The movie adaptation of the graphic novel Whiteout opens tomorrow. Artist Steve Lieber, who illustrated the comic written by Greg Rucka, was kind enough to answer some questions about how the two different media versions of the story compare.
When Whiteout was first being published, did you envision it in another medium as well?
STEVE LIEBER: Back when I first read the comics script, Whiteout struck me as very likely to get other-media interest. It works as a movie, obviously. It could work as a prose novel — it would even work well on stage. It’s a really compelling story, and it has such an unusual setting.
How did the movie deal come about?
STEVE LIEBER: My understanding is that both Joel Silver and Dominic Sena had been interested in the GN since they first read it, back when it originally came out. After Reese Witherspoon’s option on it lapsed, Silver’s company contacted Greg Rucka’s representatives, and it moved very quickly from there.
How much have you been involved in the filming? Did you get to visit the set or offer any input?
STEVE LIEBER: I visited the set, but that was way, way too far into the production for me to be pulling out a pencil. The filmmakers had 200 pages of my artwork — something like 1500 panels — to comb through for visual ideas. For a movie this size, that was plenty. There’s going to be a feature on the dvd that does lots of panel to screen comparisons.
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