New fiction writer tackles graphic novel genre

A new name will hit comic book and graphic novel shelves — and it’s an already familiar one.

Far from staying with the cliché story of tortured and impossible love set up by her debut novel The Time Traveler’s Wife — which fittingly became a film in 2009 starring The Notebook’s Rachel McAdams — Audrey Niffenegger has shown a recent trend toward more unconventional and sinister topics. Her second novel, enigmatically entitled “Her Fearful Symmetry,” was a chill-inducing tale of a ghost and a cemetery.

Readers can no longer dismiss or categorize her as a romance novelist, as the author continues to branch out with the release of “The Night Bookmobile,” a graphic novel which she illustrated herself. The story details Alexandra’s strange encounter with a supernatural bookmobile — a Winnebago filled with tomes — which includes Alexandra’s diary.

If the book’s subject matter and the author’s effort in both writing and illustrating don’t lend it enough credibility, how about some kudos from iconic graphic novel writer Neil Gaiman?

The writer endorsed Niffeneger’s latest creation, describing it as “beautifully drawn and perfectly told.”

At only 40 pages, the graphic novel might be a fleeting brief glimpse into the ingenious visual and literary mind of Niffenegger or simply a side project meant as a break from other literary works.

Niffenegger’s inclusion brings an interesting feminine touch to the otherwise testosterone-driven world of graphic novels and comic books. And it shows that writers need not constrict themselves to one particular genre.

Comic book world, meet Audrey Niffenegger.

Read the L.A. Times review at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-audrey-niffenegger-20101003,0,356547.story