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| Last Updated: Aug 21, 2008 - 3:13:23 PM |
Dabel Brothers are about to have another hit on their hands as they prepare for the launch of the collected trade paperback edition of bestselling authors Raymond E. Feist's THE WOOD BOY and Tad Williams's THE BURNING MAN, which should hit store shelves in November.
"The pre-orders for this title have been incredible," said Les Dabel, Vice President of DB Pro. "On Amazon alone, we've watched the book's sales rank get up in the top thousand several times -- staggering considering the volume of products they carry. We've also heard a lot of positive feedback from our sources elsewhere in the publishing industry who are impressed with the quality of what we've achieved and believe this title will do extremely well once it's out."
Part of the formula for their success is that the Dabel Brothers have a "stick to the text, appeal to the fans" philosophy in their adaptations, which has given them enormous credibility with both the authors whom have allowed DB Pro to license their work and the fans who wind up reading the finished product.
"We're not the only comic book company doing fantasy," explained Sean J. Jordan, who wrote the scripts for both adaptations and helped to oversee production and marketing, "but we hear from readers all the time that we're doing it the best. One of the main reasons the fans rally behind us is because they know we’re working closely with the authors to ensure that our adaptations are as authentic as possible.”
One example, explained Jordan, came during production of THE WOOD BOY. “[Series artist] Mat Broome read the script and saw that the story contained some “alien” invaders called the Tsurani, and Mat drew up an incredible design to match what he saw. But when Mr. Feist saw the design, he quickly pointed out that, while Mat had created a fantastic new alien race, the Tsurani were humans who were simply “alien” in the sense that they came from parts unknown. This sort of interaction allowed us to make sure that the finished product would not only be something the fans could enjoy, but that it would also be something that the author could appreciate as well!”
But there were times, too, when creative license needed to be employed. “THE BURNING MAN is almost lyrical as a short story,” said Jordan, “but when it came time for me and [co-writer] Robin Gillespie to start the script, we found ourselves having a hard time capturing the haunting, ethereal language that Mr. Williams used in the text. Robin suggested adding in a few scenes based off the descriptions in the text so we could give the beginning some visual substance, and when we handed the script over to Brett Booth, he managed to pull even more details out of the text to give the story a really rich and vibrant feel. The result is an almost dreamlike tale that deviates somewhat from the text, but manages to keep the overall feel of the story.”
Jordan also addressed one of the most frequently asked questions DB Pro has received about this graphic novel edition: why the Dabel Brothers put these two stories by different writers and with different styles of art in the same volume.
“First of all, you have to understand that both of these stories stem from the same source – they each appeared in a fantasy anthology called LEGENDS that was edited by Robert Silverberg. The idea of LEGENDS was to introduce readers to the works of major fantasy writers by offering them short stories that introduced their respective worlds in some unique way. THE WOOD BOY was a side story to Mr. Feist’s RIFTWAR SAGA, while THE BURNING MAN was a side story to Mr. William’s MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN. And both of these stories have a lot in common – they’re each about teenagers who are coming of age through strange circumstances and hardship, and they each take place in swords and sorcery style fantasy worlds.”
“And where THE WOOD BOY is about courage and unrequited love, THE BURNING MAN is about a secret passion and a betrayal – making both titles complement each other quite well.”
THE WOOD BOY & THE BURNING MAN should be available at booksellers and comic book stores everywhere by the end of November. It is being published by Dabel Brothers Production and distributed through Diamond Book Distributors. The book will also contain a sneak preview of DB Pro’s upcoming adaptation of Raymond E. Feist’s MAGICIAN, featuring art by Brett Booth and a script by Michael Avon Oeming and Bryan J.L. Glass.
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