Graphic Novels are gaining in popularity for readers of all ages. Some unexpected authors are making use of this versatile format. The trend is expanding past the young adult and fantasy market, and into the mainstream adult readership. While some authors have been making graphic novels for years, like Neil Gaiman, unexpected authors are now making the leap.
One of the most surprising authors making this transition is Janet Evanovich. Troublemaker, due to be released on July 20 2010, is the third book in the Alex Barnaby series. It is her first graphic novel, but likely not her last. Troublemaker will return readers to the world of Alexandra Barnaby and Sam Hooker, from Metro Girl and Motor Mouth, with their chaos causing methods of sleuthing. I cannot wait to see if the artwork and storyline live up to my expectations. Evanovich is best known for her Stephanie Plum series.
Sherrilyn Kenyon is making a magna, a Japanese form of graphic novel, version of her best selling paranormal romance Dark-Hunter series. The artwork and format is in the traditional magna style, reading left to right and back to front. This might confuse newcomers to the style, but fans of the original series and urban fantasy in general will love the adaptation. The artwork really is gorgeous, and the original stories translate well into the new format. I was reluctant at first to allow an artist to render some of my favorite characters in ink, but I think that they did a great job. This might not seem like a huge leap, vampires and gods in graphic novel format; however, women have traditionally not been the target audience for the format.
Patricia Briggs did a great job on her first graphic novel, Mercy Thompson Homecoming. This graphic novel is a prequel to her best selling urban fantasy series about a coyote-shifting mechanic raised by werewolves. I have yet to be disappointed by Briggs, and am glad to say that that includes her graphic novel. The artwork is wonderful and the story was a great addition to the series. She is also adapting the rest of the Mercy Thompson series into the graphic novel format, Moon Called is available for pre-order on Amazon but no release date is listed.
Laurell K. Hamilton made a less successful attempt at bridging the gap. She has released graphic novel versions of her Anita Blake series. However, the artwork and storylines in this series seem to fall flat. Part of the problem with is adaptation is the artwork; Anita is proportioned oddly and looks perpetually bored. The actual storyline did not translate well either, a normally strong female character comes off as weak in the graphic novel. Perhaps part of the problem lies in the mid series deterioration of plot clouding my judgment. Thankfully the novels have started regaining plotlines, so perhaps the graphic novels will improve as well.
Other authors that have made the transition include Jim Butcher, Christine Feehan, Stephan King, Tracy Hickman, R. A. Salvatore and Diana Gabaldon. Some are successful and others are for serious fans of the author only. Keep a close eye on your favorite authors; they just might try their hand at going graphic next.
