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- Jun 13, 2006
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For a long time the dominating force in US comic books has been the superhero, but latterly that has begun to change with the rise of licenced titles. That does not mean to say this is a new thing, as far back as the days if Conan comics have been drawing on other media for new titles, and who my age will not remember Marvel’s tremendous Star Wars run? But more recently that seems to have increased.
Dynamite Entertainment seems to have made it the core of their publishing but they have gone one further recently. Their success has had them asking other questions central of which is are there any other sources they can use to create new, different comics. And they have come up with a good answer.
Adaptations of popular novels.
And if they can work on epic long running novel series, then all the better it gives them a long ongoing well to draw upon. In the case of their first attempt they have chosen a series that will keep them going for a long, long time: Robert Jordan’s epic, and maybe overextended series he Wheel of Time.
At the time of writing the first novel, Eye of the World is still being adapted, issue 30 is waiting release. With another thirteen books to go it is a sure bet that this is a series that could go on for a long, long time.
But is it any good?
Well yes. Although there are many people who are more than ready to argue that Jordan’s work gets a little… extended as the novels continue, the earlier ones are excellent reads, so the source material is a good skeleton to build upon.
The adaptation is by a former Batman writer, Chuck Dixon. To start with he seems to be overwriting (ironic perhaps) but he soon finds a fitting piece and as the series continues it becomes as easy to read as the source material. Yes there is a lot of exposition, more than you would want in a normal comic, but when you imagine the number of panels that would be needed to cover those words it seems to be an expedient measure, to avoid a series that stretches hundreds of issues per novel.
Although the artwork is provided by different artists, there is a pleasing uniformity to it, that means the series has a smooth unblemished feel to it, not a jerky transition between styles, So as the various volumes are collected into graphic novels they will not look like a mish-mash of styles.
The style itself is not overly elaborate, neither is it simple. It is solid and clean, ideally suited to the story and giving the scope of the story it works well, catching both the characters and the locations brilliantly. Of course they are not going to fit everyone’s interpretation of how things look, but in a case like this you are never going to find something that ll people agree on.
For myself I sometimes think some of the characters look a little alike, but that is a small thing.
As a whole the series has reminded me why I so enjoyed the early Wheel of Time books, and makes me llok forwards to reading the other big adaptation Dynamite are working on….
Dynamite Entertainment seems to have made it the core of their publishing but they have gone one further recently. Their success has had them asking other questions central of which is are there any other sources they can use to create new, different comics. And they have come up with a good answer.
Adaptations of popular novels.
And if they can work on epic long running novel series, then all the better it gives them a long ongoing well to draw upon. In the case of their first attempt they have chosen a series that will keep them going for a long, long time: Robert Jordan’s epic, and maybe overextended series he Wheel of Time.
At the time of writing the first novel, Eye of the World is still being adapted, issue 30 is waiting release. With another thirteen books to go it is a sure bet that this is a series that could go on for a long, long time.
But is it any good?
Well yes. Although there are many people who are more than ready to argue that Jordan’s work gets a little… extended as the novels continue, the earlier ones are excellent reads, so the source material is a good skeleton to build upon.
The adaptation is by a former Batman writer, Chuck Dixon. To start with he seems to be overwriting (ironic perhaps) but he soon finds a fitting piece and as the series continues it becomes as easy to read as the source material. Yes there is a lot of exposition, more than you would want in a normal comic, but when you imagine the number of panels that would be needed to cover those words it seems to be an expedient measure, to avoid a series that stretches hundreds of issues per novel.
Although the artwork is provided by different artists, there is a pleasing uniformity to it, that means the series has a smooth unblemished feel to it, not a jerky transition between styles, So as the various volumes are collected into graphic novels they will not look like a mish-mash of styles.
The style itself is not overly elaborate, neither is it simple. It is solid and clean, ideally suited to the story and giving the scope of the story it works well, catching both the characters and the locations brilliantly. Of course they are not going to fit everyone’s interpretation of how things look, but in a case like this you are never going to find something that ll people agree on.
For myself I sometimes think some of the characters look a little alike, but that is a small thing.
As a whole the series has reminded me why I so enjoyed the early Wheel of Time books, and makes me llok forwards to reading the other big adaptation Dynamite are working on….
