The Times reports that children’s fantasy author Philip Pullman will write a new comic strip called “The Adventures of John Blake” for the DFC, a forthcoming weekly subscription-based British comic book for children launched by David Fickling. Pullman, well known as the author of the His Dark Materials series, notes that he was “brought up on comics like the Eagle, Wizard and Beano, though not so much Dandy. This is what I want to bring back to today’s youngsters – good storytelling, but with more adventurous and original illustrations.” The strip will be drawn by John Aggs in a “Japanese-influenced” style.
Although Pullman intends to return to novel writing next year with a children’s story called The Book of Dust, he is likely to retain his interest in the illustrated comic form. “Yes, I might do a graphic novel myself after that,” he said.