friendly comics, which he decided to publish as a separate anthology called Flight Explorer, featuring an original story of his Web comic Copper.

In 2005, Scholastic Books launched Graphix, the first graphic novel imprint from a traditional children’s publishing company, and editors sought creators to follow their first group of releases, which included Jeff Smith’s Bone (1991-2004). Raina Telgemeier, illustrator of the graphic novel adaptations of The Baby-Sitters Club (2006) and a previous Flight contributor, asked Kibuishi if she could show his work to editors at Scholastic. Kibuishi pitched Amulet with six completed pages and a one-page story synopsis, and the book was acquired. Amulet was first signed to a three-volume series, then a five-volume series.

Plot

Two years after their father’s death in a tragic car accident, Emily and Navin Hayes move with their mother Karen from the city to an old house that belonged to their great-grandfather Silas Charnon, a mysterious inventor who disappeared years ago. In Silas’s library, Emily finds a magical amulet that warns her to protect her family. That night, their mother is kidnapped by an arachnopod, and the children must descend beneath the basement to an underground world. After Emily attempts to free her mother from the creature using a magical bolt of energy, the voice of the amulet advises the children to seek help from their long-lost great-grandfather.

The children are brought to a mysterious house by Misket, a small rabbit-like robot and one of Silas’s assistants. On his deathbed, Silas speaks of Emily’s amulet and how it contains the power to rule Allendia, the alternate Earth where he has been living all these years. Emily, reluctant to accept this power and responsibility, is told by Silas that the amulet has the power to control time. Emily imagines the return of her dead father and accepts the amulet’s power as Silas passes away.

Misket locates the pack of arachnopods with the children’s kidnapped mother, and the trio travels to intercept them. After an initial struggle, the group fails to free Karen, who is jabbed with a poisonous stinger. After a crash landing, Emily finds an elf creature, which has been previously spying on the children, facing down the arachnopod holding her mother. Using his own amulet, the elf creature, Prince Trellis, frees Karen from the arachnopod and captures Emily. Using a creature that can alter thoughts, he tries to coerce her into helping him destroy his father, the Elf King. Emily destroys the thought creature, and the amulet tries to convince her to kill the fallen prince; she resists and lets him go.

Back at Silas’s house, Karen is in a coma, poisoned by the arachnopod. In desperate need of an antidote, the group heads to the city of Kanalis using the only transportation that remains, which transforms into a giant robot.

The Stonekeeper’s Curse (Volume 2) opens with Trellis scolded by his father for failing to capture the two children. Convinced that Trellis is likely to fail again, the Elf King orders Luger—another elf warrior—to accompany him. In Kanalis, Emily and the others bring Karen to Dr. Weston, who describes a lifesaving fruit that can be found only on the peak of Demon’s Head Mountain, a treacherous journey. Leon Redbeard, a humanoid fox, overhears the doctor’s instructions and offers to accompany the group on their quest. When an army of elves led by Luger and Trellis surrounds the doctor’s office, Navin and others escape in an underground trolley, while Emily, Leon, and Misket take to the rooftops of the city.

Arriving at the hidden underground headquarters of the Resistance—an army that opposes the Elf King—Navin meets Father Adler, an ancient tree who has a vision in which Emily falls off a cliff to her death. Before Adler can finish explaining his vision, Navin orders the Resistance to take back the robot house from the elves so that he can use it to save his sister. The Elf King delivers new instructions to Luger: Have Prince Trellis kill the children, and if he hesitates, Luger is to kill the prince.

Reaching the forest of the ancient Godoba trees, Emily finds the fruit to cure her mother. Leaving Trellis behind, Luger reaches the forest and burns it down. He travels quickly, coming face-to-face with Emily and her friends and overpowering them. Prepared to kill Emily, Luger is attacked from behind by Trellis. Luger allows the amulet to take him over, and he transforms into a giant beast. Luger throws Emily and Leon off a cliff, just as Father Adler had prophesied, but Navin catches them in the hand of the robot house before they fall to their deaths. Combining the strength of the robot house and the power of Emily’s amulet, the house delivers a punch that seems to destroy Luger. Exhausted, Emily passes out but wakes to find that her mother is cured of the arachnopod’s poison. When Karen says they can finally go home, Emily explains that she must stay and fulfill her destiny as a stonekeeper.

The Cloud Searchers (Volume 3) begins with Trellis finding a defeated Luger guarding his destroyed amulet. They both renounce their loyalty to the Elf King. At the Elf King’s palace, Gabilan, an elf assassin, receives his mission: Kill both Emily and Prince Trellis.

Back in the robot house, Leon researches information on the location of the city of Cielis, home of the Guardian Council, a group of five of the most powerful stonekeepers, and the next destination for the group. The group travels to the city of Nautilis to find an airship that will take them to Cielis. At a local tavern, Emily and Leon find pilots—Enzo and Rico—and try to persuade them to shuttle the group. While the group discusses travel plans, two elf warriors find Trellis and Luger hiding in an alley behind the tavern. Emily recognizes the Elf Prince and defeats the two warriors.

