Thoughts on The Wheel of Time Comic

Now that The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World is officially underway, I wanted to chime in on the graphic novel. I hesitated when Issue #0 was released because it really wouldn’t have been fair to weigh in on what is essentially just a pair of side stories to the main event. Issue #0 uses an ordinary day in Egwene’s life to introduce us briefly to the three boys Mat, Perrin, and Rand as well as some of the superstitions, lore, and history of the Two Rivers and the Westlands at large. The material included the Prologue to The Eye of the World and a very basic summation of the world after the breaking. All of it is important information, but arguably not necessary to get into the abridged story being told in graphic novel. (I say abridged not to presume that a lot is going to get left out by the Dabel Brothers’s adaptation, but let’s face it, there is no way to wholly translate a scope of work as large and as rich as The Wheel of Time into this format.)

A few of my friends have been confused by Issue #0 and Egwene’s POV because it isn’t a part of the books that they have read. This is not new content, but an adaptation of an extra chapter that was written and included in the YA packaging of The Eye of the World: From the Two Rivers. The chapter was called “Ravens”  in case you didn’t know and want to look it up. I think it was a good decision to treat the prologue in this manner and use Egewene’s story as a plot device to introduce the reader to that past and present in one act. Issue #0 was okay, but it didn’t quite satisfy the fangirl in me. Anyway, I finally had the chance to read Issue #1 this weekend. SQUEE! Now I am a happy fangirl. I’m flipping every page, waiting to see who pops up next and what they look like while drawing strange looks from everyone at the comic store as I’m choking back giggles. That was the experience I was waiting for. 

I’m still not entirely in love with the art style.  We’ll see if it grows on me over time.  The comic preserves most of the important character traits which I appreciated.  Rand towers above the Two River folks, Perrin does have very broad shoulders.  Moiraine though is a good bit taller than I pictured her to be, but otherwise my favorite of the cast that has been introduced so far.  The first issue also did a nice job of keeping the attention on the world rather than just the important players.  As Rand and Tam roll in to Edmond’s Field with the apple brandy you get to see  the things that are going on around them in preparation for Beltine such as Cenn badgering Mayor Brann about the lack of storks or a Coplin getting hen-pecked by his wife.  Rand is often in the foreground of panels which is fitting because right now, he’s not what’s important.  

Adapters Chuck Dixon and Chase Conley are taking their time with the pacing and aren’t rushing through the story in so far.  Thom hasn’t even been introduced yet.  Honestly, I expected it to be a rush job and Issue #1 to close with Narg in the kitchen, but then the end product would not have been nearly as nice.  The original New Spring comic left me with a lot of doubts, but I think this could shape up to be a good adaptation.  I worry, however, that comics fan might not pick it up and/or stick with the story.   True to novel-form, it will be a slow build.  I hope though that the series is successful enough to motivate Dabel to keep to a consistent and reasonable production schedule.

Wheel of Time Graphic Novel: Preview!

The Dabel Brothers have posted a ten page uncolored preview from the next Wheel of Time graphic novel project:  The Eye of the World.

Check it out.

The pages will be replaced with fully colored and lettered versions over the next few weeks according to the press release, but it was an enjoyable teaser to wake up to on a Saturday morning.  (Even if I can’t tell what the hell is going on.)  They don’t seem to be following the book in a literal – scene by scene – sense which might be refreshing.  I will assume that girl is Egwene and if so, she is damn adorable.

~ Darcy

EA To Distribute Wheel of Time VG

New news on the Wheel of Time video games.  Red Eagle Games and Electronic Arts have signed an agreement where EA will distribute the video games when they are  produced.  This partnership extends to distribution only.  The responsibility to develop and publish the games remains in Red Eagle’s hands.  

Press Release

/End of Line

~ Darcy

A Wheel of Time MMO!

Yaaaaaaaaaa-oh.  Wait.  Red Eagle is behind this too?  Bloody ashes.

The story on Dragonmount.

As happy as I am in theory, this news fills me with with dread.  I don’t trust Red Eagle.  At all.  I’ve not yet forgiven them for leaving the New Spring comic unfinished.  They tend to talk a lot of talk, but in the years that they’ve had Wheel of Time related properties, what have they done with it?  Not much.

But the thing that gave me the most pause:

“We’ve got a huge running start with this property,” says Selvage, according to a report from VC news weblog VentureBeat. “We expect to have a game based on every movie, and we expect no less than three movies, though that depends on how well each does.”

Bwaaaaaah!?  Three?  Oh please tell me that you don’t expect to cram it all into three movies.  I’d rather it be incomplete after one well-done movie.

A Wheel of Time Movie In The Works?

We will see.  Universal Studios has optioned the rights to adapt the Wheel of Time into a series of movies.

