Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: colleen doran, good omens, graphic novel, kickstarter, neil gaiman, sir terry pratchett

Good Omens Graphic Novel Just Hit Two Million Dollars On Kickstarter

Good Omens: The Graphic Novel by Neil Gaiman, Sir Terry Pratchett and Colleen Doran just set a new crowdfunding record of two million dollars

Published Sun, 20 Aug 2023 06:52:08 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Sun, 20 Aug 2023 08:54:58 -0500

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Two million dollars. Or rather $2,012,642 from 27,293 backers with eleven days to go. Good Omens: The Graphic Novel is an upcoming adaptation of the original novel by Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett, adapted by Colleen Doran, and being lettered by Lois Buhalis. Crowdfunded on Kickstarter, approved by the Terry Pratchett Estate and Neil Gaiman, it is the most successful comic book on Kickstarter ever, by far.

On his Facebook page, Neil Gaiman wrote, as to why they chose to go the crowdfunding route for Good Omens : The Graphic Novel,

"Publishers were disappointingly uninterested in doing this, and definitely not interested in making the beautiful book the way we wanted it done, or paying Colleen to work on it for the two years it would take her to draw and paint and create it. We liked the control we get over the finished product by doing it ourselves, through Kickstarter. The support and enthusiasm we've seen has demonstrated to us that our instincts were correct."

On Facebook, Colleen Doran has clarified a few things. Especially for those who may have just seen the TV adaptation. "Yes, it's an adaptation of the novel. No, it will not be 100% accurate to the novel because it would be impossible to fit 400 pages of text into a 200-page graphic novel."

But I did ask, and Good Omens : The Graphic Novel will have the bit with Crowley running across a field in the rain moving markers to that the shape of the M25 London circulatory motorway will make the shape of the sigil "Hail The Great Beast Devourer Of Worlds". That was the moment I fell in love with the book thirty-three years ago. Colleen explains further about the adaptation process.

"This is an adaptation, not a slavish text to visual transliteration because if it were there would be a lot of scenes where body language would be reduced to someone raising his hands while in conversation and doing almost nothing else. This is not a criticism, this is just saying that the novel has scenes where someone stands and talks or sits and talks, and it is more interesting in a comic to add movement. Comics are not movies. This is a static medium. Visual interest is made from movement and I'm adding it. Instead of having people sit as written, at times I have them stand up and walk around."

"I add things not explicit in the text, but implied by the text, such as angelic lore, i.e. angels are beings of fire. The text also explicitly states that demons and angels don't really look very different, so when I make Crowley's wings white, I know someone will freak out. We had the same issues with the name Galaad in CHIVALRY. Galaad is the original spelling of the name Galahad, and I don't think I've ever been more pecked at in my life than from the complaints about how Neil Gaiman and I could not possibly know anything about King Arthur if we didn't know that Galahad was spelled with an H."

"Nothing I do doesn't get reviewed by the bosses at The Terry Pratchett Estate and Neil Gaiman. There are things I wanted to do that they took out. I throw things out there and if the answer is no, I am 100% fine with that. I've redone things because I found one tiny line 50 pages away from the original scene that made me rethink how I did something."

"My primary obligation is to Neil and the Terry Pratchett Estate, and I will do whatever I have to to make them happy. And I sincerely hope you will like it too."

Because she is making many different choices than the TV adaptation made. Such as telling me that "the Bikers of the Apocalypse are back in their full glory." She also posted to Tumblr,

"I do feel tremendous pressure to make everyone happy, and I know that's not possible. Someone somewhere is not going to like this little detail, this creative decision, that costume. That's just the way it is, and it is 1000% even more intense because the fandom loves the story so much and they want what's best for it. And that's a good thing."

"Naturally, my primary thoughts are making Neil Gaiman and the Terry Pratchett estate happy, and the chips will fall where they may elsewhere. There are little changes I feel it is important to make, such as body language, as I need to be more expansive in a static medium like comics to convey life more than one would require in prose. So if someone is described as sitting, I am likely to have them get up and walk around. Or not. It depends."

"Things in the show won't be in the book, because Gabriel, heaven and hell aren't depicted in the book. But things in the book are in the graphic novel, like the Bikers of the Apocalypse, and trees growing uncontrollably, and a big pile of fish. I sometimes feel a bit pecked at over it all, but who wouldn't. But I also recognize I have a wonderful project to work on and I am so grateful for the enthusiasm and support. I need to take some drugs, take a nap, and maybe I will have the energy for a little work in a couple of hours."

Two million dollars, no pressure… and Good Omens : The Graphic Novel coming next year… but if you like, you also have three days to listen to the first episode of Good Omens on BBC Radio 4 for free, starring Mark Heap and Peter Serafinowicz as Azariphale and Crawley. with Josie Lawrence who played Agnes Nutter in both TV and radio, as well as Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs talking about their 2014 radio adaptation and how Neil first wrote Good Omens with Pratchett.