THE YARD from Alex Grecian Has No Pictures!

Proof, from Image Comics, was one of my favorite series when it was coming out. I wanted more sure, but artist Riley Rossmo moved on to lots of other projects, and I didn’t see much more from writer Alex Grecian. It turned out that he was busy putting together The Yard, a novel about a serial killer targeting Scotland Yard detectives in Victorian England. When I read that description I just wrote, I said “Hell yes.” Just so you know.

I asked the writer a couple of questions about the book, which is out today.

iFanboy: Comic book readers know you from Proof, so what is this book without pictures?

Alex Grecian: The Yard is a thriller novel (or audiobook, if you prefer to be read to) about the detectives of Scotland Yard’s “Murder Squad,” which is the British version of our homicide division. It takes place in London, the year after the Jack the Ripper murders, when somebody’s started killing the detectives.

iF: What is it that attracts you to telling stories set in history?

AG: I like the combination of the familiar and the exotic. Plus, I actually like to do research. We’ve all heard or read about events that we thought would make a good book. There’s a wealth of great story ideas based on things that have already happened. As a writer, it almost feels like cheating.

iF: Will readers of Proof find something they like in The Yard?

AG: I hope so. The Yard was originally going to be a comic book. I was going to spin it out of Proof into its own series of miniseries, based on some characters in the fourth arc (“Julia”), but I decided to try writing it as a novel instead. So all the things that readers liked about Proof are in there: interesting characters, weird events, horrible bloody murders…

It starts out with a detective’s body found in a steamer trunk with his eyes and mouth sewn shut and it sort of grows from there. It’s historical fiction, sure, but I think it moves pretty fast and delivers the action that comic book fans want. I’m very proud of this book.

iF: Are you done with comics?

AG: I hope not. I have lots of comics I still want to write. But I like writing novels, too. No reason I can’t do both, is there?


There’s the scoop. While it was tempting to make this whole thing awash with bad, phonetic cockney sounds, I think I showed some personal growth and pushed through it. Also, pick up the book in your friendly local bookstore, or over at Amazon.

Comments

  1. Man that sounds like a good premise. I’m actually working through all of the SACD Holmes stories and novels now, so this would be a great follow-up.

    For fans of the genre – try Frost’s List of Seven

  2. I am SO psyched about this!

  3. Have ordered this, as well as Scott Snyder’s “Voodoo Heart” – any other comics writers publish prose?

  4. Rucka’s Alpha came out earlier this month. His Atticus Kodiak book series is must-read.

  5. Greg Rucka’s Atticus Kodiak series is really good.

    I don’t know if he does any original prose, but Peter David does a lot of Star Trek. There’s also Kirkman’s Walking Dead novel.

  6. Thanks folks – appreciate the heads-up.