A BARRY LYGA TWO-FER: TALKING FANBOY & GOTH GIRL AND BOY TOY

[MattBrady]

It’s a two-fer this Saturday, as we check in on Barry Lyga, the former Diamond Comics employee (and enshrined forever in the industry hall of fame for organizing the Diamond side of Free Comic Book day for its early years) who’s found success in a second career as a young adult novelist. On the surface, his first book, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl seems kinda…well, insular – something that would only appeal to comic book fans.

Guess again.

Lyga’s first book was met with positive reviews and critical acclaim, as well as solid sales. Translation – the story’s been optioned for a film, and Lyga’s hard at work on his second novel, Boy Toy.

We’ve got two looks at Lyga’s work – first a quick look at Fanboy and Goth Girl (and comments from one of its main characters) by Mike San Giacomo, and second, a chat with Lyga about the possible film, and his upcoming second novel by Zack Smith.

by Michael San Giacomo

Someday a hot girl will walk up to Brian Bendis at a comic convention, lift up her shirt and dazzle him with her God-given assets. And he’ll have Barry Lyga to thank for that rock star moment - or to blame when his wife finds out.

That’s what happens to the mythical Brian Bendis in Lyga’s novel The Astonishing Adventures of Fan Boy and Goth Girl. If anyone has not read the novel, check it out. It’s one of the few books about comic fans that does not make them look like losers in black X-Men t-shirts that are two sizes too small.

The hero of the novel is Donnie, a geeky 16-year-old guy who creates his own graphic novel. He is convinced that if he can just show his opus to his hero, Brian Bendis, that the portals of Marvel Comics would be opened up for him.

The only person he shares his plans with is Kyra, a quirky, borderline psychotic girl from school nicknamed Goth Girl for her fashion tendencies. Donnie agonizes, fantasizes and ultimately realizes his dream to meet Bendis at a comic convention in a nearby city. But, the meeting does not go as planned.

Goth Girl comes to her best friend’s aid and lifts up her fashionably black t-shirt to make a statement to, for and about Bendis. You’ll have to read the book to understand the significance of the gesture.

Lyga’s depiction of Bendis was almost perfect, right down to the way he talks and interacts with fans.

Having known Bendis since he was a clerk at a comic shop in Cleveland, and knowing that Lyga used to work at Diamond Comics Distributors, I was sure that he and Lyga must have been friends since the depiction was so spot on.

But Lyga never met or spoke to Bendis.

“I wish I had, but sadly, I never met Brian,“ said Lyga. “When I started writing the book I decided that Bendis would be the logical person for Fan Boy’s obsession. I thought I should get in touch with Brian and let him know.”

Lyga went through several mutual friends and got an outline of the story to Bendis, but never got a reaction from him.

“I said I would be glad to send him the book to make sure he didn’t object to it,” Lyga said. “Brian never wrote back. I sent him a couple other emails and he didn’t respond, so I was unsure what to do. Then my publisher’s legal department said there was nothing legally wrong with using a public figure as a character, so I did.”

But he was always nervous about what he thought of it. Just before the book came out, Lyga was assured that Brian was okay with it, but wanted a little more reassurance.

Lyga can rest easy, Bendis doesn’t mind.

Bendis said he still hasn’t read the book, just because the whole concept makes him self-conscious.

“I hate to admit that I have not read it,” Bendis said. “I have had an advance copy for a while. My brother read it right away and reported to me that it was great and that I was in it. He said it was so crazy to read this fictional version of me. It freaked me out quite frankly and I haven't gotten the personal strength up to read it, but I am flattered and amazed. I haven't read it solely based on my own self loathing.”

Whew.

“I understand from mutual friends that it was done in love,” Bendis said. “It’s just surreal. I know you had the same feelings when I used you in my comics. [Mike here, hey, I was murdered in Fire!) I will read it, the subject matter, sans me, is the kind of story I would love to read.

“…and I better play me in the movie,” Bendis said.

Speaking of movie adaptations, Lyga said director Jeremiah Chechik (Benny and Joon) and Tinroof Pictures have optioned Fanboy and Goth Girl, so Bendis might get his wish. Although, there may be a hurdle or two…Lyga said his editor initially thought Bendis was a fictitious character.

“She was not into comics,” Lyga said. “I wanted the book to be rooted in the real world, a world that comic readers would recognize and relate to. I was not going to place the story in a world where Bill Hendis writes Arachnid-Man, I always hate when writers do that.”

One of the many, many in-jokes in the book was almost cut.

“Donnie is dreaming and he looks at his hands and says ‘they’re Kirby hands,‘ “ Lyga said. “The editor didn’t get it and wanted to take it out, but I insisted. I knew that all the comic fans would get it.”

Yep, we sure did.

by Zack Smith

The first time you might see Brian Michael Bendis’ name on the big screen might not be on an adaptation of Goldfish or Powers - although those are in the works…it might be for a film with Bendis as a character rather than creator.

