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Zusatztext "I highly recommend Campfire’s comics. They do what they are intended to do and do it in a way that excites kids about classic literature." — Chris Wilson! The Graphic Classroom (a resource for teachers and librarians) Informationen zum Autor Jules Verne; adapted by Dan Rafter; illustrated by Bhupendra Ahluwalia Klappentext A mysterious sea monster has been creating havoc in the ocean. Ships of all shapes and sizes, as well as humans, have been destroyed by this enigma! No corner of the Earth has been spared from its terror, as it continues to kill all who cross its path. In reaction to this destructive force, the US Government wastes no time in sending out a team of experienced professionals to track down and destroy it. Professor Pierre Aronnax, a marine biologist; Conseil, his faithful assistant; and Ned Land, a Canadian master harpooner, come together in an epic hunt. On board a naval ship, the Abraham Lincoln , the three men set out to track down this terrifying beast of the ocean. But, will they succeed? And what will they discover if they do? Published in 1870, originally in French, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a classic example of the imagination and foresight of Jules Verne. His pioneering approach to writing in the late 19th century led many to refer to him as the father of science fiction.CHAPTER 1 A SHIFTING REEF THE YEAR 1866 was marked by a strange event, an unexplainable occurrence which is undoubtedly still fresh in everyone's memory. Those living in coastal towns or in the interior of continents were aroused by all sorts of rumors; but it was seafaring people who were particularly excited. Merchants, shipowners, captains, skippers and masters of Europe and America, naval officers of all countries and the various governments of both continents were deeply concerned over the matter. Several ships had recently met at sea “an enormous thing,” a long slender object which was sometimes phosphorescent and which was infinitely larger and faster than a whale. The facts concerning this apparition, entered in various logbooks, agreed closely with one another as to the structure of the object or creature in question, the incredible speed of its movements, the surprising power of its locomotion and the strange life with which it seemed endowed. If it was a member of the whale family, it was larger than any so far classified by scientists. Neither Cuvier, Lacépède, Dumeril nor Quatrefages would have admitted that such a monster could exist—unless they had seen it with their own scientists' eyes. Taking an average of observations made at different times—and rejecting those timid evaluations which said the object was only two hundred feet long, and also putting aside those exaggerated opinions which said it was a mile wide and three miles long—one could nevertheless conclude that this phenomenal creature was considerably larger than anything at that time recognized by ichthyologists—if it existed at all. But it did exist—there was no denying this fact any longer—and considering the natural inclination of the human brain toward objects of wonder, one can understand the excitement produced throughout the world by this supernatural apparition. In any case, the idea of putting it into the realm of fiction had to be abandoned. On July 20, 1866, the steamer Governor Higginson of the Calcutta and Burnach Steam Navigation Company had encountered this moving mass five miles east of the Australian coast. Captain Baker first thought he had sighted an unknown reef; he was even getting ready to plot its exact position when two columns of water spurted out of the inexplicable object and rose with a loud whistling noise to a height of a hundred and fifty feet. So, unless the reef contained a geyser, the Governor Higginson was quite simply in the presence of an unkn...
