The Graphic Novel Edition Addition

Or: The Graphic R. R. Novel

I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan. HUGE.

Like many fans, I clamor to get my paws on anything that helps shed more light on this fascinating story; the books are read, show is watched, theme song hummed, Reddit discussions had, interviews with author George R. R. Martin studied. And when I found out that there’s a graphic novel version of the story, I consumed it like a hearty lemon cake – and it left me feeling like maybe this was created not as a new way to bring more depth to the story I love, but as a way to wring out a few more dollars while Mr. Martin is busy writing and HBO is busy filming.

This isn’t a new trend – a successful series of books (like, the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris) was turned into a wildly successful TV show (HBO’s True Blood) and then comics came out in the off-season (the True Blood comic series). Or even a successful television series being recreated in comics, like Doctor Who or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It’s been lucrative for producers and adapters, and quite well-received by fans.

A Song of Ice and Fire is slightly different, though. The comics involved with the tales above can add stories and adventures to already well-known canon. The additions to the 7 scheduled books in ASOIAF are really only the Tales of Dunk and Egg. Anything else is fan fiction. This is fabulous, since it gives so much control to author Martin so the stories are precisely what he wants them to be. But that takes time – a great deal of it. (As well it should – just keeping track of all of those characters would take, without hyperbole, a bajillion years.) So fans don’t have many additional storylines to keep them occupied while waiting for the novels to be published.

As for the graphic novel, volume 1, written by Daniel Abraham and drawn by Tommy Patterson, the story itself is right from the novels, and the art is lovely. The scope of Westeros is detailed nicely in the illustrations (Winterfell, home of the Stark family, is beautiful). Kahl Drogo is as menacing as the Iron Throne. Prince Joffery Baratheon and Theon Greyjoy look like they need a solid punch in the face. King Robert Baratheon is a well-fed loud burly man. And Sansa Stark looks like all the Disney princesses squished into one lovely lady.

Arya Stark however, dubbed “Arya Horseface,” is the least horse-faced character ever drawn into comics. She’s a fan favorite, and the actress who portrays her on the show is adorable, so I can see why they’d want to draw her pretty. But part of her character is not being the belle of the ball. She’s drawn prettier than Zooey Deshcanel, and it’s irritating as hell when her characters are dubbed “unattractive.” Tyrion Lannister appears rather handsome. Catelyn Stark is drawn much younger, and with a tummy that has never been home to humans.

It seems a bit…pander-y. (I think that’s a word.) Which makes a bit of sense – all of my friends who like A Song of Ice and Fire enjoy reading comic books. It’s a logical step to get from the novels to graphic novels. And characters that people love are usually drawn a certain way (read: handsomely). But that’s part of the fun of Martin’s characters – they are unique. They have flaws, some very visible, that make them interesting and realistic. To see them drawn out and all look similar (and clean) to each other was unsettling.

This concerned me a great deal – the writer seems to assume that anyone reading the comics already knows these characters. This is volume 1 of book 1 of the series, so glossing over substantial character details can be problematic. Take Jon Snow: in the books, he’s a sulky bastard, angry that he drew a short stick from a lord’s hand. This makes his growth throughout the story fascinating. But in the graphic novel, he’s just kind of there. A little pouty, sure, but mostly inconsequential. Why would such an important character be all but ignored if the writer wasn’t banking on people being invested already?

Of course, it’s hard to make such a vast story into a graphic novel. The scope of the novels is expansive, and there’s heaps of dialogue. Plus Daenerys Targaryen is a child in the books (aged for the show, what with child porn being a no-no). And with so many characters, it’s tricky to get the solid character development that Mr. Martin masterfully manages in the novels.

So if you can’t do something well, and add a new, interesting element to the scope of the series, why do it? Please note that this week, A Game of Thrones is #1 on the New York Times Hardcover Graphic Books Best Sellers list.

In the prologue of volume 1, Mr. Martin notes that when he was young, Illustrated Classics was a way to hook kids on classic literature. It feels a bit like that, though not for kids. (Not as many boobs as in the show, but very adult content to be expected.)

It’s a smart tactic. But this graphic novel feels less like alluring bait, and more like a thrown-together after-thought to get a few more bucks from fans.