Thursday, July 24, 2008

Dabel Brothers Roll With The Wheel

(Note: In the minutes after I put up this post I got several emails from writers reminding me of issues other authors had with the Dabel Brothers. I hear you, and I did hear in first hand detail about Tobias Buckell's unfortunate experience with them. So, just for the record, we're not in any sort of talks regarding Acacia. They've just kept up a friendly correspondence with me and I think it's interesting to note that they're doing this project...)

Ernst Dabel sent me this press release a week or so ago, but I'm just now digging out of my emails enough to post about it. I've been in contact with the Dabels since Acacia first came out. Just friendly contact, you know. Chatting. I don't know if they'd ever want to do a version of Acacia, or if that would be for the best, but it does sound like they'll be very busy for a while...

DABEL BROTHERS TO ADAPT ROBERT JORDAN'S BESTSELLING
WHEEL OF TIME SERIES IN COMIC BOOK FORMAT

NEW YORK, NY – July 1, 2008 – Dabel Brothers Publishing announced today that they will adapt Robert Jordan's bestselling Wheel of Time series, which has sold more than 14 million copies in North America alone, into comic book format. The first issue is scheduled to release in December 2008.

The Wheel of Time began in 1990 with the publication of The Eye of the World; ten more volumes have followed. The most recent four books of the series have reached #1 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. It is the story of a world – both our past, and our future – in which the battle between the Light and the Shadow must be fought every day; and of the people, both ordinary and extraordinary, who must fight that battle. Jordan wrote eleven volumes of the series and one prequel; he was unable to complete the twelfth and final volume before his death in 2007. That volume, A Memory of Light, will be completed by Brandon Sanderson, a writer chosen by Jordan's widow and editor, Harriet McDougal, and published by Tor Books in 2009.

The Dabel Brothers published a comic adaptation of Jordan's A New Spring in March 2005. In conjunction with that project, Robert Jordan provided them with extensive notes for use in further possible publications, including character descriptions and other visuals.

"I'm delighted to be working with the Dabel Brothers! Their work is splendid. Robert Jordan liked it enormously," says Harriet McDougal.

Graphic-novel collected editions of the individual comics will be distributed by Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group. The deal was negotiated by Jordan's agent, Nat Sobel.

Robert Jordan
was born in 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina. He taught himself to read when he was four with the incidental aid of a twelve-years-older brother, and was tackling Mark Twain and Jules Verne by five. He was a graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics. He served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army; among his decorations are the Distinguished Flying Cross with bronze oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with "V" and bronze oak leaf cluster, and two Vietnamese Gallantry Crosses with Palm. A history buff, he also wrote dance and theater criticism. He enjoyed the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing and sailing, and the indoor sports of poker, chess, pool, and pipe collecting. He began writing in 1977 and continued until his death on September 16, 2007.

Dabel Brothers Publishing, LLC,
is a comic book studio dedicated to bringing many of the best and most popular novels in the world of fantasy to the comic book medium. Since its inception in 2001 they have produced adaptations of novels by bestselling authors including George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card, Laurell K. Hamilton, Raymond E. Feist, Tad Williams, Richard A. Knaak, and Robert Silverberg. Currently on the schedule is a remarkable list of high-profile projects including adaptations of major novels by bestselling authors: Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, an original story set in the world of Jim Butcher's bestselling series The Dresden Files, a Wild Cards series edited and overseen by George R. R. Martin, and a brand-new Mercy Thompson adventure by Patricia Briggs titled Mercy Thompson: Homecoming.

For more information on Dabel Brothers Publishing: http://www.dabelbrothers.com.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Meghan said...

I can't help but think these guys are total tools. There's no excuse for at least not being upfront with people. If they couldn't do the work or weren't 100% interested they should have said so to the authors. Stringing people along is inexcusable. I would pass if they make an offer. It would at least send the message that they need to straighten up and fly high.

4:18 PM  
Blogger David Anthony Durham said...

Ah... So there you have it.

I can't say much on this subject. I do know and really like Toby, and the story he tells is thorough and not favorable. I wouldn't doubt that such things happen more than you'd think - but that many authors are reluctant to talk about it for a variety of reasons...

Again, though, I've had no such bad personal experiences with them, and they do seem to keep on putting projects together...

7:10 PM  

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