Broken Frontier

Chuck Dixon is one of those rare writers that can fit into any genre. Perhaps he’s not a big name like Bendis or Morrison, but for two decades the American scribe has crafted some very impressive work with grand superhero tales. His lengthy runs of Batman, and pretty much every other Bat-related series, for DC Comics in the '90s, are pitch-perfect examples of how to creatively blend action and drama within an ongoing epic. However, beyond the Dark Knight and co, Dixon has also stamped his imprint on characters as diverse as The Simpsons, The Phantom and a host of Crossgen’s unique titles.

Now, he’s turning his attention to the world of fantasy once more, specifically Robert Jordan’s books. Having adapted the late author’s New Spring story from his Wheel of Time novels, which have sold 44 million copies so far, Dixon now moves onto adapting the next in the series, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World, coming from Dabel Brothers Publishing

BROKEN FRONTIER: I guess you’re quite familiar with Robert Jordan’s work, after New Spring. Did that make adapting Wheel of Time easier?

CHUCK DIXON: Absolutely. It served as a kind of primer for approaching his work. More importantly, Robert Jordan was still with us while I was working on it so I had the benefit of his direct input. He was very forgiving and generous in his comments and provided a guideline for adapting his work into the visual medium of comics. So much of a prose work is internal that it’s sometimes hard to find the series of consistently exciting imagery that good comics demand.

BF: How are New Spring and Wheel of Time connected?

CD: New Spring is a prequel.

BF: What part in the entire Wheel of Time saga is your favorite?

CD: As corny as it sounds, the part I’m working on at the time.

BF: How do you go about adapting such an epic work? Are there any crucial first steps in the adaptation process? Do you consult any reference guides?

CD: I try and think of it as an issue at a time. If I start looking down the road at the epic scale of the whole thing I’d lock up. The heavy lifting here is to strike a balance between being true to the original work and creating a compelling comics version. Thankfully, the prose page to comics page ratio is such that I can do an almost direct translation to more closely follow the pacing of the original.

BF: What do you think about Batman’s death?

CD: It’s another stunt.

BF: You’ve worked with pretty much every publisher out there. What’s the biggest difference between working with indie publishers and The Big Two?

CD: There’s no real difference. It all comes down to the editor. All I need is an editor who has faith in me. It doesn’t matter whose name is up in the corner of the cover.

Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World is out soon published by Dabel Brothers.