These days, comic book readers are pretty used to seeing movie and television show tie-ins appear left and right. Famous examples of these include the hundreds of tie-in comics following the Star Wars universe, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who likewise jumping on the tie-in train. These are far from the only franchises, and it looks like there’s potentially a new and growing trend for tie-ins. Believe it or not, novels are starting to foray into this medium, telling unique stories based on established worlds. Likewise, some novels are getting comic adaptations. Meanwhile, some comic publishers have long been playing around with novelization forms of familiar stories. It may seem like novels and comics are too similar for this crossover to be noteworthy, but the rising frequency has been getting our attention. Popular series such as the Grishaverse and Shades of Magic have already begun experimenting with the format, and they likely won’t be the last.
When it comes to comics delving into the world of novels, DC Comics and Marvel have been experimenting with it for decades. There are hundreds of stories featuring well-known characters, sometimes retelling familiar stories. More recently, Marvel has begun to double down on this concept, creating several new lines of novels, but with a unique twist.
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Novels Diving into the World of Comics
People wanting to explore familiar worlds in a comic book format is hardly new. It’s not even new to novels, but it’s hard to ignore recent explorations in this style. One of the earliest modern attempts was by Victoria Schwab, author of the Shades of Magic series. Her world immediately captivated a massive audience, and if the numerous special editions of the series are anything to go by, people cannot get enough of this series. Enter The Shades of Magic Comics, three volumes of stories set in the same world. They’re prequels to A Darker Shade of Magic, following Maxim Maresh before he was a king. As such, readers are shown a magical world on the brink of a war.
Next, there’s the beloved Grishaverse series by Leigh Bardugo. This magical world has been a hit from the start. Originally a trilogy, it has since expanded to include two duologies and a graphic novel. It also became a Netflix series, showing how much attention the series garnered. Much like The Shades of Magic series, the graphic novel attached to the Grishaverse is a prequel. Demon in the Wood tells the story of the Darkling, years before he held that title. In this tale, he’s still a young man, with an open heart begging to be broken.
Finally, we want to take a moment to talk about another type of novel exploration. Some novels are getting graphic novel adaptations. This is already an established format in some publications (such as the journey from light novels to manga). One example is The Innkeeper Chronicles, written by Ilona Andrews (the writing duo Ilona and Andrew Gordon). Their cherished magical series received an adaptation through Tapas, which has since been published in two volumes. It’s the perfect read for readers who want a bit of sci-fi mixed into their fantasy, as the foundation may be a magical inn, but there’s no denying the alien presence (or romantic tension) in this universe. Whether or not the series will continue is still up in the air, so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes.
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Novels Based on the Comic Book Industry
Marvel and DC Comics have been publishing novels for decades. DC famously has the DC Prose Novels collection, while Marvel has been playing around with dozens of different series and styles, some following iconic characters while others followed teams. More recently, Marvel started doubling down on this concept, and some of their decisions are pretty interesting.
For example, the new Marvel Crime series takes beloved Marvel characters and puts them into thriller-style novels. That in itself isn’t new (though it is fun), what makes this run interesting is that Marvel has landed several established thriller authors to write their series. The first novel, Breaking the Dark, is written by Lisa Jewell (Watching You, The Family Upstairs, etc.) and follows the one and only Jessica Jones. Enemy of My Enemy is due later this year, and it will be a Daredevil thriller. Written by Alex Segura (Secret Identity, Poe Dameron: Free Fall), this novel is going to have the best of both worlds.
The other noteworthy series has Marvel leaning on another current trend, as people can’t get enough of their What If… series. So, naturally, they decided to order a series of novels about it. The first one (What If… Loki Was Worthy) focuses on the God of Mischief, while the second (What If… Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings?) brings unlikely characters together. In both instances, Marvel landed well-known authors (Madeleine Roux and Seanan McGuire).
What do you think about this potential new trend? Are there any tie-ins or crossovers you’re hoping to see happen?
