Neil Gaiman constantly surprises, and he's done it again with "The Graveyard Book Volume 2," the wrap-up of the novel's adaptation to comics. What looked like a horror story — perhaps overlaid with a fable, topped with a touch of modern mythmaking, all intertwined into a charming, almost dreamlike child's fantasy — turned out to be a coming-of-age story.

That makes "The Graveyard Book Volume 2" ($20, HarperCollins) sound pedestrian, and/or thematically different from "Volume 1" (also $20). Which it manifestly is not.

The coming-of-age part was there all along. It's the skeleton around which the story is built, but not necessarily the only point of it. There are so many themes and ideas and insights on the human condition forming the sinew and muscle and hair of "The Graveyard Book" that it would fit comfortably in any number of categories in the bookstore — possibly, given the overworked metaphor above, anatomy.

As those who read "Volume 1" know, "Graveyard Book" opens with the murder of a baby's family by a fellow known only as "the Man Jack," but the baby is rescued by a graveyard. Well, technically he's rescued by a vampire and an ensemble of ghosts who live in the graveyard, but it isn't a stretch to say that the graveyard itself lends a hand. Well, not a hand, but some disguising ivy, or a reluctant gate, or whatever the situation requires. Because as long as Bod (short for Nobody) stays in the graveyard, he is safe from the still-searching Man Jack — protected by the dead and the undead, and even a non-sentient plot of land.

And there he learns his numbers and letters, skins his knees, plays and dreams, all the typical things a growing boy does. He also learns a few atypical things, like turning invisible and walking through walls.

All of which was established in "Volume 1," which adapted the first five chapters of the novel. "Volume 2," adapting Chapter 6 through to the end, continues the tale as Bod gets a little too old to stay attached to his ghostly mother's invisible apron strings. As height and hormones kick in, he wants to see more of the world, no matter how dangerous.

And Bod's world is particularly dangerous, because of the organization the Man Jack belongs to, the Jacks of All Trades (all named Jack, of course), who have heard a prophecy that Bod will be their destruction if he lives. So they are pretty motivated to find and end him, and they are not without supernatural resources of their own.

So here's where the "adventure story" part of Gaiman's multi-layer tale comes into the foreground. As Bod moves about in the real world, he learns that not all people are nice, and that girls can be quite confusing. But the Jacks learn something, too: where Bod is. So while his guardians are otherwise occupied (also with the Jacks, in a different way), Bod must defend himself from the ruthless killers that murdered his family. All he has are his wits, some minor magic tricks — and a graveyard that wants to protect him.

Of course, this is a graphic novel, so the artists have a big say in the success or failure of the work. Fortunately, "Graveyard Book Volume 2" has some of the best in the business. As with the first volume, classical artist P. Craig Russell has done layouts for all the pages, and selected the artists he thinks most suited to do finishes for each chapter. In addition to himself, that includes Scott Hampton, David LaFuente, Kevin Nowlan and Galen Showman — all-stars all.