Some of George McDonald’s other stories are a little, I guess, more obvious or less subtle. Certainly, Lewis pointed to Phantastes as the story that “baptized his imagination.” But also, its layers of complexity and allegory. We reviewed several of his short stories and ultimately landed on Phantastes for a couple of different reasons. Lewis and Tolkien as two primary reference points with their respective mythologies.īut before there was Lewis or Tolkien there was MacDonald. And certainly as we have developed and honed Cave’s mission and vision over the years now, we always point to C.S. And as we were distributing the graphic novel and getting to interact with readers, we found a lot of enthusiasm for the project itself, but also for George MacDonald more broadly. And we thoroughly enjoyed that project, the artwork was just spectacular. Meredith Finch adapted George MacDonald’s fairy tale The Light Princess for us.

Mandi Hart: Well, I think it probably started after we did our adaptation of The Light Princess. So first up, Mandi, What led to Cave Pictures Publishing working on a graphic novel adaptation of Phantastes? We’re discussing the upcoming graphic novel Phantastes, based on the George MacDonald classic. And we discuss the Christian insights of the fairy tale, without, I think, spoiling the strange turns the story takes.Īlexi Sargeant: Thanks so much for joining me. In this conversation, we’ll delve into the genesis of this adaptation, what Mandi and Meredith love about George MacDonald’s sometimes-difficult writing, and what they’re hoping readers will gain from encountering MacDonald’s story in this form. Conversation below compiled and edited for length and clarity.)

(Full disclosures: I was paid by Cave Pictures Publishing to consult on Kickstarter strategy for this project.

I got to discuss the project (currently on Kickstarter) with Mandi Hart, president of Cave Pictures Publishing, and Meredith Finch, the writer who adapted Phantastes into graphic novel form, after previously working with Cave Pictures to adapt MacDonald’s The Light Princess. Cave Pictures Publishing is creating a graphic novel adaptation of George MacDonald’s classic fairy tale allegory Phantastes, a work that famously was a major influence on a young C.S.

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