Sense and Sensibility, Comics

Gentle Readers, Sense and Sensibility, the comic book version from Marvel Comics, has been out since late May. Volume 4 of 5 is now available. The following images (from Comic Book Resources) provide previews of each volume so far. Click on each image to enlarge and read it. Enjoy. Story by Jane Austen and Nancy Butler; images by Sonny Liew.

Volume 1: The death of Mr. Dashwood creates hardship for his widow and daughters. While John Dashwood, the son from a previous marriage, promised to look after his stepmother and half sisters, Fanny Dashwood persuades him from honoring his obligation....

Stay tuned this week for previews of the other volumes.

Skottie Young's Cover for Sense and Sensibility

The artist describes on his site how he came to create a cover for (what I presume is) the comic version of Sense and Sensibility. This cover would intrigue me enough to purchase the comic.

"My editor dropped me a line this week and asked if I'd like to do a cover for Sense & Sensibility. I didn't even think, I just said yes. I knew it would be a great chance to experiment with mood and a feel that doesn't translate to superhero or fantasy style comics I'm used to doing. It was a nice challenge and very fun to play with a new technique. Or at least new to me..."

Follow him on Twitter.

Interview with Nancy Butler, Writer of the Comic Sense and Sensibility

Last year, Marvel Comics published a number of issues of Pride and Prejudice, which were such a success that it sat on the New York Times Graphic Novel Best Seller list for 13 weeks. Nancy Butler, the brains behind the graphic version of that novel, has adapted Sense and Sensibility for a similar treatment. The first of five S&S comics will be available for purchase at this site on May 10.

Vanetta Rogers of Newsarama interviewed Ms. Butler, who talked about the experience of condensing the book:

Austen tells you that Elinor falls in love with Edward without you reading any of their dialogue until, like, page 300. So she tells you that Mrs. Dashwood observes Elinor and feels that she has formed an attraction to him.

So, since I'm doing this as a comic book, I can't use prose to tell what's going on. I can't just have a comic filled with artwork and captions telling you how the characters are feeling. So I've had to invent – especially in this first issue – I've had to invent scenes that I thought were in keeping with the flow of the story, but do not occur in the book except as an author's description."

• Click here to read the rest of the interview.
• Sense and Sensibility #2 will be in stores on June 3

Sense & Sensibility Comics Available on May 10

Marvel Comics first turned Pride and Prejudice into a comic book, and now it is Sense and Sensibility's turn. Look for the comics arrival on May 10.

For my part, I prefer these looser, softer illustrations by Sonny Liewe (below) over the first set of comics by Hugo Petrus (above).

More on the topic -

• Sketches from the artist
• Marvel Comics - Sense and Sensibility

Thanks to Katherine, I found this image on DeviantArt