Steve Batley
As a successful fantasy novelist Neil Gaiman has become one of the most illustrious and award winning writers of the twenty first century, with a rich history in popular fiction. And as many of his comic creations such as Stardust, Lucifer, American Gods and Good Omens have all been adapted for film and TV, soon to be joined by the eagerly anticipated Sandman, he also shares the rare distinction of having some of his most notable works of prose fiction adapted into comic form. This rare occurrence ensures he joins a select few authors to share the same honour. Namely the likes of HG Wells, Jules Verne, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Orson Scott Card, Anne Rice and most notably his old friend Terry Pratchett. With the recent release of Snow, Glass, Apples the latest addition to the Gaiman Library to make its pictorial debut, adapted from the short story collection Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, what better time to look back at some of his other literary comic treasures and discover their true origins.
Signal To Noise
Artist: Dave McKean
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: October 1992
History: From it’s original serialisation in The Face in 1989, this was his earliest adapted story and was soon collected and republished in 1992 by Gollancz in the UK and Dark Horse in the US and also saw a revival in two other formats. First as a BBC radio broadcast in 1996 with music by the original story artist Dave McKean, and then also a 1999 stage adaptation in the US by Marc Rosenbush and Robert Toombs. Dave McKean gave the visual story the realistic edge by employing layered photographic art mixed with drawn, making the tragic tale all too realistic.
Plot: Concerned with a screenwriters imagining of a real world Apocalypse this story sees the protagonist driven by visions of his own personal destruction. As he stares down his eventual death by cancer we join him in his rush to complete his ideal film as to enable his legacy to outlive his impending demise.
Harlequin Valentine
Artist: John Bolton
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Nov 2001
History: Originally written for Strange Attraction, a book made by Lisa Snellings-Clark in 1999 based on a Ferris wheel, it was republished in his later collection of short stories known as Fragile Things in 2006, the first of that collection to get this treatment but far from the last to do so. A stage adaptation of this graphic novel has also been produced by Metatron’s Men group. Comprised of members of the Polish ?l?ski Klub Fantastyki (Science Fiction Club), it starred Jakub ?wiek as the harlequin and Klaudia Heintze as the girl, Missy. The art by John Bolton is particularity remarkable as it shows the background real world as typically mundane, while the characters are thrust into the foreground and stand out vividly in sharp contrast.
Plot: We all know the story. Boy loves girl, boy pins his still beating heart to girls door, girl eats heart. Yum. A treatise on the old harlequin stories of the Italian Commedia dell’arte and it’s characters Harlequin, Pierrot Pantaloon and Columbina as well as the English Harlequinade, it told the all too common story of a boy and his unrequited love of a girl, with a fantastical twist of the comedic tragedy.
Murder Mysteries
Artist: P. Craig Russell
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: June 2002
History: Originally presented by Neil in the 1992 anthology Midnight Graffiti by Jessie Horsting, this heavenly detective story was then later reproduced in Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, published in 1998 and is also optioned for a potential film scripted by David S. Goyer. It has even been cited by many fans as the real reason for Lucifer’s dissatisfaction and final rebellion against his creator, as he is clearly distraught by the conclusion and the injustice he sees. With art by P. Craig Russell (a name many will recognise from the later mentioned American Gods adaptation) and coloured by Lovern Kindzierski, the sense of betrayal at the perpetration of the ultimate sin within the halls of the Host pervades every page, with tragic grace and a haunting beauty.
Plot: Blood has been spilled in heaven. As events unfold in the Silver City the Angel Raguel, also known as the Vengeance of the Lord is called upon by Lucifer, still an Angel at the time, to solve the murder of fellow Angel and artisan Carasel. And the discovery of the truth may be enough to shake the very foundations of Paradise.
Neverwhere
Artist: Glenn Fabry
Published by: DC Vertigo
Date: Aug 2005-Sept 2006
History: Created in 1996 by Neil Gaiman as a novel in conjunction with the TV series of the same name that he cocreated with Lenny Henry, this story later spawned a novella sequel named How the Maquis Got His Coat Back. Adapted by Mike Carey as a nine issue miniseries. Artist Glenn Fabry is joined by colourist Tanya Horie, both of whom give the series a suitably surreal style that represents the story in a perfectly concise fashion. Also giving it some stunning visuals that could not be relayed as well within special effects budgets around at the time of the television version.
