Marvel meets Miss Austen

[pegkerr]

Apparently, Marvel Comics is turning Pride and Prejudice into a five-part comic book. This could be interesting (although I'm sure some Janites will suffer palpitations at the very idea, if not consider it a sign of the end times) but the cover doesn't leave me very hopeful:

Comments

[dragonpaws.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just the Monday sleep-deprivation talking, but I think it might be kinda awesome. Lydia would totally read it! ;)

Though Lizzy is awfully skinny...

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

It's an entertaining approach... I'll be curious to see how it turns out.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

The illustration is OK, but "Bingley's Bring Bling to Britain"?!? Words fail me.

[dreamflower]

0_o *blink*blink*

OOoookay...

But at least I think that Miss Austen would find it amusing, rather than it causing any grave-spinning.

[cantkeepsilent.livejournal.com]

She worries Austen purists will be offended. But Marvel assures her that its marketing people know what they're doing. And if it helps the series attract girls, she's all for that.

*splorf*

I can't imagine a group of people less informed about how to inspire girls to buy comic books than the marketing team at Marvel Comics. These are the same goons that magically wiped out the history of Peter Parker's twenty year marriage on the theory that boys would identify better with a guy who was dating than one in a steady relationship.

I'm not opposed to the thought of reframing literary classics in graphic novel form, and I eagerly await a new generation of students who will turn in high-school essays based on their understanding of the adaptation instead of the original, but trusting the folks that sell superhero comics to determine how best to package a classic novel is ill-advised.

[pameladean]

That's self-parody, but I suspect it's not conscious. Oy.

P.

[msavi.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. Y'know, other implications aside, what strikes me most is that Marvel obviously belives there is an audience for this. And that actually makes me happy!