{"id":823,"date":"2007-10-10T09:58:56","date_gmt":"2007-10-10T13:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=823"},"modified":"2007-10-10T09:58:56","modified_gmt":"2007-10-10T13:58:56","slug":"midnight-sun-gn-press-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=823","title":{"rendered":"Midnight Sun GN Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"

An official press release for the Midnight Su<\/em>n graphic novel is up over at the SLG news blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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International Mystery in Midnight Sun
\n<\/em>New Historical Fiction Graphic Novel in December
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In May 1928, the Italian airship the Italia<\/em> embarked on an ambitious and dangerous expedition to the North Pole. A celebratory radio communiqu\u00e9 from the international crew announced their arrival at their destination, but soon all communications ceased. Excitement turned to uncertainty, and a world-wide search effort was launched to recover the crew of the Italia<\/em>, whose fate was unknown.<\/p>\n

Ben Towle, a nominee for a Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition Eisner Award in 2004, captures the tense mood during the weeks of search in his graphic novel Midnight Sun<\/em>, to be released in December 2007 from SLG Publishing. Midnight Sun<\/em> follows H.R., a down-on-his luck American reporter. He’s dispatched to cover the story of the lost Italia<\/em> at the top of the Earth, where the Arctic summer means there is almost perpetual daylight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tone of this series may take readers familiar with my last work by surprise,\u201d said Towle, referring to his graphic novella Farewell, Georgia<\/em>, which attracted the attention of the Eisner Awards judges. \u201cBut it\u2019s a story that\u2019s close to my heart\u2014one that I\u2019ve been developing and editing and re-editing since before I\u2019d even conceived of any of my prior projects. It\u2019s historical fiction, I suppose,” Towle added, \u201cbut heavy on the fiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Italia<\/em> was a real airship and its disappearance and the subsequent search for its crew grabbed headlines worldwide, but since then it has become a little-known footnote in the history of aviation. \u201cMy first pass at the story was basically a melodrama chronicling the real-life story of the Italia<\/em>, but I realized that what I really wanted to do was use the events of the crash and the personal dynamics of the stranded crewmembers to examine more universal themes like the interaction between fate and conscious choice, leadership and democracy, and love and obligation,\u201d Towle said.<\/p>\n

As Midnight Sun<\/em>‘s story unfolds, a pre-Depression-era newspaper reporter discovers the facts surrounding the airship\u2019s mysterious disappearance while the crew of the Italia<\/em> contend with the perils of Mother Nature\u2026and human nature. Underscoring their struggles is Towle’s artwork, depicting both gray city scenes and stark Arctic landscapes.
\nMidnight Sun<\/em> is a 136-page graphic novel that will retail for $14.95. It is available for pre-order from comic book stores with the Diamond code OCT073222, as well as at SLG’s website, www.slgcomic.com<\/a>, where a free PDF of the first chapter<\/a> is also available for download.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An official press release for the Midnight Sun graphic novel is up over at the SLG news blog: International Mystery in Midnight Sun New Historical Fiction Graphic Novel in December In May 1928, the Italian airship the Italia embarked on an ambitious and dangerous expedition to the North Pole. A celebratory radio communiqu\u00e9 from the … <\/p>\n

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