Plot: The story of one man and his descent into the hidden world that is London Below and his fortuitous meeting with a girl who is more than she seems. A theme familiar to many Gaiman fans is that of Aspects, characters who are the living embodiment of certain elements within reality and modern society. Much like the Endless siblings Dream, Destiny and Death the concepts also pervade here as it has a real Angel called Islington, some Black Friars, an Earl’s Court and other twists on real London Underground stations as well as a charming fantasy tale of love, the rites of passage and redemption.
The Facts In The Case of the Departure of Miss Finch
Artist: Michael Zulli and Todd Klein
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Jan 2008
History: Inspired by the painting of Frank Frazetta and his depiction of a woman amid wild tigers this is another short story taken from a novelised collection. Taken from Smoke & Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions, first published in 1998 and seen later again in the US version of Fragile Things in 2006. The surreal nature of the events that unfold are perfectly conveyed with the dreamlike art, and as Michael Zulli is another in a long line of talented artists to collaborate with Gaiman on Sandman there is no one better suited for this venture.
Plot: As the narrator meets with friends he finds them in the company of the uncompromising Miss Finch, a traveller from abroad who they immediately attempt to offload into his care as the four go out into the city to keep her entertained. As luck would have it an encounter with an underground circus causes an unexpected turn of events and a complete lifestyle change for the companion of the narrator. The adaptation makes the notable distinction of depicting the narrator as looking suspiciously like Neil. This is more than a possibility, in fact it’s implicitly undeniable, given that the supporting cast is one known celebrity Jonathan and his wife Jane. In reality broadcaster Jonathan Ross is husband to fellow author Jane Goldman, and both are very close friends of the writer.
How To Talk to Girls at Parties
Artist: Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: June 2016
History: Another entry from Fragile Things this is slightly autobiographical, as he wanted to capture that period in a teenagers life when the gap between genders becomes something almost tangible and the love/hate relationship forms out of nowhere, due to the hormonal changes in all of us that signal adolescence. To quote the author “That gulf where it seemed like only a couple of years ago we were climbing trees together and hanging out and now you’re wearing make-up and I feel these peculiar urges and I don’t even know how you got these breasts and this is all really weird,” recalls Gaiman. “And for you it must be weirder, as now I’m covered in spots, trip over things and got large, hairy and really irritating.” The story was nominated for the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, won the Locus Award the same year and would go on to be made into a movie in 2018 starring Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp and Nicole Kidman. The artistic team of Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá are an exceptional choice as they make the girls in the story look at once alien and all too human in an almost eerie romantic way that would appeal to teenage boys at the same time as making them seem other wordly.
Plot: In true Neil Gaiman style the narrator recounts the events of an offbeat adventure as, due to a mistake in directions from the protagonists friend Vic the misinformed teenage duo end up at the wrong party, surrounded by girls that are vastly different from expectations. A strange exchange evolves between Enn and an equally out of place alien girl he meets named Triolet. However when Vic also encounters another of her number Stella, the truth dawns on them and the pair must make a hasty retreat as he observes Stella looking down at them with an expression he describes as an ‘angry universe’.
Troll Bridge
Artist: Coleen Doran
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Oct 2016
History: Another of the Smoke & Mirrors collection and written originally for the anthology Snow White, Blood Red by authors Ellen Datlow and Terri Wilding this is an adult rendering of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Joined by Coleen Doran another contributing artist from Sandman and the 2019 adaptation Snow, Glass, Apples, she compliments the narrative perfectly and gives the troll his almost simplistic look, making him all the more discomforting and menacing, at the same time ensuring you can’t avoid or ignore him.
Plot: Young Jack’s world is full of ghosts and ghouls, but an encounter with one monster in particular, a ravenous and hideous troll, would haunt him long into manhood. Jack later distracts him with sacrifices of those who have been drawn into his life, as the beast sups upon a lifetime of Jack’s fear and regret. Finally he must find the courage within himself to face the fiend once and for all. Equal parts sad, dark and funny with powerful sexual themes, this is an allegory on the passing of life and experience. The life story of a boy growing from a sweet and innocent child into a more selfish and cruel form of manhood, as recounted in this NT Times Bestseller.
