Koontz CoverTrue to their word, the Dabel Brothers bounced right back with the announcement of a deal to adapt Dean Koontz’s FRANKENSTEIN BOOK 1: PRODIGAL SON to comics form. The PR doesn’t mention a publisher, so it’s presumably through the Dabels themselves. You can read all the details in the jump, but we’d also like to reference last week’s Newsarama with Les Dabel:

Les Dabel: You know, I’m sure a lot of people are wondering what’s going on here, and judging from the responses I’ve seen so far, many people assume something bad happened, despite the fact that the press release Marvel put out summed the situation up nicely. The licenses that we have started already with Marvel are the ones that will continue with Marvel, but those are only a few of our projects.

We can’t go into the details about the deal structure, but we are leaving the partnership with Marvel extremely happy and on good terms. We’ve got many good things on the way, and we view this as a positive step.

A poster speculates Well, for Dabel to be happy with the breakup, they must have received something of great value.
We think it was the Hufflepuff Cup!

With over five million copies sold worldwide of the first two novels in Koontz’s proposed Frankenstein trilogy, the graphic adaptation produced by the Dabel Brothers of “Frankenstein Book 1” is destined to be a Number 1 bestseller in the graphic novel and comic book categories as well.

If the Dabel Brothers can be accused of anything in life, it’s in thinking big.

They stunned the comic book world in 2003 with their graphic adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight. They upped the ante when they joined forces with Marvel Comics to produce Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter, which immediately became one of the bestselling graphic novels of 2007 within one month from publication.

Today Les and Ernst Dabel announced that their next wave of comic book adaptations of popular novels will include one of the bestselling novels of the decade: an adaptation of Dean R. Koontz’s Frankenstein Book 1: Prodigal Son!

“We love surprises,” laughed Ernst Dabel, President of Dabel Brothers Productions, “and we’re certain that many people will be absolutely stunned to hear that we’re working with such a well-known author as Dean Koontz. And we’re excited! Mr. Koontz is an amazing writer with some incredible ideas, and we’re thrilled to have a chance to bring his Frankenstein story into the comic book medium.”

“Says Dean Koontz: “I’m delighted that Frankenstein will come to life in comic book form, and that the project is being guided by such capable hands as those of the Dabel Brothers. I usually don’t say things like ‘they rock,’ but it’s inescapable: ‘they rock.’”

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son is the first book in Koontz’s proposed trilogy of novels set in modern day New Orleans. This is a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time– Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel. Every city has secrets. But none as terrible as this. His name is Deucalion (previously known as Frankenstein’s monster), a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who’s traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives in New Orleans as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O’Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner Michael Maddison would back her up all the way to Hell itself—and that just may be where this case ends up. For the no-nonsense O’Connor is suddenly talking about an ages-old conspiracy, a near immortal race of beings, and killers that are more—and less—than human. Soon it will be clear that as crazy as she sounds, the truth is even more ominous. For their quarry isn’t merely a homicidal maniac—but his deranged maker, Dr. Frankenstein—now known as Victor Helios.

The first issue of the comic book is set to arrive on shelves in February, 2008. The series will be monthly and will eventually adapt both novels in the series published to date, beginning with Frankenstein: Prodigal Son. The comic books will be carried through Diamond Comic Distributors and available at comic book stores across North America.

4 COMMENTS

Comments are closed.