On reading the book a second time, we find ourselves noticing how Gregor has shaped up in Kuper’s interpretation. The first reading of the book tends to be limited to skimming through it to compare larger issues and ideas with the original work. Personally I didn’t get around to thinking too hard or I wouldn’t have done it. “Who is this man tampering with Kafka? How dare he? I know people had thought of my book like that before they read it. People tend to dislike a newer version of something they’ve grown to admire. The American alternative cartoonist and illustrator was fully aware of the harsh lens under which literature lovers have viewed his book. The first image of Gregor in his room is almost identical to Kafka’s original description in The Metamorphosis. His favourite picture of the woman in fur is framed and rests against the wall near his suitcase of overflowing fabrics. The saliva trickling from his mouth and onto his pillow indicates that it has only been a few minutes since he awoke. Kuper opens the book with a panel of Gregor lying on his back, staring at a familiar room. For most of them Kuper was treading on sacred territory. Reading Kuper’s The Metamorphosis the first time around is not an easy experience for the literary reader. But the publishers didn’t conceptually understand the importance of not revealing Gregor so quickly to the reader,” sighs Kuper. So if the reader wanted to know, he’d have to open the jacket or start reading the book. “One of the things I really wanted to do was to have a sort of butter paper jacket cover that showed fuzzy images and shapes but didn’t fully reveal how Gregor looked. This graphic novel just gave away the answer in the cover itself.

Readers of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis have for years imagined what kind of bug Gregor would’ve turned into. On opening Peter Kuper’s adaptation of The Metamorphosis, one finds these words in white set against two stark black pages: When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from disturbing dreams, he found himself transformed…

With startled limbs and hollow eyes, a black bug stares at the imposing intruder. A sliver of light enters a room bringing with it the silhouette of a wide-framed man.

Samsa kafka