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I’ll be in San Diego next Friday for an 11:30 am Q&A panel about the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time graphic novel anthology I’m writing for Disney, with artists Todd McFarlane, Cameron Stewart, Bernard Chang, Tommy Lee Edwards, Josh Middleton, and Niko Henrichon, many of whom will be on the panel as well. (Check the Comic-Con schedule for updated details.)

It’s been a very cool project and one I’ve had a lot of fun doing. The book is a prequel to the movie (I use the word “prequel” advisedly, for those who think time is like a river that flows swift and sure in one direction), with each chapter drawn by a different artist in a different style. It’ll be published next April as part of the Prince of Persia movie pre-launch.

This is the second Prince of Persia graphic novel I’ve been involved with — the first, written by A.B. Sina and illustrated by LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland, was published last year by First Second Books — and they’re very different projects. Whereas the First Second book is deliberately separate from the games and movie — linked thematically, rather than through plot and characters — the Disney book is firmly in the universe of the movie. It offered a chance to establish, and expand on, the characters’ world and back stories beyond what’s in the film.

Most enjoyably, it’s given me an opportunity to revisit the story and characters of the original game for the first time in two decades — though in a way that’s kind of hard to explain, until you read the book.

Hope to see you next Friday, those of you who can make it

:::Prince of Persia Legacy:::

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The barrage of Comic-Con news has begun and this year you can expect video games to grab an even bigger piece of the hype coming out of San Diego throughout the week.

A certain Comic-Con-timed announcement caught our eye Tuesday:

Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner is penning Prince of Persia - A Graphic Novel Anthology to arrive in April 2010, a month ahead of the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (out May 28, 2010), starring Jake Gyllenhaal. (If you missed it, you can see Entertainment Weekly's first look of Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan here.)

The full-color novel, 128 pages in hardcover and paperback, will include six stories written by Mechner, who created the original Prince of Persia video games.

And the artist who produced the cover art -- seen here first -- is none other than action figure magnate Todd McFarlane. Other well-known talents will illustrate the stories.

:::Prince of Persia Legacy:::