Dean Hale is the author of Iron Man: Something Strange!, a new graphic novel for kids. His many other books include the Princess in Black series, written with his wife, Shannon Hale.
Q: How did you end up writing Iron Man: Something Strange!?
A: Abrams was planning on continuing their series of fantastic Mighty Marvel Team-Up books that they started with Mike Maihack, and I’ve not made a secret
of my love of superheroes and comic books with my editors and agent.
So between that and the work I’ve done with my wife on
previous graphic novels, I think my name came up as a possibility. Needless to
say, when they presented the idea to me I jumped at the chance.
Q: What do you think Douglas Holgate’s illustrations add to the book?
A: SO MUCH! The action, the layouts, the humor! He takes everything I write and
makes it real, better, and COOL. I couldn’t be happier with what he’s
done.
Q: When you're writing about an iconic character like Iron Man, how do you
bring something new to your portrayal?
A: I think one of the cool things about Iron Man and other iconic Marvel
characters is how explorations of different aspects of who they are (or at
least how they are presented) is baked into the DNA from a long history of
monthly comics with changing creative teams.
The character's foundation is strong enough to accommodate the influence of differing perspectives or emphases and still remain quintessentially Iron Man.
That said, I think each team brings in a little of themselves, and I tend to bring giant monsters and attempts at humor.:)
Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book?
A: A smile, ideally. And if I’m really lucky, a renewed (or new) love of
reading. I think graphic novels are a great way to get kids interested in
Story, and hopefully this combination of characters they know doing fun stuff
hits the sweet spot.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m working on two graphic novels for DC with my wife, Shannon, but more
importantly, I just finished the script for the second book in *this* series
that sees Iron Man team up with another friend of his!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Nothing I can think of that isn’t currently enmeshed in the dark shadows of
secrecy. I hope everyone loves the book as much as I loved writing it!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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