Читать книгу House of Odd - Dean Koontz - Страница 20

This is the third graphic novel to star Odd Thomas, following In Odd We Trust and Odd Is on Our Side. In the first book, artist Queenie Chan established the appearance of Odd and Stormy. In House of Odd, her challenge was to come up with the look of Hollywood producer Nedra Nolan and the members of the CISI team whose investigations would form the center of the plot. On the following pages are Dean Koontz’s descriptions of each character, plus Queenie’s sketches and comments as she sent them in for Dean’s approval.

NEDRA NOLAN

“A successful film producer among whose hits were two films based on Ozzie’s novels. She should resemble Helen Mirren.”

VERN

“A forty-something guy with Einsteinian hair, who talks about ghost chasing as if it’s as refined a science as quantum mechanics, but it’s really just idiot jargon.”

CASSANDRA

“A thirty-something true believer who comes with her cat, Houdini, which she sometimes holds and points like a dowsing rod to lead her to the haunting spirit.” Queenie argued that Cassandra should have dark hair, saying, “Honestly, few psychic ladies are blonde. It doesn’t seem to fit the image.” But Dean liked this first sketch, asking only that Cassandra’s “gypsy shawl” be deleted.

KIRK

“Kirk was so traumatized by seeing on DVD The Ghost and Mr. Chicken with Don Knotts when he was only eight years old that he sees supernatural threats everywhere and feels that he must ‘stand up to Disembodied Evil wherever it is found or be doomed to live in a world ruled by capricious ghosts dedicated to a reign of terror because they can no longer eat Rocky Road ice cream and drink good beer.’”

HOUDINI

Oddly enough, Houdini was the only sketch Dean rejected, saying he too closely resembled Terrible Chester, Ozzie Boone’s cat seen in Odd Is on Our Side.

Queenie dashed off a quick revised sketch and Dean approved it right away.