DC Entertainment announced that it will be bringing the dark and compelling story The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to life in a “new, visually compelling way” via a new line of graphic novels based on the popular Swedish novels by Stieg Larsson. Though no artists or writers have been attached yet, the graphic novels will be released digitally and in print some time in 2012.
Starting with the first book in the “Millennium trilogy”, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, DC’s Vertigo imprint will release one novel-to-comic adaptation a year. The Girl Who Played with Fire will be released in 2013, followed by The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest in 2014.
According to a report in THR, co-publisher of DC Entertainment Dan DiDio said that the characters in Larsson’s novels are particularly suited for the graphic novel vehicle:
The intricate characters and stories Larsson created in the “Millennium Trilogy” are a perfect match for the graphic novel format, where we can bring Lisbeth Salander to life in entirely new, visually compelling ways. It’s a distinct honor to work on a story that is already so popular with millions of readers around the world.
Larsson’s edgy mystery/thriller novels starring the complex outsider Lisbeth have already received European movie adaptations, with an American version directed by David Fincher hitting theaters this December.
DC Entertainment has its fingers in a lot of pies, pushing a “transmedia” philosophy that is on the rise in the entertainment industry. I guess it’s pretty sound business policy to take advantage of movie or book buzz by moving a proven brand/character across media platforms. Movies based on graphic novels, graphic novels based on movies (like the recently launched Immortals graphic novel), and graphic novels based on novels all seem to do well and I’m sure this one will be no different.