Ready to head to Enzo’s airship, the group, including Trellis and Luger, is faced with an elf-piloted tank, but they manage to escape. In the tavern, Gabilan confronts the two injured elf warriors and uses a memory extractor to gain information on the whereabouts of Emily and Prince Trellis. On the airship, Leon verifies the location of Cielis in the eye of a massive storm, and Enzo makes preparations to fly through it. The ship is attacked by the dragon-like creatures wyverns, damaging one of the airship’s engines. Cogsley repairs the engine, but once his task is completed a wyvern pulls both Misket and Cogsley off the ship. Saddened by the loss of their friends, the group stops at a nearby fueling station to complete preparations to travel to Cielis.

Departing from the station, the group is unaware that the assassin Gabilan has stowed away on the ship. With Navin piloting through the storm, the group discovers a floating island that acts as a beacon for those wanting passage to Cielis. Trellis and Emily use their powers to piece together a puzzle that acts as a key to the beacon. Taking Karen hostage, Gabilan reveals himself. Emily and Trellis combine their powers to attack Gabilan, but his shield is able to absorb and redirect their magic. Emily causes boulders to collapse onto Gabilan and uses her powers to throw him off the island, but he is rescued by his own wyvern. With the beacon activated, a group of stonekeepers appears and guides the ship to the city of Cielis.

Volumes

• The Stonekeeper (2008). Emily and Navin journey to Allendia to rescue their mother.

• The Stonekeeper’s Curse (2009). Emily and Navin must find an antidote to save their poisoned mother.

• The Cloud Searchers (2010). To fulfill her destiny, Emily searches for a lost city in the clouds.

Characters

• Emily Hayes, the protagonist, is a twelve-year-old girl with red hair. She is a natural-born leader, courageous and determined to help those she loves most. She discovers that she is a stonekeeper, a potential leader of Allendia, and possesses incredible powers she must learn to control before they take control of her.

• Navin Hayes is the younger brother of Emily. He looks up to her and is trying constantly to prove his worth during their adventures. He has a natural talent for piloting and discovers he is the foretold commander of the Resistance.

• Karen Hayes is the mother of Emily and Navin. She is kindhearted and caring. She wants the best for her two children after her husband’s death. During their adventures she realizes that her two children are growing up quickly.

• Silas Charnon is the long-lost great-grandfather of Emily and Navin and the previous owner of the amulet that Emily now possesses. He is an inventor of amazing machines and a stonekeeper.

• Misket is a robot creation of Silas Charnon that resembles a pink rabbit. He is intelligent and resourceful and vows to protect Emily at all costs during her adventures in Allendia.

• Morrie is a robot creation of Silas Charnon that looks like a traditional robot. He is often nervous and wary but is also caring and stood by Karen Hayes’s bedside when she was poisoned.

• Cogsley is another robot creation of Silas Charnon who also looks like a traditional robot. His gruff exterior does little to hide the fact that he is hardworking, deeply loyal, and honest.

• Trellis is the son of the Elf King. He is mysterious, power hungry, and rebellious. At first, he hunts Emily down to coerce her to help him kill his own father, but later he shows signs of a conscience and eventually joins Emily.

• The Elf King is the main antagonist of the series. He is the ruler of Allendia and wears a stylized mask. He is ruthless and determined to kill Emily and her friends to prevent them from destroying him. Once a promising young stonekeeper, the Elf King was corrupted by the amulet power and is now dead. His body serves as a vessel for the dark power of the amulet.

• Luger is an Elf warrior whom the Elf King sends with Trellis to find and kill Emily. Luger succumbs to the power of the amulet and becomes a giant monster. He is defeated by Emily, loses his powers, becomes docile, and accompanies Trellis when the prince joins Emily’s group.

• Leon Redbeard, a bounty hunter from the city of Kanalis, is a humanoid fox and a powerful fighter. He accompanies Emily on her journey and mentors her to control her great powers. He understands her importance in the future of Allendia and stands by her side through all dangers.

• Gabilan, the main antagonist of Volume 3, is a masked elf assassin hired by the Elf King to hunt down both Emily and Prince Trellis. He is crafty and without mercy and has plans of his own to take over the land of Allendia.

Artistic Style

Kibuishi’s Artistic style is heavily influenced by his previous career in animation and his love for Japanese comics and animation, especially the work of Hayao Miyazaki. When placed on the book’s heavy rendered backgrounds, his characters, drawn using fine lines, pop off the page, therefore resembling an animation cel. Characters are designed in bright, flat colors, creating a further juxtaposition to the lush and painterly backgrounds. Kibuishi draws on his previous experience using Photoshop for concept paintings for video games and animation to create effects that give his work a distinct, moody tone.

The first book of the series features a heavy, dark palette, symbolizing the movement from the real world to the fantasy world of Allendia. In Volumes 2 and 3, the backgrounds are brighter and more colorful than before to show off landscapes and fantastical cities. A number of single-page images and double-page spreads illustrate the scope of the world of Allendia and emphasize the world-building aspect of Amulet. Kibuishi employed background artists to help with more detail in these pages. The pages in Amulet are open but include a large amount of visual details. Kibuishi is an artist who relies heavily on images and visual clues to move the story along.

