Bantam Books is set to announce that it has acquired the comic-book and graphic novel rights to George R. R. Martin’s hugely popular A Song of Ice and Fire series. The first of the monthly comic books — to be illustrated by Tommy Paterson and adapted by Daniel Abraham — is due out later this spring, as is the HBO adaptation of the first book in the series, Game of Thrones. Dynamic Entertainment will issue the comic books and Bantam will later collect them in graphic-novel form. While we all wait for this influx of Games-related stuff, here are some preliminary comic sketches for characters Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister to tide us over. They’re after the jump.
Game of Thrones fans, I’d love for you to weigh in. Will you be reading the novels in comic book form?
More George R. R. Martin and Game of Thrones:
TV show, a comic book and hopefully the actually book, 2011 is going to be an awesome time for us Song of Fire and Ice fans!
we’ve been promised a book for at least 4 years, I think. Won’t recommend anyone get invested in show or comic until the books are actually finished.
Oh great another distraction to keep Martin from finishing the series as he stays fatally stalled on finishing the latest book.
First he goes and seems to supervise the entire shooting of the HBO series. Now he’ll probably have to choose every part of the graphic novel and probably volunteer to write it. Anything to keep him from facing his near-fatal case of writer’s block……
My thoughts exactly! While I am beyond thrilled about the mini series, and even though the graphic novel could be really interesting, I just want Martin to finish the damn books before he croaks (I do not want another Robert Jordan situation on our hands)!!
Though the Jordan books have been VERY well treated by Brandon Sanderson.
@CT My thoughts exactly. Sanderson has been doing great with finishing the season for Jordan.
Sanderson has done a better job than Jordan did on his last two books.
A careful reading of the article reveals that the comic book adaptation is being written by Daniel Abraham, based on the books which have of course already been written. So yeah, GRRM is not involved in a day-to-day basis on the comic book, nor is he on the TV series (he spent a couple of weeks writing his episode and watched some of the casting tapes; it’s hard to do more when you live 5000 miles from the studio).
And Daniel Abraham is RAD
Too true.
I was thinking the same thing about another distraction for GRR Martin being just what he DIDN’T need.
Has he given up on finishing the series, yet? The first three books were among the best and were done in 1996, 1998, and 2000. The fourth book was just OK (bad by comparison, easily the worst of the series) and took 5 years to complete. The fifth book in the seven book series has not been released in 6 years and no potential release date.
Martin seems distracted by his blog, politics, swords, conventions and pretty much anything not involving actually writing the Ice and Fire series.
I swear, if any more SOIF projects are announced that do not involve GRRM finishing the series, I will lose my mind. Hopefully this is a sign that we will get a conclusion.
I would be very surprised if people who read novels written by George RR Martin would be interested in comic books except on the merely curious level. My parents did me a big favor in the 50s when they were forbidden in our home.
That’s unfortunate that you weren’t allowed to explore this wonderful artform, L. But, I can tell you that the majority of people in my circle who have read the SOIAF series are adults, literate, educated, intelligent, *and* interested in comic books.
They may have been forbidden by your parents, and you may find them just a “curiosity”, but please do not judge others unfairly. In my opinion, your parents did you a great disservice by forbidding you to read comics and it has clearly colored your perceptions negatively.
umm… even though i do agree with you’r criticsm, not everyone who read SOIAF is dying to have comic books for them. MY opinion, this is MINE (u might DISAGREE all you want) is that why have comic pictures, etc.. when you could read the novel and use imagination. the books are not meant for children who need a picture to each scence to fully understand it. it might be a good idea to flip through it and see how other people thought the characters should look like, but that doesn’t mean how you imagined it was wrong. please do not judge others unfairly by saying that everyone is intrested in comic books and saying that it would be a great asset to the books. it will not bring more “literate, educated, intelligent” fans to the books, but only those who believe that they are easy novels. againe, this is my OPINION.
If that’s actually the case, it’s a shame because you have been missing out. Comics have long been considered an influential and literary medium. There are plenty of comic titles and comic-based story arcs that have are hugely influential on other mediums, such as X-Men’s “Dark Phoenix Saga” and Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman”. “Watchmen”, a comic book graphic novel, was listed on Time’s 100 Greatest Books of the 20th Century. And Michael Chabon’s “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay”, based loosely off the creators of “Superman”, won the 2001 Pulitzer for fiction.
Comic books have come a long way since the 50s and some, like Watchmen, Maus, and Sandman, have won awards and been recognized in their own right.
It’s also worth mentioning that Game of Thrones will not be the first Martin work to be adapted into a comic book. The Dunk and Egg novellas have been adapted into The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword (two graphic novels). I think you’d be surprised by the number of George R.R. Martin fans who do not have your prejudices and who appreciate the comic book form.
like a person before me said comics HAVE come a long way. too bad people like you give things such a negative outlook without even knowing what you’re talking about. there are some groundbreaking comics out there that are on par with novels… so your folks did you no such favor.
I might flip through one in the comic store, but especially as I’ve read the books so recently and do plan on watching the TV show as it comes out, I don’t think I’ll be making a monthly purchase. Hopefully the comics will have some appeal to people that are interested in the story but not sure they want to read 500 page books, then will end up picking up the books to find out what happens next.
oh dear lord. While I like the idea of seeing this epic series in comic book form the fact that it will be just one more excuse for Martin to not actually write anything new is frustrating. He spits on his long time fans by making us wait 6 years for a book he claimed was almost done in 2005
In my opinion, I think this a great idea. fans have talked about it for years, but Martin always thought it would be too hard to do. Though he clearly believes adaptations can work now, after already placing his work in trustworthy hands. I also believe that Daniel Abraham is more than capable of adapting it faithfully, and im sure Martin wouldnt be terribly distracted by the process,it will be a slow one. On top of that, i believe the comics will do well, but the majority of the sales will likely come from the combined graphic novels. I own the Hedge night GNs, and they are done well, the issue was that it being prequel novellas to ASOIAF that could only be read in Ledgends or Dreamsongs now, the following was less. Ice and Fire will probably do alot better. I for one am looking forward to them. As a final note, Martin has stated that he is refining the last 4 chapters of ADWD, so it shouldnt be long, and as he said he already has a few hundred pages of TWOW done, that process should be shorter than the current book.
“that process should be shorter than the current book”
THAT, my friend, is setting the bar low!
That drawing of Tyrion is way too pretty. Tyrion’s face was twisted. Even Peter Dinklage is too pretty, but passable. This drawing is worse, and doesn’t ring “Tyrion” at all, to me. Also: Didn’t Jon Snow have curly black hair, not straight long hair?
Not a big fan of graphic novels.
I would rather have a new book…..c’mon already
I’ll have to re-read the whole series again before I can read the new book…whenever that happens!
Looking forward to the Comics. As to GRRM finishing the book. I rather the book be finished right than just get finished to be finished.
i hear so much about this series but urrgh don’t want to read if its not done,i can’t live with that kind of frustration, guess i’ll just watch the tv show for the time being!
I’m thrilled with this news. The recent comic adaptation of Fevre Dream was well done, as were the previous Hedge Knight stories. A lot of great genre fiction has had fantastic adaptations lately. Philip K Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Enders Game, Wheel of Time…Stephen King’s Dark Tower series has been doing really well in comic book form. ASOIAF could do really well.
I’d really rather prefer Dance with Dragons, please.
I love renaidg these articles because they’re short but informative.