The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

I first heard this story from another author a few weeks ago, but since it hadn’t been officially announced I’ve had to keep it to myself, but since the next edition of SFX which is just about to hit the stands carries the news it looks like it has gone public: top Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, author of the bestselling Inspector Rebus novels set in Edinburgh, is to write Hellblazer for DC. Of course we have had fellow Scottish crime novelist Denise Mina doing a great run on Vertigo’s flagship title lately and she has been swapping notes and giving advice to Ian on making the adaptation from prose to comics writing, although with Andy Diggle taking over from Denise early next year Ian will not be taking over directly from her. He has pitched a six-issue idea to DC who are more than happy with it and will be writing for the series.

I’ve read Ian’s novels for years; I don’t read a lot of crime fiction, but Ian’s work is gripping (and being set in the city I live in added another layer of fascination). He has also allowed Rebus to age more or less in real time over the course of the novels and is now working on bringing the hit series to a conclusion; I also know he enjoys comics having recommended the occassional graphic novel to him and I know he also has a liking for SF (I still have fond memories of sitting backstage in Edinburgh with Ian as we talked to Tom Baker who Ian was going to introduce to a huge audience) so in my (not very) humble opinion I think his credentials are more than up to the job and I’m looking forward to it. Meanwhile Denise is working on her own original graphic novel to follow her Hellblazer run, while the first story arc, Empathy is the Enemy (which sees Constantine in Glasgow), is due in collected trade paperback next month.