Inspired by the Nazi book burnings of the 1930s (451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper ignites), Ray Bradbury created a dark future where books are illegal for promoting critical thought and intellectualism, a world where firemen have become state sanctioned book-burners searching houses and punishing transgressors. However, curiosity and a meeting with an ethereal teenage neighbour leads disillusioned fireman Montag to question a society that stamps down on independent thought.

This comic isn’t the first adaptation of the story – François Truffaut directed a film version in 1966 which Frank Darabont is set to remake next year – and Tim Hamilton’s graphic novel brings Bradbury’s tale to vivid life with careful use of colour and shade to create a claustrophobic world that attempts to control its populace. Some of the dialogue feels slightly stilted in this new interpretation but Fahrenheit 451 still retains its powerful message about the value of literature.

(HarperVoyager)