Creatures of the Night
Artist: Michael Zulli
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Nov 2016
History: Presenting two short stories from Smoke and Mirrors. Both beautifully adapted to comic by Zulli, whose painted art is a welcome addition to both stories. His traditional style lends a classic fairy tale quality to both and immerses the reader in the world that is being created.
Plot: The Price explores the mysterious life of cats, as a black stray Tom arrives at a couples home for no apparent reason. As time goes by he is seen with more and more severe injuries, causing his unwitting owners to wonder what he is fighting and why he keeps doing it. The answers confound them until the narrator (similar in appearance to the man in the Miss Finch story) witnesses an altercation with a being he can only describe as the devil. The Daughter of Owls follows and is written in the style of John Aubrey. Indeed the narrator is named Aubrey and spins his eerie yarn in a Gentleman’s Club of an orphan baby girl abandoned at the steps of a church. Shunned by the villagers she grows up in the grounds of an abandoned convent and as word of her unnatural beauty spreads to the neighbouring village it incurs tragedy as a tale of magic and horror unfolds.
Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House in the Night of Dread Desire.
Artist: Shane Oakley
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Jan 2017
History: Another entry from Fragile Things, this originally produced in anthology form in Gothic! With possibly the longest, most convoluted title of any of Gaiman’s work and deliberately so. By cramming in as many nods to classic horror as he can and turning them on their head Gaiman cleverly uses satire to analyse the process of literature and the genre of Gothic horror which were the bread and butter of authors such as Ann Radcliffe and Edgar Allan Poe. As well as sneaking in a liberal nod to modern fantasy writing, due to a case of writers block suffered by the narrator. With Shane Oakley adding such descriptive images as to inform the bizarre nature of the story it all blends brilliantly in a Hammer House send up that makes The Rocky Horror Picture Show look mediocre.
Plot: To say there is a plot belies the whole point of the story. It has none really, other than to makes a statement on the origins of the creative process. It serves the dual purpose of honouring and mocking as many tropes of classical literature as he can fit in, whilst similarly holding them up to the light for the sake of clarity and making some witty observations along the way. Indeed as the main character wrestles with the dilemma of his own need to ignore distractions he is haunted by the raven telling him to write more modern and relevant fantasy lore.
Only The End of the World Again
Artist: Troy Nixey
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Jan 2018
History: Originally published both as a short story in Smoke and Mirrors and a serialised fantasy story in Oni Press Double Feature #6-8 in 1998 it began life as a tribute to Roger Zilazny, inspired by his novel A Night in the Lonely October. The art by Troy Nixey is of a distinctive style that lends every character in the story the appearance of being related to either Peter Lorre or Parker from Thunderbirds. This gives them the perspective of initially being deceptively innocent looking, until the more esoteric plot involving Cthulhu surfaces. Then they take on a more sinister aspect, which has the effect of making the reader become allied with the main character, where first his supernatural status may have made him appear the villain.
Plot: Lawrence Talbot is a claims adjuster who is working temporarily in the small seaside town of Innsmouth, a place brimming with unrealised evil. A minor added detail of his life is that he also happens to be a werewolf. Trapped as he is in his secret he is also aware that the inhabitants of the quaint community are attempting to bring about the return of the Elder Gods. In his unique capacity as either tool of the impending destruction of mankind or its saviour, Lawrence attempts to find his place in the unfolding malevolent events.
A Study in Emerald
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Jun 2018
History: Originally printed in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street in 2003, this was another short story later added to Fragile Things in 2006 and as with the others in the original anthology concerns Sherlock Holmes in a distinctly dark vein, as loving homage to H.P. Lovecraft.
Plot: Sherlock Holmes meets Cthulhu in this Grand Guignol inspired ‘London by gaslight’ tale. When Queen Victoria calls upon the wisdom of London’s greatest detective it is to solve a gruesome murder. But there is more than meets the eye in this other worldy tale of murder and alien invasion.
