Orson Scott Card's Wyrms Adaptation

[The_Khan]

Here is cover 1A for Wyrms, enjoy :)

Cover 1A:
http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/WYRMS_01_covera.JPG

[The_Khan]

Here is cover #1B of Wyrms, enjoy :)

Cover #1B
http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/WYRMS_01_coverb.JPG

[Scheherazade]

Khan,

If you don't mind me asking, why are you posting these?

[The_Khan]

No, I don't mind you asking Scheherazade my friend. We're adapting the works of some authors such as George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Robert Silverberg, Tad Williams, Raymond E. Feist, Laurell K. Hamilton, Orson Scott Card and many others. All the while more and more authors are joining us everyday. As we adapt these books, I want to hear the feedbacks of those who read the books already and can give me some input as to if they think the adaptations are true to the books.

Scheherazade my friend have you read any of these authors I have links for? If you have what are your thoughts? I'm eager to hear your response. Thanks and talk to you soon :)

[mir]

i've read a lot of Orson scott card . . . haven't read wyrms for a while, but the covers look cool; a bit comic-booky, but certainly eye-catching. i don't know about the other authors; i don't always pay attention to names.

[Scheherazade]

No, I don't mind you asking Scheherazade my friend. We're adapting the works of some authors such as George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Robert Silverberg, Tad Williams, Raymond E. Feist, Laurell K. Hamilton, Orson Scott Card and many others. All the while more and more authors are joining us everyday. As we adapt these books, I want to hear the feedbacks of those who read the books already and can give me some input as to if they think the adaptations are true to the books.

Scheherazade my friend have you read any of these authors I have links for? If you have what are your thoughts? I'm eager to hear your response. Thanks and talk to you soon :)Adapting how? And who is 'we'?

I have read only The Seventh Son by Card; I cannot say I thought much of it because nothing major seemed to happen in it but a friend of mine, Papaya, said something actually does happen in later books so when I have time, I might read those too!

[The_Khan]

Mir my friend I'm happy to hear that you are a fan of Orson Scott Card. Yes, we went with a comic-booky feel in order to hook the comic book fans so that they can go to bookstores and read OSC's books. You can check out the "Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker Adaptation" thread to see a cover that is not as comic-booky looking ;)


Scheherazade my friend, we are taking author's novels and adapting them into the graphic medium. 'We', that would be my brothers and I. I'm Ernst by the way the oldest of the Dabel Brothers and we are adapting Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, Tad Williams, Raymond E. Feist, Laurell K. Hamilton, and many others. Every day new authors are joining us so our library is only getting bigger :)

I spoke to Scott and he told me that he wanted us to start off first with the Red Prophet, which is the second book in the Alvin Maker series, a lot happens in that one, and then he wants us to go back to Seventh Son and then we'll move forward regularly. You should read the remaining books when you get a chance. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask me. Also please check out my other threads so you can see some of the other projects we are currently adapting, enjoy :)

[Gringoire]

i've read a lot of Orson scott card . . . haven't read wyrms for a while, but the covers look cool; a bit comic-booky, but certainly eye-catching. i don't know about the other authors; i don't always pay attention to names.

I haven't read Wyrms at all. I have read one 'Folk of the Fringe', and four of the Ender books. My favourite has to be Shadow of Ender. Was there any one of his books that really stood out to you, that you could recommend?

Thanks!
Gringoire

[mir]

huh - i haven't read Shadow of Ender yet. well, my personal favorites of Card's books are probably either Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, or Enchantment. Wyrms is cool, but a bit . . . i don't know, weird. : ) it's good writing, though.

And Khan, are you doing new cover for ALL of Card's books? i'd sort of like to see what your designs are for Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow - my copies are falling apart.

[The_Khan]

Gringoire my friend, when you get a chance you should definitely check out Wyrms. You should also check out his Alvin Maker Series, and if you do, start off with Red Prophet, which is the second book. We will be adapting that one first and the first issue will be on the comic book shelves at the end of this month.

Mir my friend the Ender's series is really awesome. I read Enchantment and really enjoyed it as well. You're right Wyrms is a bit...weird, that's sci-fi for you, lol :)

Oh no, not for the books my friend. We're only doing covers for the adaptations of the novels, which will be out in comic book form, once we're done with 6 issues, they will be compiled into a graphic novel. Once I have a five page preview of Wyrms ready, I will be sure to show you in order to get your feedback.

