Is anyone interested in the graphic novel form?

[Mark Ellis]

Since the graphic novel is the hot new medium in publishing for all categories, I was just wondering if anybody was interested in breaking into it with their own thrillers or mysteries.

[Mark Ellis]

The form is decades old, obviously...the term "graphic novel" was coined by Will Eisner back in in 1978.

(I co-wrote The Everything Guide to Writing Graphic Novels, so I know a wee bit about it)

But as far as NYC publishers are concerned, graphic novels are the "hot" new form. I attended the BEA last year and brought with me a few copies of my recently printed (but not yet distributed) graphic novel, Death Hawk: The Soulworm Saga.

None of the editors I met with were very impressed with my novel writing credentials ("Created the Outlanders series, 42 of them over the last ten years, yeah, yeah, uh-huh") but they all got excited when I showed them my graphic novel.

Most of the bigger houses now have graphic novel divisions that cover all categories. Since graphic novels and even comic books are attractive to movie people (because the work is already storyboarded), I think it's a form that thriller and mystery writers should consider pursuing.

I know I am.

[PJ LOZITO]

Gil Kane's BLACK MARK from '71 was one of the first all-original "graphic novels" meant for paperback.

[Mark Ellis]

So was Gil's 1968 release, His Name Is...Savage!

So was Gil's 1968 release, His Name Is...Savage!

[PJ LOZITO]

Yeah, cool. Mea culpa, just because it was a small press vs. a Bantam Books release I shouldn't have forgetten that one.

[Grant McKenzie]

I would absolutely love to pursue this form. I don't think my current novels would translate directly into it, although they definitely have strong movie potential, but I would love to start with writing some DC stuff first (Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Batman) and then a graphic novel when I felt I had a complete graphical story arc in my head. I actually just finished a new short story for a proposed anthology that I think would work wonderfully well as a comic arc.

[Mark Ellis]

Margot--you've got the perfect name for the heroine of graphic novel.

Grant--if it was only that simple to write "some DC stuff". Breaking into comics-scripting cold is tougher than breaking into Hollywood.

It's a closed and nepotistic set-up.

[Grant McKenzie]

Guess I need to find me some neps, then. Anyone adopting ;-)

[Mark Ellis]

Wish I'd had an Easter basket like that when I was 11...all I got was Jack Chick comic booklets about how I was such a sinner I'd go the juvie hell:(

[Mark Ellis]

Some of Raymond Chandler's work has been adapted into graphic novels:

One of my great unrealized (so far) ambitions is to adapt Hammet's Red Harvest as a graphic novel, casting a character much like Eisner's The Spirit as the Continental Op.

[Dawn M. Kravagna]

Thanks for sharing, Mark. I've been told several times to do a graphic novel as my artwork appeals to kids, but finding the time when working fulltime is really tough. I'll have to check your book out. But it'd be foolish to ignore what publishers are eager to obtain. There is also a great need for talented Manga artists. The good ones are really busy--so I've heard from a book company looking for new talent.

Some graphic novelists/cartoonists are pushing the title, "drawn book," but I don't have a problem with graphic novel, myself.

[Craig McDonald]

I recently finished adapting my own crime novel, Head Games, for a graphic novel to be published by First Second (the artist search is now on). Reducing the novel to script form for a picture-driven format was...interesting. The story beats are all there, but it's the novel from a different set of camera angles, so to speak.

(By the way, Mark, I loved Millennium's treatment of Doc Savage. Yours, and the B/W Marvel series, are the only truly great presentations that character has gotten in comics format.)

[Mark Ellis]

Thanks, Craig--I appreciate the kind words.

Head Games sounds exactly like the kind of book I would love. I'll pick it up ASAP, I won't wait for the graphic novel. What is First Second?

I think our "heads" are in the same place, to some extent. Look at this page from an upcoming graphic novel of mine entitled Lakota...check out the dialogue in the second panel...the art is by Jim Mooney, BTW.