Adapting a Prose Novel into a Graphic Novel ?!

[cleasterwood]

So I was wondering what other writers and readers of Fantasy thought of this idea.  My cousin is a graphics designer and we were talking the other day. Well it somehow came about that I had always wanted to turn Ra's Warrior (Re's Warrior) into an anime story.  Renee and I finally came to a decision. We're going to turn my prose novel into a Graphic Novel.  Does anyone here have experience with a program called "Comic BookCreator"?  Renee is going to do all the artwork for Ra's Warrior and we were looking at getting the program because you can scan your own art into and just click balloons, etc. in place.  Seems to automate the process a bit.
Any thoughts on the idea in general or program suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Blessed be,
Lynn

[rockessence]

Hi Lynn,

When you said "Graphic novel" I immediately thought "Lynd Ward" who wrote novels in woodcuts which I have collected over the years, my favorite being GOD'S MAN pub. 1929.   I googled-images of his work:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Lynd+Ward&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Here is and example from GOD'S MAN:



story- read this: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2339/silent_beauty/





more pages from GOD'S MAN Check these out!:

http://newpartisan.squarespace.com/home/from-lynd-wards-gods-man-art-coin-food.html

[Warlock]

I have never used the program, but I have tried to create my own comics in the past, too.  I started out hand-lettering it, which is very tedious, then I bought a comic book font and typed it into the computer. Not only did it save a lot of time, it looked far more professional.

I imagine whatever they have these days is far more advanced and saves even more time (if only they could come up with a program to help "ink" artwork as that takes a lot of time, too).  I'll look into the program and get back to you.

[cleasterwood]

Hey Rockessence,
That's what I'm talking about.  A big fantasy comic book for adults.  Examples of the general flavor of style can be found here:  http://www.graphicnovelart.com/Page.asp?DocID=19304&langue=FR  These are not my cousin's work, just the style of art we'll be working with.  Renee loves Joe Jusko's art and I love Boris Vallejo and it would fit the genre better, IMHO. 

Warlock,
Thanks for the input.    The program is used by Marvel so it must be pretty good.  (Not to mention it's cheap.)

Gotta bail at the moment,
Lynn

[Warlock]

Anymore news on starting the graphic novel, Cleasterwood?

[cleasterwood]

Hi Warlock,

A brief update for you.    Script pages 1-8 are finished and posted on my wiki and I've broken down about 5 more pages of the prose version but haven't laid them out into panels with the Comic Life program.  I've mostlly been working on the character profiles in PDF and digging around for photos for her since she isn't all that familiar with Ancient Egypt.  This is a big undertaking and Renee will need as many pictures of setting, clothing, etc that I can get my hands on.   I've put each character into a folder of it's on so I can zip and send it when I'm done.  She has some basic stuff and we've already cemented the layouts of the first 8 pages, 10 if you count the two , two-page spreads as separate pages.

I don't have any of the artwork available yet, although some of the character sketches are finished.  Renee's scanner took a dump on her and I have to send her the one I have here before I can even see or post the pictures.  But that's ok because I'm packing it up today and mailing it later this afternoon.  Unfortunately, Renee is scheduled to have surgery this week.  According to her there is brighter side of it though, she's looking forward to it because she'll have 6 weeks to recover and more time to draw.    I'm praying hard for her too.  I'm so happy to have found her after 17 years of not knowing and I want her to be around for a long time. 

Well, must get ready to wake up my son and get him off to school so I can get some work done.    Once she gets my scanner, I'll be posting some pictures.

Blessed be,
Lynn

[cleasterwood]

Newer update:

I was a busy beaver the last day or two.    I sent the scanner to my cousin and as soon as she gets it, I should have some preliminary sketches to share.  I also spent some time putting more script pages together.  I'm now up to page 12 and have about 5 pages to go before I finish converting Chapter 1.  Although I think I'm going to blend chapter 1 with 2 to extend the number of drawn pages for the first chapter.  Half the character profiles were sent yesterday and I plan on spending most of the day finishing the first chapters because the other character profiles won't be needed until chapter 5.   

Turning Ra into a graphic novel has proven to be refreshing and enthralling for me.  I absolutely love writing these types of scripts.  It's been so much fun that I can't wait to finish book one and get cracking on book two.  I just hope Renee can keep up with me.  lol

Blessed be,
Lynn

[Warlock]

Hi Cleasterwood, does Renee have any artwork posted online?  I would like to see it.  If not, what is her style like?

I have both written comic book stories and written short fiction.  Between the two, I would have to say that comics are more limiting,  Not only do you have to pare down your narrative, the words have to be small enough to fit into the panels, which is difficult. 

Is that the method you are using, word balloons, captions and all that, or are you doing something different?  Which one of you will be lettering it. 

Lettering is to me, the worst job of all the comic book tasks, by the way. 

[cleasterwood]

Hi Warlock,

Renee doesn't have any art posted on the web, yet. Once she gets my scanner though I'll be posting her pictures when she's scanned them into the PC & uploads them to photobucket or flicker.   She did do a bunch of freelance projects for school & got paid for them, but nothing is online as far as I know.  She was even turned down for a job because she was over-qualified (see what graduating with a 4.0 does to person. lol) .  When I was little (I was 8; she was 10) I saw her art and  can vividly remember her drawings of horses posted all over the house.  She's always had the ability to draw well.  I can say though that Renee's primary art influence is Joe Jusko, and her style is very close to his.  http://www.joejusko.com/  I know Jusko is primarily a cover artist, but still.    I'm very excited too because she's already drawn the preliminaries for the twins and Khufu's characters.  Just waiting on her to get the scanner.  Renee has to go into surgery tomorrow though and will be out of touch for a few days.

It's strange that you say comics are more limiting.  I'm feeling much more freedom while writing the script than I ever did with Prose writing.  The story was written in third person limited omniscient and I've limited narrative captions without many problems or without loosing any impact.  You can preview the 12 of the page layouts here: http://talismansoftime.wetpaint.com/page/Graphic+Novel+Script

I'm using Comic Life's beta windows version right now to do the panel layouts, add word balloons, captions, etc.  I'd get Comic Book Creator 2, but I have to buy the Pro version, which isn't even built yet, to do Ra as a Graphic Novel.  Comic Book Creator 2 has more stuff, but wouldn't print the right resolution for a graphic novel.    Comic Life is more limited in content, but it's a nifty program and affordable.  You can find Comic Life beta here: http://plasq.com/comiclifewin-beta if you'd like to check it out.  I plan on buying Comic Life when they work out the kinks, but only if the pro version of Comic Book Creator is too expensive or takes too long for them to build.  We've not yet figured out who or how we're going to do the lettering.  Renee will use the pages I script out as a basis for where the balloons will go so they don't interfer with the artwork. We will most likely use Comic Life or Photoshop Pro 7 to add the lettering, balloons and caption boxes.  The only real Caption boxes we have are time-stamps to let the reader know they've switched to another scene in a different time.  I'd like the artwork to do most of the talking instead of using a narrator & lots of caption boxes.  The dialogue has been causing me a little havoc though because I do have to pare them down to fit the balloons.

And another update, I now have 19 pages scripted out. 

Blessed be,
Lynn