I have always believed that adapting a novel to comics is probably the hardest thing to do because the reader will compare the novel to the comic and judge it within that context. If that is that’s the case with the Stephen King’s The Stand then Aguirre-Sacasa’s adaptation will definitively stand as a work that will add to the greatness of King’s novel and to the possibilities inherent in comics as a valid medium to interpret, adapt or add to great works of literature.
There is recognition from Aguirre-Sacasa that Hard Cases would be the hardest chapter to adapt to comics due to the nature of the chapter; the required dialogue as the political foundations are laid to Boulder’s colony of Free Zone. If that was the challenge then the team of Aguirre-Sacasa, Perkins and Martin have met the challenge and surpassed all expectations. This issue completes the Hard Cases arc in splendid fashion because of the depth of characterization and power of persuasion shown throughout the series. This constant search for motivation and consistent treatment of the characters have resulted in a story with intellectual integrity and faithfulness to the original material where it counts; in the spirit of what King was trying to convey in his classic treatment of survival and confrontation with the human spirit.
The Stand will be seen as what can be accomplished in comics when great writing and artistic talent merge in the creation of visual literature.