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Derek Landy returns to Skulduggery with P J Holden graphic novel
Derek Landy has collaborated with 2000AD artist P J Holden on Bad Magic, part of a move to expand the Skulduggery Pleasant oeuvre.
Irish author Derek Landy is expanding his bestselling YA dark fantasy series Skulduggery Pleasant into the graphic novel space with Bad Magic, an original story with art from P J Holden, to be published by HarperCollins Children’s Books on 12th October 2023.
The Skulduggery Pleasant series follows the titular Skulduggery, a detective who also happens to be a skeleton, and his partner, Valkryie Cain, ostensibly human but with magical powers. The 144-page, full-colour graphic novel Bad Magic will be a completely new “self-contained story” which builds its own distinct lore separate to that presented in the book series. Landy spoke to me over Zoom along with HarperCollins Children’s publisher for fiction and author brands Nick Lake, who is his editor. The author explained: “I didn’t want it to be just for the hardcore [Skulduggery] reader or even the casual reader. You can pick it up even if you’ve never read a Skulduggery book.” In the story, Skulduggery and Valkyrie resume their starring roles and begin to investigate a series of murders in a small town in Ireland “which is plagued by an entity called Mr Friendly, who has this essentially murderous plot working behind the scenes”, says Landy, almost too gleefully. It “feels like an ‘X-Files’ episode”, Lake adds.
The Skulduggery universe has exploded since the initial acquisition, with a 15-book series, two World Book Day books, a novella, a short story collection and The Skulduggery Pleasant Grimoire, not to mention Hell Breaks Loose, a prequel coming in April 2023
Although “Skulduggery isn’t something that gets talked about in the broadsheet press”, according to Lake, the series has sold consistently well since its inception, having both incredible longevity and sustained success. Total sales of the series stand at nearly 1.9 million copies, equating to a hefty £12.6m in sales, through Nielsen BookScan UK. “I feel privileged to have gone on such a long journey and to have worked with such an extraordinary creator for so long,” says Lake. He has been Landy’s editor since 2006, when HarperCollins acquired the first three Skulduggery books in what was then, according to the publisher, one of the biggest auctions for a début children’s book ever.
The Skulduggery universe has exploded since the initial acquisition, with a 15-book series, two World Book Day books, a novella, a short story collection and The Skulduggery Pleasant Grimoire, not to mention Hell Breaks Loose, a prequel coming in April 2023. Landy has also penned Demon Road, a YA horror trilogy.
Innovation is a hallmark of the Skulduggery universe, which takes its cues from a “variety of not only genres, but also mediums,” says Landy. “They’re inspired by other books, by comics, by movies, by television, by music.” Introducing a graphic novel to the universe was then a “natural fit” for a Skulduggery story and tied with HarperCollins’ desire “to lead the market and do different, new, exciting things”, adds Lake.
Unlike a novel where the “writer is always front and centre”, Landy explains, with a graphic novel it is “completely different”. “It absolutely starts off with my script, but you can’t even say it’s scripted by Derek Landy with the story by Derek Landy and art by P J Holden. It’s script by Derek Landy and story by Derek Landy and P J Holden, because the words mean nothing on a comic script without the interpretation. It’s a lot more like making a movie.”
Having previously worked on 2000AD, a weekly British comic magazine launched in 1977, now owned by Rebellion Publishing, Holden brought both experience and “wonderful” talent to the page to create a “proper” graphic novel. In Bad Magic, his filmic, noir art, divided into comic book-style panels, leans into the horror genre, but manages to carefully toe the line between adult and child readership. A balance was struck between artist and writer, with Lake and his team as mediators. “I do have a tendency to go overboard because of my love of horror… Every so often I tend to go too far, so that’s when I have to be reined in,” admits Landy. One redacted scene included a heart being ripped out of someone’s chest—it was ruled too adult. Bad Magic will be marketed for readers aged 15 and over, but Lake stresses that “we don’t want it to veer into that older YA”.
He continues: “It’s been really interesting working with Derek and with P J to make sure the darker content, once it’s represented visually, isn’t veering too old. We want to sit Bad Magic in that Waterstones children’s book space, not purely in the adult graphic novel section.”
Bad Magic will undoubtedly tap into the pool of Skulduggery readers while hoping to entice new ones and appeal to the growing graphic novel audience
Bad Magic arrives when graphic novels, spearheaded by Alice Oseman’s record-breaking Heartstopper series, are becoming increasingly popular, having topped £50m in annual earnings through BookScan for the first time in 2022. Yet the timing is, in part, due to luck: “We sort of loved to say that it was a clever plan, but it also ended up being serendipitous,” says Lake. Landy concurs: “The new emphasis that is now on graphic novels ever since Heartstopper is fortuitous; it’s not the impetus [for Bad Magic], it’s not how it started.”
Reaching out
Bad Magic will undoubtedly tap into the pool of Skulduggery readers while hoping to entice new ones and appeal to the growing graphic novel audience. Readership has always been at the centre of Landy’s ethos: he will always add an extra element, such as an extra chapter or a deleted scene, to every new edition of his books. He continues: “The emphasis has always been on the reader. It’s always been on the audience. I never take them for granted—it’s never to exploit their enthusiasm.”
Commitment to his readers has been one of the reasons Landy has refused to write a prequel for so long, because “you know who lives and who dies and, in a series like this, it’s all about who lives and dies, that’s where the tension is”. But then an unwitting fan, speaking to Landy while getting his book signed, turned the tide when he asked about a prequel: “I did my usual spiel and then I ended it with, ‘In fact, the only way I would ever consider doing
a prequel is if...’ and then I was like, ‘Ooh!’”
The rest is publishing history. Hell Breaks Loose, with cover art by Matt Taylor, is due in April, yet it wouldn’t be a Skulduggery novel without being slightly different. Unlike other prequels which act as an opening into the world, Hell Breaks Loose requires the reader to have already read the entire series. “It definitely hinges on reading all 15 books, because it deals with a piece of the series’ history,” explains Landy. The novel promises to reveal two things “that will blow the fans’ minds”, says Lake, adding: “If you’re a fan, even though it’s not book 16, you need to read it.”
Bad Magic and Hell Breaks Loose are the first steps in an extensive publishing plan for the Skulduggery universe. “The excitement doesn’t stop after 2023,” Lake notes, with plans for the 20th anniversary of the first book in 2027 and into 2028. A redesign of the backlist can be expected, alongside “very, very, very secret things”. Although Landy is currently not contracted for another graphic novel, Lake teases that “I don’t think any of us wants to stop with just one”.
