I recently read and enjoyed NBM's graphic biography of Janis Joplin, so I quickly picked up another book from the publisher's series of biographical graphic novels, this one on Prince.

Unfortunately, Prince in Comics is a far less impressive book, even though the story of Prince Rogers Nelson, the rightfully acclaimed musician and showman, is interesting reading.

A big problem with this book is that the story is presented in chunks, alternating pages of text with illustrated comic-book pages. The text pages bog down the story, breaking the flow that the comics provide. It also doesn't help that the book changes artists every few pages; the constant shift in style disrupts any feeling of continuity, and sometimes making it hard to identify characters in the tale. The chapters suffer from some redundancy and occasionally contradictory information.

Don't get me wrong, Prince's story is a fascinating biography of an immensely talented musician who made his own way in the Minneapolis music scene and became a worldwide phenomenon. But this book lets him down.

Perhaps my biggest complaint is that the book was obviously written and illustrated by a fan, with constant and effusive adulations turning it into more of a paean of praise than an objective biographical source. It's OK, a little bit of fandom can be expected, but too much -- such as "the expression of princely genius" and a comparison of Prince's work to Mozart's -- make it hard to take this book seriously.

In one case, the writer notes that a double album didn't play well to American audiences, then adds: "magnificent though it was." OK, we get it, you worship Prince.

The book is written primarily by Tony Lourenco, with additional text by Nicolas Finet. Some 16 artists provide illustrations.

You'll learn a lot about Prince through Prince in Comics, but the presentation is overblown.