Twenty years after its first printing, Scholastic has just reissued City of Light, City of Dark, the graphic novel I authored.
In 1986 (I think it was), I had been living in Los Angeles. Not only did I purchase my first computer there, I wrote a fantasy novel set in New York City. The book was actually purchased by one editor, but then dropped, when in the process of revision I realized to write a novel set in a modern city, without people of color, made no sense. I offered the book to another publisher, who turned it down saying, “It had no salt.” I put the book aside, not sure what to do with it. A few months later, I read an article by artist Will Eisner, in which he argued that the graphic novel, a term he popularized, was a legitimate form of literature.
Bells rang in my head. As a kid, I adored comic books and read them by the thousands. It struck me that my novel was rather like a comic book tale and could find life in that form.
By then I was living in Providence, Rhode Island, and had become an acquaintance of David Macaulay who was teaching illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. I asked him if he knew of any comic strip artists. He suggested one of his students—who was also a student at Brown University. The young man drew a daily strip for the Brown University student newspaper. The student’s name was Brian Floca.
By that time my editor was Richard Jackson, then of Orchard Books. I suggested he take my novel and we would transform it into a graphic novel. He was dubious, until I sent him a copy of Maus, the extraordinary graphic novel by Art Spiegelman. That book convinced Richard that there was validity to the form. We three became a team.
Brian and I met often over a period of years to create City of Light, City of Dark. It is still around and still enjoyed. And Brian is still traveling fast.
1 thought on “Continuing Tale: City of Light, City of Dark”
I somehow missed this article until now. Thank you for this back story. I could read pages more if you’ve got them 🙂 City of Light, City of Dark inspired my love for comics, especially graphic novels, so it’s great to hear that it was born of an equal inspiration in you. I would not be the artist I am today if I hadn’t talked my parents into buying me this book!
Also thank you thank you for roping Brian Floca in for this project, he remains one of my all time favorite artists, and it’s all thanks to the exposure I got to him from this very book.