It’s just about a month until my first graphic novel collaboration comes out. Swamp Thing: Twin Branches, illustrated by Morgan Beem.
At the beginning of this, DC Comics asked me if I’d like to do a graphic novel YA reboot of one of their characters, and I said, “yeah, can I have Swamp Thing?”
I suppose nowadays Swamp Thing aka Alec Holland is considered one of the lesser known DC superheroes, but I thought he seemed like a very Stiefvater character to explore. Ok, yes, we’re both very into plants.
But also, plants have always struck me as an everyday magic that we take for granted. They’re creatures with very different languages and structures and timelines than our own, and weirdly enough, the average person makes very little effort to understand them during their lifetime.
I was interested in seeing if I could write a graphic novel that emphasized how plants and humans often have a lot of things in common, while also highlighting that sometimes, humans and humans . . . don’t.
Morgan Beem illustrated the story of Alec Holland (who in my version is a twin and a Type 1 diabetic) and has also illustrated a bookplate that’ll be available to everybody who pre-orders the book through the indie bookstore One More Page, who ships everywhere.
I’m doing my best to be efficient so that the bookplate will be signed both by me and by Morgan.
Swamp Thing: Twin Branches comes out October 13th.