Panel layout is varied but readable, an important element for a graphic novel aimed at children. Kibuishi also uses a mix of decompressed scenes to illustrate character moments or create narrative tension, but he also uses fast-paced action scenes, making the series appealing to both children and adults. Kibuishi uses standard word balloons but plays with lettering by enlarging or stretching text when he wants to convey excitement or danger. Sound effects are also a strong element that helps to establish action and mood.

Themes

Amulet is aimed at children; thus, growing up is a major theme. Both Emily and Navin are forced into maturity at the beginning of the series by the death of their father. With their mother kidnapped and then poisoned, roles are reversed, as Emily and Navin risk their lives to save their only remaining parent. The revelation of the prophesied destinies of Emily (as potential ruler of Allendia) and Navin (as commander of the Resistance army) adds urgency to the maturation of the two children but also gives them confidence to fulfill their important roles.

The next major theme is power, as illustrated by the amulets that each stonekeeper possesses. The series explores the fine balance between controlling power and being consumed by it. Throughout the story, the amulet constantly tries to convince Emily to give in to its seductive power. Kibuishi has stated how the original Star Wars trilogy is an influence on Amulet, which also explores the nature of power from both sides, dark and light. Leon Redbeard vows to help Emily focus and control her powers and acts as mentor, in a way similar to characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. The Elf King provides readers with an example of what happens when power consumes all. As revealed in Volume 3, the Elf King himself is dead but the dark power of his amulet has taken complete control and animates his body. Also, with her red hair and control of pink-tinted energy from her amulet, Emily is reminiscent of Jean Grey of the X-Men, who also fought against her growing dark power in X-Men:The Dark Phoenix Saga (2006).

Family is also a key theme in Amulet. With the death of their father, Emily and Navin come to appreciate and cherish their family, and when their mother is in danger they stop at nothing to rescue her. The various characters Emily and Navin meet on their journey also become part of their extended family. Even Silas’s robot assistants show love and emotion for the two children. Even though Emily is to be protected because of her potential to rule Allendia, she risks her own life in many instances to save these newfound friends. When Cogsley and Misket are snatched off the airship in Volume 3, it is devastating for Emily to leave them behind. The relationship between Trellis and the Elf King illustrates what happens when family breaks down. Even Trellis, who is an antagonist in the first and second books, comes to join Emily’s family in Volume 3.

Impact

Amulet is one of the more successful children’s graphic novel series published in the first decade of the twenty-first century, and it has appeared on best-seller lists in both the United States and Canada. As the number of graphic novels created specifically for children has grown, Amulet holds a firm place in the category, especially as an ideal follow-up to Smith’s Bone. Kibuishi has said he hopes that Amulet introduces children to comics, especially after hearing from librarians, booksellers, and teachers about the need for more comics suitable and engaging for young readers. Amulet can be viewed as a direct extension of Flight Explorer, his first commitment to offering exciting stories for children, and Flight, which introduced readers to stories with strong narrative visuals, lush coloring, and high production values.

Published by Scholastic, the largest North American children’s publishing company, Amulet has had the unique opportunity to reach a larger audience through Scholastic’s sales channels, including traditional bookstores and the school market, book clubs and book fairs.

Amulet is indicative of the growing trend of the darkening of children’s literature. The first volume opens with the tragic death of Emily and Navin’s father. After crashing through a highway guardrail, the Hayeses’ car remains teetering on a cliff. Emily and her mother manage to escape, but their father is trapped inside as the car plummets off the cliff. Kibuishi portrays the death honestly and with deep emotion. At the beginning of the series, Kibuishi raises the stakes for readers, preparing them for a story that is both challenging and meaningful.

The series has been generally well reviewed, especially in library journals, which have praised the series’ artwork, character design, pacing, and wide appeal. In addition to winning a state award, The Stonekeeper was one of American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults, selected as a Children’s Choice by the International Reading Association, and nominated for an Eisner Award in the Best Publication for Kids category, all in 2009. Also, soon after the release of Volume 1, actor Will Smith optioned the film rights as a vehicle for his two children, Willow and Jaden. Since then, the rights have been reverted, and the film is no longer in development. With only the third book released by 2011 and seven more in the works, Amulet’s popularity is likely to grow with each book published.

Further Reading

Miyazaki, Hayao. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (2004).

Nykko and Bannister. Elsewhere Chronicles (2009- ).

Smith, Jeff. Bone (2005-2009).

Soo, Kean. Jellaby (2008-2009).

Bibliography

Smith, Zack. “An Amulet Update: Checking In with Kazu Kibuishi.” Newsarama, July 6, 2009. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/070906-Amulet2-Kazu.html

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “Searching the Clouds and Taking Flight with Cartoonist Kibuishi.” Newsarama, November 10, 2010. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/amulet-flight-kazu-101110.html