Today Marvel has announced they will be launching a new line of prose novels. The idea of comic characters in actual novels isn't new. In fact, Marjorie Liu got her start in the world of comics by writing an X-Men novel. I own a few novels featuring Spider-Man, the X-Men, Hulk along with the novel adaptations of Kingdom Come and Knightfall. They're fun to read and obviously can give more detail than is allowed in the comic format.

Beginning June 2012, Marvel is releasing CIVIL WAR as a prose novel.

CIVIL WAR will be adapted by author Stuart Moore (WOLVERINE) and will tell the story that tore the Marvel Universe apart with the Superhuman Registration Act. David Gabriel, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marvel Entertainment released the following statement:

Releasing our most acclaimed graphic novels as prose fiction not only allows us to reach a different audience with these stories, but also gives us a chance to bring those readers back to the comics that started it all. CIVIL WAR is easily our best-selling graphic novel of the past decade and certainly one of the most influential in recent memory, so it was the perfect launch title for this new line. Not only will you get all the action that Mark Millar and Steve McNiven delivered in comic form but no fan will want to miss the new wrinkles we’ve added in this novel.

I'm all for more comic book novels. I'll admit I stopped reading them when I felt the quality started slipping and the stories were getting a little watered down. Let's hope with this new initiative, we'll get some great re-tellings along with some cool new adventures.

More information and upcoming prose novels will be announced soon.

I prefer comics to novels, to be honest.

So no thanks.

As long as they bring something new to the table these could be pretty good. Just as long as they're not just a straight retelling of the original.

As an English Lit student, this intrigues me...

It's always Civil War...

"Let's hope with this new initiative, we'll get some great re-tellings along with some cool new adventures."

Lol, initiative pun intended?

I love novels, but I usually read high fantasy over anything else. Still I'll give this a try.

I remember Death of Superman becoming a novelization and enjoying it immensely. This could be a good thing!

In a somewhat realted note I don't have issue 6 of Civil War and it makes me mad.

I already read the comics. :P

I remember seeing a (I think it was) Final Crisis novel at Borders one time...thought it was weird. They described Mister Terrific as "the African american man" or something...not that he isn't, it just was weird :P

I've read most of DC's novelizations...The Death of Superman, Kingdom Come, and Knightfall remain some of my favorite books so I'm more than willing to give these a shot

DC did this with Infinite Crisis, 52, Countdown, and Final Crisis. There was no way I would have read these mega-events as comics, but the novelizations were pretty good.

Given that experience, I am on board with Marvel's attempt. Can't wait to see what there other offerings are going to be.

If a picture says a 1000 words then these books will need to be very long

Well, I think it's not only an interesting idea but a great way to get across the interesting and vibrant story telling that's involved in comic-books, to poo-poo the idea that comics are not only disposable short stories, but also immature fares. To have novelised storylines like this, or World War Hulk, or indeed anything else, it might be interesting to compare them against the comics - sure it wouldn't ever get the same levels of foreshadowing, intertextuality or embedded visual narratives, but it would bring people to the storylines and hopefully comics through the Kindle, or through books themselves, who would ordinarily just ignore something with pictures because society tells them that "books wiv pictures are for kidz." Or something.

Alright I love DC's comic novels to be honest I never even felt the need to read No Man's Land in comic form because the novel was so good. I'm really excited for this I hope there good.......but this is Marvel they have the uncanny ability to screw anything up so I probably shouldn't get my hopes risen

This is an awesome idea.

Sweet, I read all of the Wolverine pocket book prose novels over the summer, which were awesome. Can't wait to get these!

@NyxEquitis: ;)

This could be something very good if done right. Civil War is a good spot to start. Hope to see Planet Hulk soon after!

Thant could be cool to read. It could also bring a lot of novel readers to comic books if they like the story enough

Well, I'm trying to grasp here but it keeps on pecking so...

In fact, Marjorie Liu got her start in the world of comics by writing an X-Men novel.

I wonder how she feels now knowing her comic and a few others got cut to save capitol only to see it distributed into the novels

she worked away from, and if she now regrets that she did?

i like the comics but i would love to read and collect first editions of these too

Sounds interesting.

@InnerVenom123 said:

I prefer comics to novels, to be honest.

So no thanks.

Same here.

@G-Man:

I would like to see this, but I would prefer someone who is not a comic book writer doing the novels. It is a very different breed of author.

This sounds interesting! I usually love reading novels and they can explain much more than can be explained in comics. As long as we have writers who can explore more about the characters' feelings on the situations, then this can be a really good thing!

i will definetly check this one out!

"They're fun to read and obviously can give more detail than is allowed in the comic format." So you have never heard that a picture can say a thousand words..........exactly how many comics did Marvel write that dealt with Civil War......2 dozen counting tie ins.....at 80 pictures per issue minimum......that had better be a very long novel.

Sounds like a cool idea, but I personally wouldn't read it. Just like film and game novelizations, I feel that the removal of the visual aspect is a step backwards :)

I really wish for a Thor novel or a Dr. Strange one with thier fantasy, mystic backgrounds they make quite a wonderful reads for people who love fantasy.

By the way will Stepehn King or his son Joe Hill write novels about American Vampire or Locke & Key? That'd be great. And a CASTLE comic, not a CASTLE novel-comic-comic,ya now what I mean, right?

This is really very interesting...

Alright!

I just saw a Walking Dead prose book and considered buying it. I love the story lines but the pictures really set the tone...

Will this version of Civil War make any sense?

All the characters didn't seem to be the same characters they were before, so there's hardly any point.

Maybe the book will be an apology. It will have two words in it: "We're sorry."

I think it lowered the standard of writing for Marvel's better books, personally.

I read some really good Green Lantern novels about Sinestro making sleeper versions of himself.

Sounds good to me. I'll buy that. I love Marvel and DC prose novels. Tom DeHaven's It's Superman is one of my favorite books. And Mark Schultz' The Flash novel is top notch.

I prefer my superheroes, and my fiction in general, in comics but I'll probably give one or two of these a look.

They're making a novel based from Civil War? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Was Civil War really that much of a good event comic. Okay the idea of heroes fighting one another is a good idea, IF ONLY IT WAS EXECUTED CORRECTLY.