WILLIAM SHATNER Gets in Motion
LNL Partners and Panelfly have announced a partnership to produce the first LNL-Cinematic Graphic Novel™ based on William Shatner’s novel Man O’ War. Says Shatner, “We’re doing illustrated novels in an absolutely new way, something that has essentially never been done before.”
Jointly developed by LNL and Panelfly, the proprietary Cinematic Graphic Novel format will combine moving panels, in-story sound effects, and a music for an “enhanced reading experience”. William Shatner’s Man O’ War: Cinematic Graphic Novel will deliver the adaptation in a 16-chapter action drama about Benton Hawkes, a controversial ambassador who gets sent to negotiate peace between workers at a mining company on Mars and the corporation that runs the operation.
Along the way, Hawkes encounters “corrupt powerbrokers, political assassination, clandestine relationships and dangerous exploration and investigation on a depleted Earth and a powder-keg Mars.”
“Showcasing Shatner at his best, William Shatner’s Man O’ War: Cinematic Graphic Novel features humanistic storytelling based on his more than 50 years of performance and his lifetime of understanding power and people. A lifelong fan of comics, Shatner has actively worked on projects in this field and has had an ongoing vision to advance the medium with technological enhancements. With the surge of popularity for mobile devices, and with new devices in the pipeline, he believes the time is ripe to introduce a new product channel into the market – and we are thrilled to be part of his vision,” said Mariano Nicieza, LNL Partners Co-Owner.
Man O’ War is adapted into the Cinematic Graphic Novel format by Nicieza with Frank Lovece and includes artists John Hebert, Sherp, Rick Emond, Philip McNulty, Michael Yakutis, Theresa Steele, Veronica Smith, Eric Vincent, Deena Simmons, Nikolos Sardos, Kelly Zimmerman and Wilson Ramos, Jr.
The project has launched an IndieGoGo campaign that runs through April 30. The series will go public this summer.