Likely Stories
Artist: Mark Buckingham
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Oct 2018
History: Another collection from both Fragile Things and Smoke and Mirrors, consisting of four short stories. From Smoke and Mirrors comes Looking For the Girl, originally commissioned for Penthouse and its 20th anniversary issue and Foreign Parts, first published as a short story in Angels and Visitations, the first of Gaiman’s collected prose. Then from Fragile Things there is Feeders & Eaters, originally presented in Revolver Holiday Special in October 1990, based on a nightmare Gaiman once had, followed by Closing Time. Also from Fragile Things, this was a club/ghost story inspired by M.R. James and Robert Aickman. All four were also made into a TV miniseries directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard in 2016, with Foreign Parts including a pill called Namiaglien…the authors name backwards. For this adaptation Neil gives us four stories with a seeming normal veneer, and scratches away the surface to reveal some decidedly creepy undercurrents. And he ties them together with the use of the Diogenes Club, housed in a bar where tales are told by the patrons. Mark Buckingham is the perfect artist for the completely different themed stories and makes the characters seem at once believable and ensures the reader is sympathetic towards them.
Plot: Foreign Parts tells the story of a man who has somehow acquired an embarrassing disease. Feeders and Eaters relates the tale of a man who is neighbours with an old lady who needs to feed on raw meat. Looking For the Girl involves a photographer who encounters a young model who appears in glamour magazines and he is so entranced by her he follows her career with interest and realises she never seems to age. And finally in Closing Time there is the ghost story with the suitably creepy house.
The Problem of Susan (and others)
Artists: P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton and Paul Chadwick.
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: Jan 2019
History: Another set of short stories from Fragile Things. Joined by Lovern Kindzierski contributing colouring for The Problem of Susan and Locks, each artistic variation shown is vastly different from the last, ensuring this volume has so much diversity in style and narrative it is a true collectors treasure. ‘The Problem of Susan’ was originally written for the collection ‘Flights’ by Al Sarrantonio and addresses what he sees as the “problematic and deeply irritating” omission of her from The Last Battle, where she was characterized by Lewis as being “no longer a friend of Narnia” and interested “in nothing nowadays except lipstick, nylons and invitations” and is lovingly recounted by P. Craig Russell in his art and adaptive script. Following on is ‘Locks’, a conversational poem also charmingly depicted by P. Craig Russell and told as between Neil and his daughter, in a slightly more faithful way to the original short story by Southey, who intended it to be about an old woman and not a little girl. The third story of this anthology ‘October in the Chair’ started life as a request from Harlan Ellison to collaborate together, but fate decreed Neil would finish it alone. Finally presented for Peter Straub’s volume Conjunctions, it also became a dry run for The Graveyard Book and this adaptation is drawn with perfect detail by Scott Hampton, who also works on the entirety of the American Gods comic series. And finally ‘The Day the Saucers Came’ is another poem, originally written at the request of fellow horror, fantasy, science fiction author and poet Rain Graves for her website and is a favourite of Neil’s for live readings. This version is drawn by Paul Chadwick (Concrete) in an epic sprawl that manages to fit in as much detail as both the mind and eye can capably absorb and is as good a depiction of the End Times as can be imagined.
Plot: The Problem of Susan takes the premise of Susan Pevensie from the Chronicles of Narnia and posits what actually happened to her as a young reporter arrives at the home of a retired Professor for the Literary Chronicle. She later wakes in the middle of the night with the realisation that there is more to the elderly woman than she could possibly have imagined. Locks is edited into poem form and tells the story of Goldilocks. As a father tells the story to his daughter of the encounter of a young girl with the Three Bears it hints at the inevitable erosion of the relationship between father and daughter at the onset of adolescence. October in the Chair involves the campside stories told round the fire, as twelve beings of vast significance are each nominated to tell a tale to entertain the others. October takes his turn and tells of a runaway boy who encounters a haunted house and a ghost who becomes his friend. The Day the Saucers Came is another prose poem in the same vein as Locks and tells of the day of the Apocalypse, including zombies, Ragnarok and any number of dark wonders.
