I’ve previously mentioned the runaway success of the Good Omens graphic novel adaptation and that has got people thinking about Discworld:

Good Omens’ Kickstarter has broken all records for comics on the platform and shows that Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is due a rebirth. Discworld is beloved by millions, and despite a spotty history with adaptations, Good Omens shows that it can and should be given the opportunity to flourish.

Discworld has had comic adaptations before, including The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Guards! Guards! and Mort. However, these adaptations start at the beginning of Discworld canon, which is significantly weaker than mid and later novels, leaning more heavily into outright fantasy parody than the dense and inviting world that quickly forms. The Discworld books are broken up into both one-off adventures and series following unconnected main characters, most famously the upright Watch Commander Vimes, the powerful and petty witch Granny Weatherwax, and Death, who has a cameo in almost every Discworld novel. At the same time, Discworld’s settings evolve as the stories progress, with the city of Ankh-Morpork undergoing social and technological evolution. This kind of true growth and progress is perfect for a serial comic story, as is the ensemble way in which Pratchett structures each book’s cast.

One of the major disadvantages with adapting Pratchett’s Discworld novels for screen - as seen in pretty much every TV-movie and series - is the huge budget needed to create living, breathing locations shaped by an army of colorful characters, including trolls, werewolves, and orangutans. However, this is far less of an issue in comics, where talented artists can realize Pratchett’s vision without breaking the bank. At the same time, Discworld is famous for its witty dialog and strong narrative voice - elements which comics can bring across, especially by drawing on devices like caption boxes and thought balloons.

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPM
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    1 year ago

    I suspect that the Good Omens graphic novel being published by the Terry Pratchett Estate (and some queried why Kickstarter and not just a standard publisher) is testing the water for doing the Discworld adaptations in-house and the success of the campaign makes this pretty likely, especially, as they say, the format lends itself well to Discworld and could even act as a storyboard-style demonstration to big studios (as quite a few comic Kickstarters have been). After all, it might take extra leverage to get Amazon or Netflix to splash the GoT/LotR levels of cash it would require to do faithfully.