CREATOR EXCLUSIVE
Dark Horse is adapting Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys for comics
AFTER AMERICAN GODS AND Norse Mythology, Dark Horse Comics is now adapting Neil Gaiman’s 2005 novel Anansi Boys into a trio of eight-issue miniseries. While Gaiman liaised with writer Marc Bernardin and artist Shawn Martinbrough during the development process, he has mostly taken a hands-off position.
“I got a few notes from Neil when he read the first couple of scripts, which were more questions than mandates,” says Bernardin. “Then they stopped, which I interpreted as him being happy enough with what he was reading to leave us to the work.
“My philosophy with adaptation is a bit like a doctor: first do no harm. If the story is working – and Anansi Boys works like gangbusters – then why change anything if you don’t have to? Of course, porting one medium to another always requires some manipulation and invention, but we’ve endeavoured to do it in the spirit of the original work.”
“The details are all there in Neil’s book and Marc’s scripts, but I’ve had all the freedom to create,” adds Martinbrough. “My job as an artist is to visualise and build the words as written, and I also worked very closely with our colourist Christopher Sotomayor to create specific colour palettes for this story, giving the adaptation of the Anansi Boys a very unique and distinct look.
“Before designing the characters, I asked Marc if he had any ideas for their looks, and when he suggested a particular person or vibe I would assemble photo reference folders and use them to create a look. That type of visual exploration was a very fun part of the storytelling process.”
The novel centres on Londoner Fat Charlie Nancy, who discovers not only that his late father was actually West African trickster god Anansi the Spider, but that he also has a mysterious twin brother. Bernardin and Martinbrough were intrigued by the way it explores African folklore from a particularly British perspective.