American Gods
Artist: Scott Hampton
Published by: Dark Horse
Date: 2017 to present
History: Taken from the original novel published in 2001 this story is now also a widely successful Starz TV show. The original novel not only has a cameo from one of the Endless known as Delirium in the meeting with Easter, but also has two spin off tales for its main character Shadow. Monarch of the Glen first published in the collected Legends II in 2003 sees Shadow as a reluctant security guard once more, where he meets Beowulf’s Grendel…more on him later. And his story continues with more Old God chicanery in Black Dog, from Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances in 2015. The comic adaptation of the book is scripted once more by P. Craig Russell and is so far split into three volumes. With artist from The Problem of Susan Scott Hampton returning for each volume, it ensures a sense of continuity thanks to his distinct style. As such he allows the theme of the whole story to be true to the premise and keeps the same voice throughout
Plot: Beginning first with Shadows, the second chapter My Ainsel and now The Moment of the Storm, the ongoing comic adaptation tells the story of one man and his inevitable confrontation with the truth about his origin and his place in the beginning of a war between gods of the old world and those of modern day society in a world of changing times and superstitions.
HONORARY MENTIONS
Beowulf
Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez
Published by: IDW Publishing
Date: Oct 2007
History: Written by Neil and Roger Avery to coincide with the release of the computer animated 3D movie starring Angelina Jolie and Ray Winstone. This adaptation was released with covers by Mark A Nelson and became a common theme for Gaiman, as not only does Grendel guest star in the Shadow sequel mentioned above, but his short story in Smoke and Mirrors entitled ‘Bay Wolf’ was also an adaptation of the prose, rendered in futuristic style akin to an episode of Baywatch. This version however is more closely honorific of the Old English poem by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet.
Plot: When the celebration of a Danish king causes the wrath of Grendel, a being suffering from hypersensitive hearing, retribution begets revenge. What follows is a back and forth battle to the death between the mother of the troll like cave dweller and the chosen hero of the story in a tale of seduction, murder and betrayal.
The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch
Artist: Dave McKean
Published by: DC Vertigo
Date: Nov 2015
History: This graphic novel was originally published by Gollancz in the UK in 1994, then a year later by DC Vertigo and sees the narrator remembering his childhood experiences of visiting family on the coast including a mad grandfather, a hunchback uncle, an unwanted pregnancy and other more insidious secrets, including murder and repressed memories.
Plot: Calling up stark parallels to the legendary children’s seaside puppet-show narrative of Mr Punch it involves a familiar theme for Gaiman, in that it revolves around the unreliability of memory and the blurring between reality and fantasy. The indie pop group Future Bible Heroes later wrote and performed a song about the character. Called “Mr. Punch,” It was released on the compilation album “Where’s Neil When You Need Him?” and featured the likes of Tori Amos and Rasputina.
Book of Ballads and Sagas
Artist: Charles Vess
Published by: Titan Comics
Date: Nov 2018
History: After speaking with a number of ballad loving writers, one of whom we all know is Neil Gaiman, Charles conceived the idea in 1994 of illustrating a comic series based on traditional folk ballads for Green Man Press. In the words of Charles himself “They are great stories filled with exactly the things I love to draw best: magic, adventure, romance, suspense, historical settings, the land of Faerie and supernatural creatures that range from beautiful to hideous”. The collaboration would also spawn the return of the artistic duo with Stardust in 1998. The hauntingly graceful art is perfectly suited to both Stardust and the volume of traditional poems and folklore. If the art looks like a little familiar this is no accident, Charles was also one of the artists who worked with Neil on Sandman.
Plot: In 1995 Neil’s entry The False Knight on the Road told the story of one young boys meeting with a mysterious stranger and recounts how he cleverly avoids being cursed and taken from the world of mortals by a troubling and mythical being. Like all of the stories in the collection it involves ballads and poems and concerns meetings on long, shadowy deserted roads between lone protagonists and creatures that either spirit them away or leave them forever touched by magic, be it dark or whimsical.
These are just some of the wonderfully varied imaginings that spring from the mind that gave us the seminal classic comic Sandman, which itself broke all boundaries to became one of the first graphic novels ever to be on The New York Times Best Sellers list, and in 1991 became the first comic to be awarded the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction. And with recent news that his creation The Sandman will soon be joining his many other literary wonders in being adapted for the screen, it truly seems there is nothing he cannot turn his hand to.
