INTERVIEW: ‘Marley’s Ghost’ retells ‘Christmas Carol’ in graphic novel form
ComiXology Originals has recently fulfilled a dream 70 years in the making. The digital comics company has released Harvey Kurtzman’s Marley’s Ghost, a graphic novel adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The project was started by Kurtzman in the 1950s, and now it’s finished by artist Gideon Kendall and writers Josh O’Neill and Shannon Wheeler.
Kurtzman, who died in 1993, was the creator of MAD magazine. Kendall is an artist who has worked for Disney, Cartoon Network and The New York Times. O’Neill is an Eisner and Harvey award winner known for Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream. Wheeler is also an Eisner award winner and the creative force behind Too Much Coffee Man.
The trio of creators worked with the Kurtzman estate to finish the graphic novel and honor the original idea. They worked off Kurtzman’s notes, thumbnails and pages to approximate the vision that was originally detailed in the 1950s.
The 120-page book is now available from comiXology at a special introductory price of $2.99. Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with O’Neill about the new project. Questions and answers have been slighted edited for style.
What inspired you to finish Kurtzman’s dream project?
Josh O’Neill: The concept was hatched by Denis Kitchen and John Lind at Kitchen Sink Books. Denis was a close friend and creative associate of Harvey’s and of the Kurtzman estate. The concept of this tantalizingly unfinished project was exciting to Denis. The finished work by Kurtzman and Jack Davis was so extraordinary. I’ve worked with Denis a lot, and he knows I’m a big Kurtzman fan, and — as an editor of books about Winsor McCay, Herbert Crowley and Will Eisner — a guy with a particular interest in comics history and how it’s relevant to the present. He invited me and Shannon to be involved as
editors/scriptwriters, and we brought Gideon on, who really made the thing come to life.
How much material — finished or unfinished — did Kurtzman leave behind?
O’Neill: About 10 more or less finished pages, one finished page by Jack Davis, and 50+ pages of rough layouts. His layouts covered a little less than half the book. Around the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Present, we start flying solo.
Did you have to go back to Dickens’ original story for further inspiration?
O’Neill: Yes! This is fundamentally a Dickens adaptation. The story is so wonderfully atmospheric and has such an inimitable voice, which is what inspired Harvey in the first place. We went back to the original book at least as much as we went to Kurtzman’s designs.
How did you work together as team members? Was it very collaborative? What was the process like?
O’Neill: Gideon and I are both on the East Coast, with Shannon on the West, so it was easier for us to get together in person. But the entire process was very collaborative. There was a lot of sending scripts, roughs and artwork back and forth, refining over draft after draft. I think the book came out far better as this hybridized collaboration than it could have without this team in place.
Is the adaptation family friendly?
O’Neill: Totally! We tried to follow Kurtzman’s lead in highlighting some of the spooky elements of the story, but only in the same way a great ghost story goes for kids around a campfire. We tried to make a book that everyone could enjoy.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Harvey Kurtzman’s Marley’s Ghost is now available from comiXology. Click here for more information.
