PRESS RELEASE

Barry Nugent’s genre spanning novel Fallen Heroes to be adapted as a graphic novel.

After selling out at several branches of Waterstones and enjoying a growing cult status, the stylish supernatural thriller Fallen Heroes is now entering the realm of comic books.

Insomnia Publications have licensed Fallen Heroes for a graphic novel adaptation with a predicted release date of 2010. Nic Wilkinson, Insomnia’s creative director was more than happy to share her reasons behind the decision to adapt the novel.

“I didn’t so much read the first scene of Fallen Heroes back in 2008, as see it come to life out of the page, so visually arresting is the writing. With the sharp, multi-layered plot and slick characters of modern crime writing juxtaposed against the shadowy agencies, ancient magic and bold dynamic characters of pulp adventure Fallen Heroes is going to be a truly striking comic.”

When she sat down with Barry to plan out the adaptation Nic already had a clear vision about the project.

“We all agreed that finding the best writer for the job was crucial. Given the book’s increasing cult status I had a lot of very good pitches from both known and new writers hoping to get this gig.

Fallen Heroes will be a very complex adaptation, as those who have read it will know, and there is huge amount of work to be done on the structure and coaxing the characters over to a new medium before the writing even begins.”

Nic then approached comic veteran Martin Conaghan with job of helming the adaptation.
“We asked Martin to do the honours as he is a very experienced writer and researcher and is making a welcome return to comics after a 10 year absence.

Martin’s background as a journalist, his incredibly deep knowledge of comics, their creators and their history, and his ability to deftly re-structure disparate historical sources into gripping stories with vibrant, vital characters all make him the perfect person for the job.”

When asked about taking on the adaptation Martin, who now works for the BBC  had this to say.

“Fallen Heroes is jam-packed full of fantastic ideas and thrilling  set-pieces. I’m looking forward to finding out where I can take Barry’s rich characters when I translate them on to the comic-book page; from the reluctant hero Jason Chen to the ruthless demon stalker Napoleon Stone. It has everything; a great blend of mythology, science-fiction, action and the supernatural – all told in a very visual style – it’s perfect for the graphic novel format.”

Stay tuned all for more updates!