A couple of months ago, we spoke with Barry Lyga, author of the acclaimed young adult novel The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. The book chronicles the misadventures of the titular comics fan, a misfit determined to get Bendis to read his comic book. Recently, Lyga announced that the book had offically been optioned as a feature film by director Jeremiah Chechik (Benny & Joon). Lyga talked with us about the optioning, his upcoming second novel Boy Toy, and who he’d like to see play Bendis on the big screen.

Newsarama: Barry, congratulations on the optioning. How have things progressed on the optioning?

Barry Lyga: (laughs) Oh boy! Well, they haven’t, beyond the fact that it’s been picked up. These things should be familiar to anyone who’s read Brian Bendis’ Fortune and Glory, which is appropriate, I guess, given the plot of my book. These things move at their own pace. I first talked to Jeremiah about a year ago, and the first movie interest came before the book was even published.

So it takes a long time – Hollywood contracts have to be hammered out, with rights issues and payments and who gets this credit, and it just takes a lot of time. I’ve just signed the rights option, so Jeremiah has 18 months to buy the rights. From what I can tell, he has two other movies in pre-production right now, so he’s going to need some time to breathe. But I could be wrong – he could decide to buy it next week. We’re just going to have to wait and see.

At this point, my job is just working on my next book, and making sure it’s as good as it can be, and letting the movie people figure out what their schedules are going to be, and how things are going to work out on their end. There’s not much I can do at this point!

NRAMA: Would you write the film adaptation, or would it be Jeremiah or someone else?

BL: I doubt it would be me, because I’ve never done a screenplay before! (laughs) I don’t know that it would be in Jeremiah’s best interest for me to do it – he’d have to sit me down and teach me how to write one. So he might write it himself, he might bring someone else in to write it, I’m not sure. I e-mailed him right after he signed the option and said I’d be happy to serve in any capacity he wanted on the movie, if he wanted me as a consultant or something. A movie’s obviously a different beast than a book, and if he wants me or doesn’t want me, that’s fine.

NRAMA: Assuming this does get made – would you want Brian Bendis to play himself in the movie?

BL: Oh, I’d love that, I’d love that! I think it’d be terrific, it’d be really, really cool. I don’t know if he’s read the book, but I did talk to your fellow Newsarama columnist Mike San Giacomo recently, and he knows Bendis really, really well, and he said he was going to talk to him. But I’d love it if he played himself – there’s certainly a precedent for celebrities playing themselves in movies and television. It’d be really, really cool.

NRAMA: Now, there have been cases where a real-world character who appears in a book has been changed to a new, fictional character in a film – for example, J.D. Salinger in the novel Shoeless Joe becoming a new character played by James Earl Jones for the film Field of Dreams. If you had to create a fictionalized version of Bendis, what would you do?

BL: Wow, that’s tough. Luckily, I think it wouldn’t be up to me – it would probably be up to the screenwriter or director. They’d have to sit down and say, “Okay, this is one part of the book we can’t use; we’ll have to make something new up.” Hopefully, they’d call me and get my opinion on it. But I don’t think it’s something I’d have to deal with – and I’m glad! The reason I wanted Bendis in the book was because I wanted a real-life person, I wanted a sense of verisimilitude, a sense that the book is steeped in the real world. So I’m glad that I wouldn’t have to make something up.

NRAMA: Any other thoughts on casting:

BL: Haven't given a great deal of thought to casting the movie, but if you want to let Newsarama readers know... In July, I'll be holding a contest on www.fanboyandgothgirl.com – cast the movie and be entered into a drawing to win signed stuff. Should be fun.

NRAMA: Done! You mentioned that seeing Benny & Joon really convinced you Jeremiah was right for the material. What made you feel that he could tell your story as a film?

BL: Well, it had very quirky characters, which was interesting to me, and the way the movie progressed, you had these really comic moments juxtaposed to these really serious moments. And…one editor described my book to me very early on as “a little bit funny, a little bit sad, and a little bit dirty.” And I always liked that description. Jeremiah had exactly that quality in Benny & Joon – plus I loved things he did with color, like the art pieces Joon has all over the house. I thought, “He can do this!”

It also helps that the first time I spoke to him, he said, “Well, the problem with this book is that there’s no hero, because in Hollywood, a hero is someone who runs away from a fireball in slow motion.” And I agreed with that. And then he said, “But that’s why I liked it – it doesn’t have those traditional Hollywood roles in it.” That’s what made me think he’s the guy for the job.

NRAMA: Let’s talk about Boy Toy. There’s some perception that it’s a sequel to Fanboy…

BL: Yeah, some people might think that it’s a sequel. It’s set in the same town and same high school as the first book. And there’s some characters that show up again – the nasty vice-principal from the end of Fanboy is there, and he actually has a fairly large role to play in Boy Toy. One of the major characters is the younger sister of Dina Jurgens, the untouchable senior sex goddess from the first book, and some other names might be familiar as well. And Kyra – Goth Girl herself – does show up for one page, in one of my favorite bits in the book. She shows up and says something really, really nasty, because that’s the kind of thing she does, and then she goes away.

But no, it’s not a sequel – to put it in comic book terms, the first book was Action Comics, and the second book is Detective Comics. They’re set in the same universe, but they’re not sequels to each other.

