The Making of a Graphic Novel


You may know that The Mark of Athena comes out October 2, but that also marks the publication date for The Red Pyramid graphic novel! Ever wonder how a graphic novel is put together? The folks at Disney were kind enough to send some images that show the different stages.

First a script is developed, taking the book and condensing it like a screenplay. Since a graphic novel is much shorter than a regular novel, the adaption team has to figure out how to relay the story in words and pictures without losing anything!

Once that's done, they make a layout of each page, roughly sketching out what each panel will show and say.

Here's the layout for page 16 of The Red Pyramid:


After that, the artist does a pencil version of the artwork, which refines the look of each panel:


Then color is added to the art:


And finally, the text is lettered, making a complete page:

Pretty cool, huh? And just wait until you see the entire graphic novel. It looks spectacular. I'll post another page next week, from layout to finished product, so stay tuned!