I was thinking about it, and am encouraged by your statement that the subsequent books are more likable; especially as I liked the first one.
BTW, I read a lot of complaints about the graphic novel,
Exile. People seem to rate it either 1 star or 5 stars, and it seems to me that the 1 star ratings were given mostly by long time fans of Diana Gabaldon. The complaints seemed to fall into two categories: (1) those who felt the artwork was inconsistent and felt a different artist should have been chosen (one said that Jamie and Claire looked like characters out of Speed Racer) and (2) those who were disappointed with the story, saw the characters to be hollowed out shells of the characters in the books, and felt that Gabaldon should have maintained tighter control over her creation.
Said user reviews of the graphic novel can be seen at the
Barnes & Noble website.
The artwork is very inconsistent. Some is fantastic, some is cartoony.