It’s a book about baggage, really, about a kid who’s trying to figure out how to be an adult, how to make adult decisions. Josh is messed up — the book’s first chapter has him punching out his gym teacher. And he’s worried about college decisions and his parents’ marriage is in trouble and when he gets home at the end of chapter 2, he finds out that the teacher he had an affair with when he was twelve years old has just been released from prison. Things get worse from there.
NRAMA: Whew, talk about issues! When does this take place in relation to Fanboy?
BL: It takes place after the first book, in the next school year.

NRAMA: You’ve been talking on your blog about how the book’s really gotten a lot of recognition in the last few months, getting out there a bit...

BL: Yeah, it has been getting out there. I’m hearing more and more reviews. I was just at Book Expo, and a lot of people were coming up to me and going, “Oh, I loved Fanboy, I couldn’t wait for this.” That was so gratifying. I get e-mails a couple of times a week from people telling me how they’ve discovered the book and loved it, which is amazing. The paperback’s going to be out in September, and that’s where you really see a reaction for books like this, because it’s more affordable to teenagers. So I’m very curious to see what the reaction is to the paperback.

NRAMA: There have been a number of comic book creators doing prose novels recently – and also, a large number of novelists doing comics. What do you make of this interrelationship?

BL: I’m not sure what to make of it, to be honest with you. I’m not sure where it started. Throughout the history of comics, you’ve had prose writers who dabbled in comics. But now you see a lot of these writers making a secondary career, or even a primary career, writing comics. I mean, you can see somebody like Greg Rucka – I was just listening to him on Wordballoon where he was talking about how he was working on this idea for a new novel, but he had so much comic book work he wasn’t sure when he was going to get to it! Obviously, he’s a guy who used to just write novels, and now he’s doing novels and comics, and he’s become this huge, huge comic book writer.

And I think there are a few different things at work here – I think you have novelists who can’t put out more than one novel a year, or their publishers won’t do more than one novel a year by them, so they find themselves with some time, and they just want to keep working. And you can get that with comic books – they’re out every week!

Also, there’s the issue of Hollywood. The reason we have such a sudden embarrassment of riches when it comes to comic book movies and TV is that you have a lot of people who are successful in Hollywood now who grew up reading comic books. And it’s the same with novelists – you have guys who grew up with Dark Knight and Watchmen, and they want to make comics. And it certainly brings some cachet to comics, to be able to have a New York Times bestseller’s name on your book.
On top of that, comics have become more acceptable in the pop-cultural mainstream. It’s no longer embarrassing to say, “Hey, I write novels and I write comic books.” The first time I met Brad Meltzer was at a signing for The Zero Game, and after he did a reading, he held up his Green Arrow comics and said, “Oh, and I write these too, and it’s really fun!” There was no hesitation, no embarrassment, no thinking, “Oh, are they going to laugh?” It was just, “Here’s this book I wrote, and this comic I wrote, and they’re equal in my eyes.” It was strange for me, who grew up when comics weren’t seen as cool, to see them accepted in adults’ eyes. But things have really changed.

NRAMA: Any final thoughts about the movie, or what’s coming up for you?

BL: Well, I’m trying to stay realistic when it comes to Hollywood. My brother worked in Hollywood for years, I have friends who’ve worked in Hollywood – I try not to get too excited! When my agent first told me that we’d made a deal for the option, she warned me that, “it’s just an option.” But I was still excited, because it’s a great compliment to me that a complete stranger could read the book and go, “You know, I could make a movie out of this – I’ll put my money where my mouth is and see what happens.” That, to me, is very flattering. You know, very little of what gets written is optioned; very little of what’s optioned gets made. I realize that, and I’m realistic about it. But I have the utmost faith in Jeremiah. If he’s able to put the financing together, and if he’s able to get everything else together and buy the rights, I have every confidence that it’s going to be terrific.

For more on The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, check out the book’s official web site, its MySpace page or a VidLit animated excerpt, read by Lyga himself.

[Skinshark]

Options to me seem like another way of saying..."we'll pay you to hold onto your toys so no one else can play with them."

Good luck, regardless.

Dig that cover quite a bit!

=s=

[satanstaint]

Awesome! I recommend "Fanboy and Goth Girl" to everyone who loves comics, no matter what age.

[StefanDam]

With a name like Goth Girl she's more apt to show her assets to Jhonen Vazquez or Neil Gaiman.

[Kolimar]

Two nice articles for the price of one.

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Heheheh

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

The first time you might see Brian Michael Bendis’ name on the big screen might not be on an adaptation of Goldfish or Powers - although those are in the works…it might be for a film with Bendis as a character rather than creator.

At least one more for The complete list of comics-based movies, iirc.

[librarykat]

Originally Posted by StefanDam

With a name like Goth Girl she's more apt to show her assets to Jhonen Vazquez or Neil Gaiman.

Did you read the book? What she does makes perfect sense to anyone who has read it. Believe me. I've read it, and it's quite a scene; she doesn't do it to give Bendis a look at her assets, she does it because she's frakkin' angry at him.