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Redwall: The Graphic Novel
Written by Brian Jacques
Adapted by Stuart Moore
Illustrated by Bret Blevins
The Long Patrol (that would be me) was recently granted an interview with Stuart Moore, the man responsible for adapting Redwall into graphic novel form.
Stuart was gracious enough to answer questions ranging from ones about specific scenes to ones about the pacing, story structure, Brian Jacques' involvement, the manga phenomenon's effect on the project, and the recent trend of medieval mice themed comics. Read the interview here!
Included with the interview is a five-page preview of the Graphic Novel (one of which I've reposted here):
I've also posted the cover art, back cover art, and spine to the right.
Penguin has offered its own preview of the Graphic Novel. While only a single page, it does give fans another look at the product (in addition to the five pages posted with The Long Patrol's interview with Stuart Moore) and reveals a rather puzzling change.
The new page is clearly identified as page 24 of the Graphic Novel-- yet in the advance reading copy, it's page 22 (the one immediately following this page). So, this begs the question-- were the pages renumbered for the final release (not starting at "1"), was this preview produced before the ARC, or were two additional pages produced for the start of the book? (Or does it simply accommodate an introduction?)
Amazon.com has posted the cover art for the Graphic Novel without that annoying white, "Advance, Uncorrected Proof" line across the front. While not nearly as large as the ARC scan (which can still be found to the right), it does give us the full effect of the cover.
Since it was first published in 1985, Redwall has spread to numerous mediums. Novels, companions, picture books, television, figurines, radio plays, to say nothing of the rumblings of a motion picture. Now, a new format can be added to the list:
The comic book.
In a recent interview conducted by Silver Bullet Comics with comic book writer Stuart Moore (Firestorm, DC Comics), Moore was asked to name future projects he was involved with. Among those projects was penning the graphic novel adaptation of Redwall.Stuart Moore: Let's see...I've just written a second Escapist story for Dark Horse. I'm negotiating an original project with Tokyopop now, which I'm very excited about. I've got a couple more things pending at DC and Marvel, and I've written a graphic novel adaptation of the bestselling fantasy novel Redwall, which will be out sometime in 2006. It's been a busy winter.
Redwall is only the latest in a long line of fantasy novels currently being adapted for comics. Among others, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series are also undergoing the adaptation process.
Amazon.com posted the following editorial description as a teaser for Redwall: The Graphic Novel.
It was meant to be: The classic fantasy adventure that began the Redwall phenomenon is finally available in a cool graphic format. Illustrated by renowned comics artist Bret Blevins, Redwall: The Graphic Novel brings to life all the battles, all the heroes, and all the villains in a fun new format perfect for reluctant readers, those just entering the Redwall world, or the countless existing fans of the series.
The following summary for Redwall has been posted in numerous online catalogs as the description for the Redwall Graphic Novel.
What can the peace-loving mice of Redwall Abbey do to defend themselves against a battle-seasoned army of rats? Teeming with riddles, humor, unforgettable characters, and high-bounding adventure, "Redwall" launched a series that has captured the world's attention.
On January 30th, 2007 well known comics letterer Richard Starkings (been reading his work for years! ;) piped up in a Newsarama thread about the forthcoming comics series Mice Templar and said:
I just turned in the lettering for Stuart Moore and Bret Blevins beautiful REDWALL adaptation (it's black and white with wash) to Penguin. I don't see why there should be any problem with there being more than one book about anthropomorphic mice -- don't we have enough superhero books?!? The quality on ALL the projects mentioned above is incredibly high. Better one more great book about characters people can actually care about than ten franchise obligation titles.
Rich!
[Source]
Stuart Moore, the writer behind the Redwall Graphic Novel, has once more posted some details over at DC Comics' Firestorm board. While not much, it is a nice status update on the project:
Thanks for asking! Yes, the REDWALL project is very much alive; it's just a lot of art for Bret Blevins to complete. I don't have a projected publication date right now, but I think it's very late 2006 or early 2007. Bret's work is beautiful; I think you'll like it. I'll try to get the word around when I have a firmer date.
[Source]
Running through what we know, Stuart Moore is handling the writing chores, Bret Blevins the art, and Bob Harras is in charge of packaging the project. Penguin/Philomel is handling the publishing side of things, it will be a trade paperback, and it'll clock in at 143 pages.
Plenty of details have surfaced regarding the Redwall Graphic Novel, courtesy of the man behind the adaptation himself, writer Stuart Moore.
As the writer for DC Comics' Firestorm, Moore frequents the Firestorm board at DC's forums to answer fan's questions and has responded to two Redwall queries (the second of which was from yours truly) with the following:
#1
It's an adaptation of the first book, being published as a stand-alone graphic novel. I've only seen stills of the cartoon, but the gn's art, by Bret Blevins, will be considerably more detailed. I've seen some initial work and it looks amazing. Brian Jacques, Redwall's creator, is approving every stage.
[Source]
#2
Thanks for asking -- that's a fun project. It's to be published by Philomel/Penguin Books, who publish the novels in the U.S. (in hardcover). It looks to run about 140 pages. Bob Harras, who's packaging the whole project, just sent me a new batch of Bret's layouts yesterday and they're gorgeous -- he's a big REDWALL fan. It's going to be some time before the book comes out because, well, it takes a while to draw 140 pages! But I think it'll be worth it.
[Source]
Running through each nugget quickly, I'm familiar with the art of Bret Blevins, having collected Batman: Shadow of the Bat in the early-'90's, a time during which he was the artist for the book. While his work is somewhat stylized, he's no slouch and I have no doubt he'll do a great job with Redwall.
As for the man packaging the project, Bob Harras, he's another comic industry vet who oversaw first the X-Men and then the Spider-Man lines of books during the 1990's. While that doesn't exactly tell us what we can expect, it does tell us the project is in good hands and we won't get short-changed.
The final bits we've gleaned (for all you article-skimmers out there) is that Philomel/Penguin is publishing it themself, rather than an actual comic book company-- it's an adaptation of Redwall-- and will be roughly 140 pages long (final count: 143). It's unclear whether the "in hardcover" was simply a clarification about the novels Philomel publishes or the graphic novel itself, but we'll try to have that point cleared up (Moore has since clarified that he was referring to the novels, and that the graphic novel should be a trade paperback).
Redwall: The Graphic Novel will be released October 4th, 2007. Stay tuned to The Redwall Newsline for more details.
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Cover Art
Front Cover
Art by Bret Blevins
Front Cover
(ARC - Large Scan)
Art by Bret Blevins
Back Cover
Art by Bret Blevins
Spine Art
Art by Bret Blevins
Writer
- Stuart Moore
Illustrator
- Bret Blevins
Release Date
- US: 10/4/07*
- UK: N/A
Page Count
- 143
ISBN-10
- 0399244816
ISBN-13
- 978-0399244810
Placement
- Between Salamandastron and Mattimeo
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