VIZ Media's CRUELLA Manga Review

I recently read the manga adaptation of the live-action film Cruella by Hachi Ishie released by VIZ and it was… interesting. I will preface this by saying I haven’t watched the live-action film nor am I particularly fond of Cruella as a character. 

That being said, I don’t think I would call this an adaptation of the film. While there are certainly elements of it thrown in there, it might be more rightly called a prequel to the movie.

We focus entirely on Estella’s life with Jasper and Horace as they hone their skills as petty thieves and she goes on her own journey of self-discovery about what fashion and image mean to her. All the while she is grappling with her own inner Cruella and how much Estella wants to embrace this alter ego.

We meet a character named Emilia who hires Estella to “be her muse” while in fashion school, though the relationship quickly disintegrated as Estella realizes Emilia doesn’t have much of her own vision. We end with Estella inching closer to truly becoming Cruella.

The art is pretty good in the whole thing. I especially like Estella’s design as you could see elements of the original animated design of the character with the thinner nose and wide lips. For me, the whole thing fell a little flat story-wise, but if you really liked the movie/the character of Cruella you might enjoy it. 

You can buy it digitally for $10.99 or a paperback for $14.99. You can also preview the first 19 pages and see all your purchasing options here.