Here are some sketches of Unwyrm, enjoy and have a nice weekend :)

Unwyrm Version 1:
http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/UnWyrm.jpg

Unwyrm Version 2:
http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/UnWyrm2.jpg

Unwyrm Version 3:
http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/UnWyrm3.jpg

[Gringoire]

huh - i haven't read Shadow of Ender yet. well, my personal favorites of Card's books are probably either Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, or Enchantment. Wyrms is cool, but a bit . . . i don't know, weird. : ) it's good writing, though.

And Khan, are you doing new cover for ALL of Card's books? i'd sort of like to see what your designs are for Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow - my copies are falling apart.


Oops!
Sorry, I meant Ender's Shadow, not Shadow of Ender.
I'll take a look though at Wyrms.
Thanks,

Gringoire

[Gringoire]

Gringoire my friend, when you get a chance you should definitely check out Wyrms. You should also check out his Alvin Maker Series, and if you do, start off with Red Prophet, which is the second book. We will be adapting that one first and the first issue will be on the comic book shelves at the end of this month.

Thanks for the reccomendation.
I like 1a, and the two last sketches you posted.
God bless you,
Gringoire

[Scheherazade]

Scheherazade my friend, we are taking author's novels and adapting them into the graphic medium. 'We', that would be my brothers and I. I'm Ernst by the way the oldest of the Dabel Brothers and we are adapting Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, Tad Williams, Raymond E. Feist, Laurell K. Hamilton, and many others. Every day new authors are joining us so our library is only getting bigger :) The Khan,

Thank you very much for your patient explanations! :) These are great drawings and must be a lot of hard work. How long have you been doing this kind of work?

So you are turning Card's books into some sort of comics? Why do authors want to do that? Not enough people are reading them in the usual text format?

Also, will these adaptations be available only online or in print as well? Wondering if it is OK for you to post them here (copyright and all that)?

[Logos]

Scher, check out this thread, it answers some of your q's :)

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1164

[Scheherazade]

Thanks for the link, Logos! I didn't realise that The Khan has been posting similar things in the Forum before my time as well. The drawings they make are amazing!

[Dilettante]

I would love to read a real version of "Nemesis".
All you can buy is the graphic novel. Why convert more texts into graphics? Because people will buy them? Fair enough.
But that poster khan't be my friend.

Hey, I'm a bibliophile. Look at pretty pictures? Not read the backstory?
Boring. Remedial reading.

Real people never say "we", and they never say "just".

Unless to attract your money. Which is OK - that's the fun of money - spending it! Isn't it?
So long as it's yours to spend.
And no one needs it more.

A friend in need ... well, there are two versions of that.
I'm sure I would have noticed his friendship before he began selling comics online!

Agendas & poster campaigns?
Pretty.
Unprofessional.
Stunning PR job, BTW.

As they say in fishing, Not much of a line, but a great cast ...

Should reel them in, though - I know lots of guys who buy books just for the artwork on the cover. It's news to me that friendship is a commodity, though!

Rename this website, why not?

- D

[The_Khan]

Thank you for checking out Wyrms Gringroire my friend :)

Scheherazade my friend, you're welcome :) I can't draw, lol. But our artists do terrific work. We've been doing this for about 4 years now.

Yes, we are adapting his books into comics/graphic novels. Well, the first one we adapted George R.R. Martin's The Hedge Knight did so well that all the other authors are jumping aboard right now before the waiting list gets too long. But honestly, Graphic Novels are on the rise and as it stands fans of all ages are reading them more and more. I was bombarded by emails from comic book fans who after reading the Hedge Knight went to bookstores for the first time to read George R.R. Martin's books. Schools and Libraries are loving our graphic novels as well. They will be available in all comic book stores. If you should have any problems finding copies, please let me know and I'll make sure you get some. We own the copyright to the artwork so we don't mind giving you all a little sneek peek ;)

Dilettante my friend, I tried very hard to share my experience as a fantasy/scifi reader to my youngest brother Jonathan(13 years old) and that did not work. He simply would NOT read any fantasy/scifi book. But do you know that he read George R.R. Martin's The Hedge Knight adaptation, and once finished he explained the entire story to me, that was something special for me. This is why schools are very interested in what we are doing? We are taking New York Times Bestselling author's wonderful stories, and adding art to them. So in the end you're getting the best of both worlds, awesome story with beautiful illustrations :)

Believe me, George R.R. Martin, Robert Jordan, Orson Scott Card and the other authors we have lined up to adapt are incredible authors that have written a lot and have proven that they are master storytellers, which I read growing up. But times are different now, I never had video games in Jr. High and High School, so I was a bookworm. But kids nowadays (my little brother Jonathan) to get them to read and enjoy books as we did, you need a little something to catch their attention such as illustrations, you do that and they will read Milton's Paradise Lost for you ;)

Oh, lol, I'm sorry, I always say 'we' because I own the company jointly with my three other brothers, Les, Pascal (he graduates in Medical school next month, so I have to start calling him Dr. Dabel, lol), and David. We're grooming Jonathan for now ;) For the 'just' part, I started saying that as a teenager and it just stuck.

