Animorphs holds a special place in the heart of many children who grew up in the ’90s.The sci-fi war series centered on a group of teens fighting off an invasion of alien space slugs (who could take over your mind) by morphing into animals. The series was great fun but also didn’t shy away from the impact of war on all of the characters. Many of the books featured incredibly serious subject matter that left a huge mark on its still loyal group of fans and shaped the tastes of a generation of creators.
In October, a whole new generation will get to experience Animorphs for the first time. Scholastic Graphix is bringing Animorphs into the world of graphic novels with the help of Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Chris Grine. Titled Animorphs: The Invasion (sharing a title with the first book in the original series), Grine will be handling the entire book including scripting, drawing, coloring, and lettering.
The AV Club gave our first look at the new graphic novel, which gives us some precious hints of what we can expect out of the comic.
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When the preview first dropped we weren’t sure when the book would be taking place. Would it be the ’90s (when the original books were published) or present day? Scholastic confirmed to us that the book will be taking place in the 90’s and they even provided us an exclusive quotes from Grine. For any fans who are worried about whether these books will be taking a lighter approach to the franchise, Grine reassures us that won’t be the case.
“As much fun as it was to adapt and illustrate this book, it was also emotionally exhausting,” Grine says. “Anyone who’s read Animorphs knows these poor kids get tossed into a nightmare scenario. It was important to me that I capture both the humor as well as the fear.”
The book’s editor, Zachary Clark, backs this up and lets us known that the original team behind the series also had some input!
“Animorphs is the series that got me reading as a kid. Not only is it fun (and it’s very fun), but it also never shied away from the dire consequences of war, especially on young people. It’s hard to convey what a privilege it’s been to work with Katherine and Michael—and with Chris, whose adaptation still has me a little awe-struck.”
We’re excited to see where this new iteration takes the Animorphs franchise. There’s a ton of source material to draw on, 54 books in all, and we can only wonder if each book will be adapted or if there will be some condensing to help speed up telling the story. We can’t wait to find out!
Animorphs: The Invasion will be released on October 6, 2020.
Shamus Kelley is a pop culture/television writer and official Power Rangers expert. Follow him on Twitter! He also co-hosts a Robotech podcast, which covers the original series and the new comics. Give it a listen! Read more articles by him here!