Apparently, Red Eagle Productions is still around and will be working on the project with Universal Studios.  I’m happy, but more than a little apprehensive.  Of course as a fan, the announcement initially made giddy.  What fan wouldn’t want to enjoy their favorite books in other formats?   However, a set of movies just seems so wrong for the series.  So much will either be lost or butchered.  I’d have been much happier if some network were announcing a mini series right now.  Heck, I’d have even been okay if that network were Fox.  

I also seem to remember Mr. Jordan making mention that he would prefer it if the Wheel of Time were adapted for television rather than the silver screen.  He was also less than pleased with Red Eagle Productions towards the end.  

Of course buying an option doesn’t mean much.  It just means that Universal has the exclusive right to produce the movie and no one else can.  Red Eagle has been holding the rights off the market for a few years now, and made no progress indicating they were ever going to begin production.  I hope they don’t mess things up again.

WoT ReRead: The Great Hunt

So I’m actually on book seven now even if I’m way behind on blogging about this adventure.  At least I won’t be in want of a topic for a while though.    Now onto what I remember of book two!

The Great Hunt is an excellent sequel, and while I may have my problems with him later, I’m glad we get to spend so much time in Rand’s head.  It is both sad and exciting watching him trade his shepard’s life for the sword and grow up become a  man who can lead a nation(s).   I think it is because of the regret and emotion that I remember from him in this second book that I still can’t hate him even when he deserves it later on in the series.  

To a lesser extent, Perrin’s also plods down the road to self-acceptance on this trip, being forced into a situation where he has to call on the wolves after Hurrin’s dissapearance.  The difference being that at the end of the second book, Perrin backtracks and continues on ignoring the wolves and blocking them out of his head until Jarra in The Dragon Reborn.  

I sometimes get to thinking of Perrin as Rand’s shadow.  There are so many parrellels between the two, where as Matt has always seemed more off on his own.  Both have been described by women as both big and gentle.  Both are physically marked in some way that they can’t hide underneath a necktie like Matt, what with Perrin’s golden eyes and Rand’s Aiel heritage that sets them apart from normal Westland society. Both their weapons were pretty much given from someone who was near kin.  Struggling with madness is more of an active struggle for them, than the creeping disease Matt suffered from the taint of Shadar Logoth.  And lastly, the reader is often brought into the dreams of Rand and Perrin, whereas Matt’s are always  closed to us.

Dabel Brothers to Adapt The Wheel of Time

Squeeeeeeee!

The official press release from dabelbrothers.com

But for those of you too lazy to click on the link:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dabel Brothers Publishing announced today that they will adaptRobert 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.

My Thoughts:

I think it is amazingly cool that Mr. Jordan left notes behind for just such a thing.  It saddens me terribly that he has past on and will be unable to complete his fine work.  What a wonderful gift it is though that he took such care and time to prepare all those notes so that others may continue on in his stead.  Once again, as always, thank you Robert Jordan!

Wheel of Time Read Through: The Eye of the World

Confession time: while I’ve been a fan of the series for over a decade, I confess…I have not yet read The Knife of Dreams.  I know, I know.  How can I call myself a fan, right?  Anyway, when I first got the book, I was under the stress of undergrad and going through some personal things.  I lost a very young family member to a similar disease as the one that Mr. Jordan was diagnosed with that same year.  I just couldn’t pick up any of the books during that time.  Rand’s struggle against an inevitable fate just hit too close to home.

Anyway, now that my finals are done, I’m looking at an very carefree summer.  I’ve decided to go back and reread the entire series again so that I will actually understand what is going on by the time I get to Knife of Dreams.  I’ve already begun, but I figure with the rest of my spare time I will jot down my thoughts on books and catch up.  

Reflections on Book 1:

I’ve always had this problem deciding on my favorite book.  I bounce back and forth between 1 and 5 every now and then.  I recognize the fact that apart of my love for The Eye of The World is solely due to the fact that it was the first book.  There will always be something special about the first book of any series.  The jokes are all fresh.  The characters are a complete mystery to the reader and you can’t really tell what they are going to do.  Everything is new, even if it’s an old story.  There isn’t anything signifigant about a farmboy getting dragged into some greater destiny.  One day I should make a list of just how often that occurs in fantasy.  I can think of ten off the top of my head.  

What I do love about the Wheel of Time is the detail Robert Jordan put into every page.  For me, that is what elevated the series beyond the generic epic.  The world is so rich; I never expect to pick up on everything in one read.  I realize this is the major complaint of critics, but to each there own.

What is only true of the first book, there really isn’t a character whom I hate…yet.   I do love the three boys and at this point, all equally.  I think what is so great about Mat, Rand, and Perrin is how easy it is to empathize with them individually.  When I moved away from home permanently, I felt as paranoid as Mat at times, and as torn as Rand faced with the grandeur of Caemlyn while still missing home.   A problem I find in the fantasy genre is that all too often, the characters are either gods or a bit too relatable and by that I mean there is nothing specific in them to really define their personalities.

In closing I’d like to share what my copy of Eye of the World looks like today: