Next month, the WAR OF THE WORLDS graphic novel will debut in bookstores across the nation and it will be promoted with a 90-second trailer, not unlike the way movies are promoted.
"We're producing the trailer in Hollywood, and it will be complete with a soundtrack, special effects and voice talent," said Aron Kessler, vp of Best Sellers Illustrated (www.bestsellersillustrated.com), the book's publisher.
The trailer's visuals include black-and-white panels from the graphic novel, many of which depict the havoc wreaked by Martian tripod war machines in and around New York City.
"H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi tale took place in London and its environs," said author Stephen Stern, "but Orson Wells' updated radio version that caused a nationwide panic was set in the New York metropolitan area. We're doing the same thing, in a post-9/11 world."
The WAR OF THE WORLDS trailer will debut on the Internet in early May, just weeks before the graphic novel arrives in bookstores and less than two months before Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's summer blockbuster based on the same source material hits theatres.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
