I’m so happy to report that the story that started out as a novel way back when, then morphed into a web-comic, then a digital comic, and a complete 9-issue storyline has now been optioned to be a movie!

For all the details, see the press release, below.

I’m excited to see what the next 30 months hold for this story (12 months for the initial option, 18 for the extension, if needed).

I’d love it if the movie was actually made, but I’m skeptical, of course, just because making a movie is a gigantic undertaking with hundreds of moving parts. And I thought scripting all 192 pages of this comic was a challenge…!

It’s awesome that something I started working on nearly a decade ago has found a new life, and I’m just glad all the heavy lifting — for me — is already done.

Although now I’m already plotting out the next book in the In Maps & Legends series…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Michael Jasper,  info@UnWreckedPress.com

December 20, 2017

BLOWING ROCK, NC: UnWrecked Press is pleased to announce that IN MAPS & LEGENDS, a graphic novel written by Michael Jasper and illustrated by Niki Smith, has been optioned to be made into a motion picture by Strawberry Pictures Global Media.

The graphic novel tells the story of Kaitlin Grayson, a young artist who for some unknown reason has been carving a map of another world into the walls of her spare bedroom. Late one night she gets recruited by a strange man named Bartamus to save his dying world—the same world she’s been creating in her spare room.

Strawberry Pictures plans to use their option time to set up production for the live-action film version, tentatively slated for a 2019 release. David Uslan (“The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth”, “Icon”) and Jon Karas (“Believe in Me”) will produce. The company hopes to create spin-off video games and virtual-reality experiences as well.

IN MAPS & LEGENDS won the November 2009 webcomic competition hosted by Zuda Comics an imprint of prestigious DC Comics. The webcomic version was published online at Zuda’s site until Zuda closed unexpectedly in early 2010.

Because they wanted to finish their story, Mike and Niki re-launched the comic through UnWrecked Press in September 2010, formatting the comic for a wide range of digital formats, including Kindle, Nook, iPhone, and Android versions. For their efforts, Niki and Michael were named “Digital Creators of the Year” for 2010 by Comic Book Resources.

Read the first chapter here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5yotjuux7g5ew8v/InMapsAndLegends1.pdf?dl=0

About the Creators:

Artist Niki Smith is an artist and writer who is currently working on a handful of creator-owned comic projects such as Crossplay and Some Did Rest. Her work has also appeared in several English language and German comic anthologies. Niki’s site is http://niki-smith.com.

Writer Michael Jasper has published a dozen novels, a story collection, and over five dozen short stories in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, Writers of the Future, and the Raleigh News & Observer. His most recent novels are Finders, Inc. and Hunter’s Moon (both from UnWrecked Press). He is currently working on the next installment of the In Maps & Legends series. Mike’s site is http://michaeljasper.net.