Fred Fordham was kind enough to answer some questions about illustrating "A Wizard of Earthsea."
How was it to create a beautiful graphic novel that represents a classic and loved story?
Well, thank you. It’s exciting and daunting to try to faithfully adapt anything with a devoted fan base. "Earthsea" presented some unique challenges because it’s so mysterious and unconventional, both as a world and as a set of stories. Ursula Le Guin was clear that the setting should feel like a real place, not a fantasy cliche. And alongside the vivid otherworldliness, "Earthsea" is full of all the complicated and confusing motivations, trade-offs, and relationships of real life. But there are also dragons of course. And magic, albeit an unusually subtle portrayal of magic. Visually, it felt essential that Earthsea not look like a familiar swords-and-sorcery fantasy. Narratively, it felt essential to retain the unconventional tone and pace of the storytelling. "A Wizard of Earthsea" doesn’t follow the familiar hero’s journey, and it’s told very much like a fable or fairy tale. Lots of narration, little dialogue. So making all this work in a comics format was a challenge. But Theo Downes-Le Guin was a constant support and source of reassuringly calm and thoughtful advice. And our editor Chris Ayala-Kronos was great.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
I think reading widely probably makes people more compassionate. Part of the pleasure of reading is inhabiting another’s thoughts. This can be enjoyable for its own sake but it can also remind us of what’s important, or show us things we didn’t know were important. I’m not sure all narrative mediums do this so well because we read at our own pace and have our own time to absorb and reflect. To the extent that reading shows us varied views, lives, cultures, experiences, worlds — reading widely broadens our understanding and so our compassion.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing and illustrating?
Well, again, in this case it was crucial that "Earthsea" feel real. It is a world populated by living, working people with a range of cultures and priorities and histories, not by archetypes. Portraying a variety of people is essential if you’re trying to build a convincing world.
Tell us a little more about the time that it took to create this graphic novel?
It took a couple of years. The first stage was a preliminary adaptation of the text into a full storyboard. Then came the design of the world and characters, then the final artwork. Finding a visual style that felt appropriate was also tricky — coloured line-art just didn’t look right for this story so it’s a lot more painterly than other projects I’ve worked on. I used to work mainly as a traditional painter and it was fun to return to that.
What can fans expect from it? Was there a favorite part of the story that you loved to illustrate the most?
Fans can expect a sincere effort to portray the world, people, magic, and narrative of Ursula Le Guin’s novel faithfully. Everyone’s interpretation of this world and story will differ — and many will no doubt cherish their own vision, given the beauty and mystery of the original prose — but I have not tried to reimagine or reinterpret Le Guin’s world. This is my best understanding of it. I enjoyed illustrating all of it, though there were certainly bits that came more naturally than others. My favourite part to draw was probably the short chapter 8, “Hunting,” where Ged is shipwrecked. There’s a poignancy to that relatively self-contained part of the story.
What's up next for you in the creative world?
Another adaptation — but I’m not yet allowed to talk about it I’m afraid! — then hopefully an original wordless graphic novel I’m working on.
