Lee on Pride And Prejudice And Zombies graphic novel

In 2009, Jane Austen met Night Of The Living Dead in Seth Grahame Smith’s bestselling novel Pride And Prejudice And Zombies. Now, thanks to comic book writer Tony Lee (whose work for Marvel and DC has obtained a notable cult following), this splatter-heavy twist on a crinkly old English romance is about to become a graphic novel.

“Yeah, I am adapting it into a graphic novel just now for Del Rey books,” he told SciFiNow. “There are also plans to make it into a movie but, as much as I would love to write a script for that, my focus right now is on making this a great comic book. In fact, I think that will put the eventual film in even better standing.”

Consequently, Lee admitted that the biggest challenge facing him is in how to visualise such a bizarre concept. “With Pride And Prejudice And Zombies they have taken a classic book and done something really unique with it,” he said. “It is great fun to be able to write about Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett fighting zombies in a ballroom. It comes out in March and it is drawn by Cliff Richards who did stuff like Buffy for Dark Horse and it is going to be a lot more than just ‘Oh look, it’s people fighting zombies.’ I am trying to keep as close to the book as possible, although the biggest problem I have with it is that some of the classic Austin lines might have to be sacrificed…”

This article originally appeared in the print edition of SciFiNow issue 36 by Calum Waddell. To buy a copy of the magazine or subscribe, go to www.imagineshop.com, or call our subscriptions hotline on +44 (0) 844 844 0245.