Marvel Comics has announced the March, 2011 release of Emma #1, the first issue in an adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel that will be written by Nancy Butler and illustrated by Janet K. Lee.  Butler adapted Austen’s Pride and Prejudice into a series of comic books for Marvel, and the result was a successful literary adaptation that made ICv2’s “Top Ten Fiction & Reality Graphic Novel” list for Q3 of 2010 (see “Top Fiction and Reality Titles—2010”).

 

Jane Austen’s novels remain extremely popular because of her ability to create characters who remain recognizable, identifiable, and appealing nearly two hundred years after their initial appearance.  Emma features one of Austen’s most engaging protagonists, a matchmaker whose comic misadventures trying to fix up her friend inspired the movie Clueless, which was a popular 1995 adaptation of Austen’s 1815 novel.