The Hedge Knight is a graphic novel adaptation of the Dunk and Egg novellas, produced by the now-defunct Dabel Brothers Productions and adapted by Benjamin Avery with art by Mike S. Miller. The Hedge Knight is both the title of the adaptation of the first novella, The Hedge Knight, as well as the title of the comic book adaptation series, which presented the second novella, The Sworn Sword, as The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword.
The adaptations originally appeared in two comic book limited series of six issues each, with collected editions distributed by Marvel Comics. Foreign-language translations have been published by Milady Graphics in France, Bolsillo in Spain, and Panini in Germany.
Out of print in English for several years, the two graphic novel collections were reprinted by Jet City Comics in late 2013 and 2014.
In 2017, the third Dunk and Egg novella, The Mystery Knight, was adapted by the same creative team as the previous comics and published by Bantam as The Mystery Knight: A Graphic Novel.[1]
The Hedge Knight
The Hedge Knight single issue comics, adapting the first Dunk and Egg novella, were published by Image Comics (for issues #1-3) and Devil's Due Publishing (for issues #4-6) between 2003 and 2004. Retailer incentive variant covers were supplied by noted fantasy artists including the Brothers Hildebrant, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell, and Ted Nasmith. Issue #1 contains a foreword from Robert Silverberg introducing the Dunk and Egg series.
The collected graphic novel was published in several editions. The first edition contains two additional pages of art depicting a scene from the First Blackfyre Rebellion, which was later incorporated into The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword. It also includes a roll of arms depicting the shields of the participants of the tourney at Ashford Meadow.[N 1] The 2nd edition included character portrait art from Amok and an 8-page Battle of the Redgrass Field preview for the Sworn Sword adaptation. Later editions reduced the roll of arms to two pages. The Jet City edition removed the Sworn Sword preview.
The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword
The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword single comics, adapting the second Dunk and Egg novella, The Sworn Sword, were published in six issues by Marvel Comics between 2007 and 2008. Issue #3 is an over-sized 28-page issue which incorporates the First Blackfyre Rebellion two-page story which was included as a bonus in The Hedge Knight collected edition, as well as an interview with George R. R. Martin.
The collected graphic novel was published by Marvel the following year in two editions: a hardcover and a trade paperback. The 2014 Jet City paperback edition included Mike S. Miller's designs for the characters.
The Mystery Knight: A Graphic Novel
The adaptation of the third novella, The Mystery Knight, is by the same creative team of Benjamin Avery and Mike S. Miller and was published by Bantam in August 2017.[2] Unlike the first two adaptations, which were originally published in individual issues, The Mystery Knight is a hardcover edition of the entire story as one volume.[1]
Collections
| Title | ISBN | Date of publication | Publisher | Format | Contains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight | 978-1-932-79606-3 | Jun 22, 2004 | Devil's Due Comics | Paperback | George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight #1-6
Foreword by Robert Silverberg |
| George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight | 978-0-976-40110-0 | February 2005 | Dabel Brothers Publishing LLC | Paperback | George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight #1-6
Foreword by Robert Silverberg |
| George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight | 978-0-785-12578-5 | 2006 | Marvel Comics | Hardcover | George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight #1-6
Roll of Arms (2 pages) |
| George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight | 978-0-785-12724-6 | 2007 | Marvel Comics | Paperback | |
| George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight A Game of Thrones Prequel Graphic Novel |
978-1-477-84910-1 | November 5, 2013 | Jet City Comics | Paperback E-book |
George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight #1-6
Roll of Arms (2 pages) |
| The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword | 978-0-785-12650-8 | 2008 | Marvel Comics | Hardcover | The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword #1-6 |
| The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword | 978-0-785-12651-5 | 2009 | Marvel Comics | Paperback | The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword #1-6 |
| George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight II: The Sworn Sword A Game of Thrones Prequel Graphic Novel |
978-1-477-84929-3 | January 21, 2014 | Jet City Comics | Paperback E-book |
The Hedge Knight II: Sworn Sword #1-6
pencil pages and character designs by Mike S. Miller |
| The Mystery Knight: A Graphic Novel | 978-0-345-54939-6 | August 8, 2017 | Bantam Books | Hardcover E-book |
complete story, no special features |
Notes
- ↑ The roll of arms does not appear in its entirety in all editions of the Hedge Knight graphic novel collection. Additionally, several characters whose names and arms are depicted on the roll are not named or described or otherwise do not appear in the original The Hedge Knight novella. For a list of these potentially semi-canon characters, please see: List of characters and arms in The Hedge Knight graphic novel collection.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Not A Blog: Here Comes The Mystery Knight, December 16, 2016
- ↑ Penguin Random House: The Mystery Knight: A Graphic Novel