LOL, well, of course we all need money in this world. Only a little baby doesn't understand its worth and would probably rip it up. We have a lot of authors lined up and very excited to have their work adapted and to do that we have to pay the artists so they can work to give the fans the excellent quality that they've come to expect from us. If we don't get money then the artists won't work, and then I will never get Jonathan to enjoy the wonderful books, I read growing up and the comic book fans will never get the little nudge needed to go to the bookstores and read all of these wonderful authors we have in store for them ;)


LOL, the reason I say 'friend' alot is because the George R.R. Martin's fans have knighted me "The Knight of Friend", because I used the *smiling face* symbol so much that I just got in the habit of saying friend all the time. LOL, Dilettante my friend, I don't sell comics online. Our comics are sold in the comic book stores.

You are absolutely right, getting people to read wonderful fantasy/scifi books is very much like fishing, it takes a lot of time and energy. That is why I personally go out and talk to fellow fans like myself so that they don't miss out on something that I would not have wanted to miss out on if the roles were reversed.

One thing I don't want is to reel them in, nor do I want a person to buy a book just for the cover. I want people who read our books to care about the story. When we first emailed George R.R. Martin with our idea, he said 'no', but my brothers and I were not easily discouraged. We were excited that he wrote back to us, even though it was to say 'no', lol. So for 2 long years we constantly wrote him with ideas, artwork, sketches without any response in return, but we did not give up, and two years later, George wrote us back and told us that we were so 'persistent' that he would allow us to license out The Hedge Knight. If we did not care about books we would have never spent two years doing this, so as you can see we are very passionate about books and want people to read, not just to look at pretty pictures.

I hope you give our adaptations a chance, but if you don't that is fine Dilettante my friend. I really appreciate you taking the time to give me your honest feedback. Thanks and if you have any questions, comments, or even suggestions, please feel free to let me know :)

[mir]

it's a great idea to make stories more interesting to kids with illustrations - though i'd like to know, are you doing just the covers over, or illustrations through the entire book, like manga or just as complements for the story? when are you coming out with them? and are you going to do any other genres besides scifi? becasue i have a stack of books higher than i am in my room that i really SHOULD read but just can't quite get interested in, and i think it would be a lot easier with illustrations. : ) and you use LOL a lot more than smiley faces. : ) : ) : ) XD

dang. now i have to read Paradise Lost too, becasue everyone seems to know it and refer to it more than the Bible.

[Scheherazade]

Scheherazade my friend, you're welcome :) I can't draw, lol. But our artists do terrific work. We've been doing this for about 4 years now. Ah, you are just an 'entrepreneur'? Uhm... I didn't mean 'just'... I meant you are a 'just entrepreneur'??? ;) :D
Schools and Libraries are loving our graphic novels as well. They will be available in all comic book stores. I can understand that... I first read many classics in comics form (eg Great Expectations, Crime and Punishment, Shakespeare collection etc). I used to buy this children's weekly magazine and they used to have a classic book in comic form in every issue. Reading those made me want to read the originals as well (though I was told by 'grown ups that those were a waste of time and that I should read 'proper' books).

I am not sure why it matters that you are making money out of these. We all have to make a living. It is so much better if it is something you enjoy and somehow has a positive impact on people's lives (I am a teacher and would like to think that I do make a difference in people's lives however little that might be).

I like your work and what you are doing! :)

[The_Khan]

mir my friend, we are adapting the entire novel Wyrms into a comic book series, so you will be able to enjoy the illustrations as you read it. Wyrms will come out in May. Red Prophet (fantasy books) comes out next week on Wednesday, Magician Apprentice (fantasy books) comes out in April, and Anita Blake (horror books) comes out in July. We also have XIII (sort of like Bourne Identity) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0976401142/qid=1143436281/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0296739-0299850?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
Also Robert Silverberg's The Seventh Shrine (scifi) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0976401134/qid=1143436350/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0296739-0299850?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
Every year we will have more and more adaptations for you my friend :) LOL, if I don't be careful I'll become the Knight of LOL ;)

Paradise Lost is really good, if you ever get a chance to read it, you should :)

Scheherazade my friend, I understand now, thanks for clearing it up.

