I have a friend who may be interested in working on a graphic novel with me on an prior script I've written. Does anybody have any experience in turning a screenplay into graphic novels? For example, 1 page of script equals 60 seconds of screen time. Is there a rough equivalent for a comic book?

One action block = one panel.  

So in essence, if 1 page of your script contains 5-10 action blocks, that's 5-10 panels.  All dialogue would be in the panels anyway, so subtract the dialogue away from the overall page count anf you'll probably get 60-65 pages from the 80-90 page script.

Meaning, overall, you'd have a crud-ton of panels in the thing containing action frames.

60-65 pages at 5-10 action blocks a page = 300-600+ panels.

Man, I've tried writing comic books and there's one thing I hate about doing them and that's marking the panels like sluglines. It literally almost zaps your willpower as you try to get into a groove--Bam! Another panel. Then, you have a splash page. New panel. It literally seems to happen more often than sluglines and unless you're Alan Moore, you're going to be describing your scene in about four lines or less each time (much like screenwriting, actually. I format them the same), but you need to know your descriptions and you need to understand onomatopoeia. That's one thing that killed me and I wish I knew what the standard-ish terms are for those sound effects. Some I know, some I guess, but there's got to be some standard out there. It would suit you well to try and find it. To answer your question, though, a page would be roughly between four and nine panels, if you're doing it the DC way. Marvel has a different way. Dark Horse and the indies have their own way. Write your way first then adapt it.

My friend went to art school and has taken some classes on making them and has an extensive art background. I just don't know if you can throw a movie script at him and expect him to illustrate it. I'm guessing changes will have to be made. Maybe over Christmas it might take off. I just wanted to mull it over in the meantime.

Thanks guys.

Yeah just leave it with him. Upon saying that I used to write and draw my own graphic novels (merely for fun), so maybe if you sat down with him you could help him better visualise what you want. Sounds like a great project. Good luck.

Hey CameronD,

Just finishing of the conversion of a 90 page screenplay that I wrote into a Fictional Novel, though not graphic... Sorry.

I felt that it was an easier path for getting exposure to the story and publishing the novel in order to promote the movie.

The 90 page screenplay has amounted to close to 80,000 words or approximately 230 pages though I'm sure it may be much different to a graphic novel.

If you need any advise on the illustration side of things, PM me as I'd be more than happy to assist were I can. There are some brilliant illustrators out there that can work within your budget.

Regards Alex

Thanks Alex. That is the idea, to gain more exposure for the script but also see if the graphic novel might make some money as well. My buddy and me had art class together in high school and he went on to work for Volcom for a bit and a promotional agency in LA for a time where he worked on creating ads and movie posters. He's done some small graphic novels while in art school and currently works for a local graphic design company. He also knows some people in the field of graphic novels too so that helps. So the art isn't much of a problem. Like all things it seems time will be the big issue. We decided not to really talk about it until after the holidays so it's just an idea right now. But I'll keep you all posted if anything develops.

Good luck on your novel btw. You doing it as an E-book? if not I think you should give that a look. elf publishing seems to be where it's at these days.