Game of Thrones Comics Attacking This Spring

[Greg Tito]

Game of Thrones Comics Attacking This Spring

George R.R. Martin fantasy-induced fever is sweeping the nation as a new comic book adaptation of his sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire series was announced.

Winter is Coming, and in as many different media as possible. HBO is set to premiere the first episode of its hourly dramatic retelling of Martin's series in April, and the cast and crew of Game of Thrones are hopefully prepared for several seasons as they follow each book in the series. Riding on the coattails of the HBO series, Bantam Books announced a comic book adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire that will debut in "late spring" with a hardbound anthology to follow. The comic will be drawn by Tommy Patterson and penned by Daniel Abraham, who is familiar both writing his own science fiction and fantasy stories as well as adapting Martin's work. The concept drawings for Jon Stark and Tyrion Lannister look compelling even without color added.

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The comic book adaptations of Martin's short stories set in the same world of Westeros were really entertaining. I enjoyed both The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword comics as they portrayed Ser Duncan the Tall and a young man named Egg, who may or may not have a mysterious past. (Hint: it's the purple eyes!) Ben Avery and Mike S. Miller did a great job bringing the gritty knights and lords of Martin's world to life and it gives me hope that Patterson and Abraham will follow suit.

For those of you excited for the TV drama to debut on April 17, HBO has released a lot of behind the scenes videos called Artisans showing actors describing their roles. In this one, Maisie Williams plays Arya Stark and it's interesting hearing her describe in a thick British accent how she had to adapt to the tomboy role, and sword fight left-handed. I'm not too sure about how the city of King's Landing is depicted; as [user]Steve Butts[/user] said in the office this morning, it's a lot more yellow than I had imagined.


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[godofallu]

I read the series a while ago, and personally I don't see how it will make a good movie. There are just too many things going on at once in the books.

A detailed comic is certainly doable though, so i'll be looking forward to that.

To anyone who hasn't read the series the first book is A Game of Thrones, you should go read it. It's really good.

 

[Slycne]

I read the series a while ago, and personally I don't see how it will make a good movie. There are just too many things going on at once in the books.

A detailed comic is certainly doable though, so i'll be looking forward to that.

I have the opposite impression. I can see the conversion to film being much more fluid than a conversion to comics.

 

[loc978]

I absolutely love the books (though I'm a little beyond impatient for A Dance With Dragons to come out), and I think the HBO series looks promising... but I've never been big on comics. Spinoffs into other forms of media, yes, but comics themselves, not so much.
...still might check 'em out, though.

 

[Ghengis John]

I don't have cable unfortunately.

Fortunately my Tolkien, D&D loving buddy does and he'll be taping these for me. He's told me that one of these books is as long as all three lord of the rings and there's ten of them. At any rate, the producers of this show will have a lot of material to draw upon if they find it's a hit.

Lord that little girl is so mature "A sword it's quite a manly thing to have.", talking about "I've never worked with a sword before". Worked? She sound's like she's been in the business for 30 years. I think at that age I was playing with ninja turtles and mud in my back yard.

 

[CK76]

I read the series a while ago, and personally I don't see how it will make a good movie. There are just too many things going on at once in the books.

A detailed comic is certainly doable though, so i'll be looking forward to that.

To anyone who hasn't read the series the first book is A Game of Thrones, you should go read it. It's really good.

It's not a movie, its a television series, so get a good 9-10 hours to do first book. Still have to move quick to pull it off.

On the comics, I'll look into it, as I wait to Dance with Dragons...

 

[CK76]

I don't have cable unfortunately.

Fortunately my Tolkien, D&D loving buddy does and he'll be taping these for me. He's told me that one of these books is as long as all three lord of the rings and there's ten of them. At any rate, the producers of this show will have a lot of material to draw upon if they find it's a hit.

Lord that little girl is so mature "A sword it's quite a manly thing to have.", talking about "I've never worked with a sword before". Worked? She sound's like she's been in the business for 30 years. I think at that age I was playing with ninja turtles and mud in my back yard.

There are 4 books published in planned series of 7. I want to say length of books is 800-1300 pages.

 

[Ghengis John]

Welp I never claimed to be an expert, thanks.

 

[Actual]

But it's already a book. Why make it into a comic book? For people who are scared by small text? Don't think they're the type of people who are going to be interested in this.

Project seems like a waste of time but I'll wait until I've seen the finished work.

 

[sleeky01]

But it's already a book. Why make it into a comic book? For people who are scared by small text? Don't think they're the type of people who are going to be interested in this.

Project seems like a waste of time but I'll wait until I've seen the finished work.

Like others I'm alittle hesitant in this being adapted to comic book format. But it could work. I'll have to see.

Just like to say that I'm a fan of the series. So much so that I switched cable companies because the one I was with didn't offer HBO.

To give people alittle better idea of what to expect from this series, here's an extended behind the scenes:

<youtube=psbBi7dLnT4>

 

[coldfrog]

No! No no no no no! no no no. No. Aaaaagh no, gimme the stuff I actually want!

Dangit, finish your book first, then do this other stuff!

(OK, I know that that's not necessarily how it works and that more likely than not Martin isn't doing all the work here, but I just REALLY want Dance of Dragons to be available).

Personally, though, I DO think they're stretching the property a little thin. I almost have to wonder if people are trying to make up for the Fire and Ice vacuum by filling it with their own projects. I'm pretty excited about the TV series, and I'd give the comic a go, but I almost have a feeling one of these is going to end up affecting the other and the two will be compared in unfavorable ways... blaaah. We'll see.

 

[Sartan0]

As long as they are smart enough to give "A storm of Swords" two season and not try to do it in one they might be able to pull it off.

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

Man, I cannot wait for this series. I will be all over it like hocakes, show and comic both. George R. R. Martin's series are my most enjoyed books, and I can't wait for the rest of the series to hurry up and come out.

 

[Milkman Dan]

I've read both The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword in book and comic book formats, they were different experiences and I enjoyed them both. I welcome a comic book at that level of quality of the Game of Thrones novels. There are things comic books allow that just aren't possible in book format, much like the opposite is true.

 

[Don't taze me bro]

As much as I'm sure I will enjoy the TV show and the comics, please bring out Dances with Dragons. It's been YEARS already.

 

[plunderbunny]

I'd love to see this TV series. I'm a newbie to the books, but I recently finished reading A Game of Thrones and really enjoyed it. Just need to get started on Clash of Kings now.

The comic books sound fantastic as another way to experience the story. I'm definitely interested

 

[Unspeakable]

Seriously, Martin is a heart-attack waiting to happen:
Old, Overweight, Smoker.

He needs to get back to work finishing this great series and not farting around with fiction for Wildcards or Shadowrun or whatever junk he's been wasting his time on.

Hopefully the HBO series and these comics will give him a kick in the pants and get his head on straight.

Edit: BEFORE HE IS DEAD