The prolific and charming Max Alan Collins is a remarkable writer… effortlessly moving between mediums… graphic novels, comic strips (he wrote “Dick Tracy” for years), mystery novels, movie novelisations, and TV tie-ins (he authors the “CSI” books now), among other things. He wrote the original graphic novel “Road to Perdition,” which became the Tom Hanks movie… and then he wrote the screenplay novelization of the movie based on his graphic novel. I don’t think that has ever been done before. Now he’s taking the idea of the sequel to a whole new level.
Collins has announced that “Road to Purgatory” (hardcover novel, Morrow, a book publishing group of Harper-Collins) and “Road to Perdition 2: On the Road” (graphic novel, DC Comics trade paperback) should begin hitting stores by late November and no later than Dec. 1.
“I don’t believe two sequels to the same work in two different mediums, by the same creator, has ever been done,” said DC Comics vice president Dan DiDio.
“I knew there’d be demand for a sequel,” Collins said.
But he debated as to what form to pursue — prose or graphic novel, a comics style form for which Collins has become nationally recognized. He decided to use both. “Road to Purgatory” follows the son of hitman Michael O’Sullivan into adulthood on his journey to a showdown with Al Capone, whom O’Sullivan’s son blames for the death of his own gangster father. “Road to Perdition 2: On the Road” is a new narrative that takes place within the structure of the original story.
Collins said that it’s too early to tell if there will be a film sequel to “Perdition.” However, he said DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox have expressed “strong interest.”