What we are doing is taking comics/graphic novels and changing things around so that not only will 'grown ups' want to read them but they will also encourage the young ones to do so as well.

Thanks for understanding my friend. Yes, this is something that I enjoy very much and so far it has impacted people's lives in a positive manner. My 9th grade English teacher encouraged me to start writing in the Creative Writing Magazine, and I'll never forget her. She was heavy set with reddish hair and she had the friendliest smile I'd ever seen. Teachers do make a difference in young people's lives.

Thanks, and once I have the first five pages of Wyrms lettered, I will give you a sneek peek ;)

Here is a sketch of Ruin, enjoy :)

http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/Ruin.jpg

I like your work and what you are doing!

[mir]

wow, that's really cool. (the sketch)

one quick idea of something i think it would be really cool to illustrate that's a really good book and not many kids read, the book Beowulf. it's got a bunch of wonderful scenes in it, and great monsters and a awesome story, but a lot of people don't read it becasue it's written in a different style than the sort of thing we like today. but i think it would be a lot more fun to read if it was broken up by illustrations.

i'm going to become the knight of twisted run-on sentances

and Scherazade, teachers make a huge difference in people's lives. i write practically every day now, and am involved in lots of literary clubs and magazines in my school, and it was my english teachers who got me started. if a teacher likes what they're teaching enough, they can make you like it too, and that can lead you places you never would have otherwise gone.

are these adaptions going to become available at Barnes and Nobles or Borders? or are they just on amazon?

[The_Khan]

Thanks mir my friend :)

You know, that is one thing that we want to do in the future, books like Beowulf that kids read in school. I read Beowulf in school and I really enjoyed it :)

Yes, these adaptations will come out in all major book stores as well as Amazon. They will first come out in comic book stores as regular issues. Once six issues comes out, we will compile the six issues into a graphic novel that will then go out through bookstores.

[mir]

Khan my friend : ),

Beowulf is awesome. and Grendel. but i think it should be illegal to read the WHOLE bible in school (at least, all the parts but the rules about how many lambs and goats and offerings to put on the altars and how to build the altars and most of the begats). you don't get anything out of it if you read it that fast! and it just seems boring, and it could be really interesting if it was read in parts!

Sorry . . that's my pet peeve right now.

do you think there would be any way to do one of these adaptations with something like the Canterbury Tales (at least, the less . . . disputable parts)? i mean, have the illustrations kind of show what was going on in the story, so that readers could get a feel for the plot be still be able to read it in Middle English? becasue it's so beautiful in its original rhyme, but i just couldn't get practically anything out of it and had to read the modern translation instead, and that takes away all of its charm. i would love to be able to enjoy the story AND the flow of rhyme at once.

so the whole of the stories aren't going to come out at once, you're going to do them in installments? how long will the finished books be?

[The_Khan]

Mir my friend, we started thinking about Beowulf and such, and if we did adapt it in the future we would have to do it in such a way that it would be a helpful tool in schools. But we have a while before we get there, and until then any suggestions will be greatly appreciated :)

In the case of the Canterbury Tales, we would make it work so that you would gain and not lose anything, and the visuals would indeed add a new dimension to it :)

Wyrms will come out in May and it will be a total of six issues.


Here is a sketch of Sken, enjoy :)

http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/Sken.jpg

[The_Khan]

Here is cover #2A of Wyrms, enjoy :)

http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/WYRMS_02_covera.JPG

[mir]

um . . . shiny . . slightly scary . . . but i haven't read wyrms in a long time, so . . . cool

[The_Khan]

Mir my friend, so far the adaptation of Wyrms is coming along beautifully and if you get a chance to re-read the novel so you can refresh your memory you should ;)

[mir]

okay! ; )

is it just me, or is there some law of nature that decrees that libraries can never carry just the book you want? i think they hide it as soon as you come in. or maybe it's all part of some evil master plan to take over the world . . . i've been reading too many conspiracy theories. oh well . . . looks like i may have to hold off reading Wyrms until you guys come out with it, Khan . . .

who does your art?

[The_Khan]

LOL, I know what you mean :)

We have a lot of different artists that draw our books. We always look to match the perfect artist with the right project :)

[The_Khan]

Here is cover #2B for Wyrms, enjoy :)

http://www.roaringstudios.com/ernst/Wyrms/WYRMS_02_coverb.JPG