Chandler: Red Tide
Encyclopedia
Chandler: Red Tide is a 1976 illustrated novel
, an early form of graphic novel
, by writer
-artist
Jim Steranko
.
The digest-sized book combines typeset
text with two same-sized illustrations per page, utilizing no word balloons or other traditional comics
text conventions. A hard-boiled detective novel in the film noir
style, its protagonist is a private detective named Chandler (an homage to author Raymond Chandler
) who is hired by a man who claims to have been poisoned by the same people responsible for a notorious gangland
slaying. As Chandler tracks down witnesses, each begins to turn up dead.
Visual Publications and published by Pyramid Books
, under vice-president Norman Goldfind, in 1976
, Chandler was written, drawn, and colored
by veteran comics creator Jim Steranko
, who also provided the cover painting and oversaw production, including design
and typography
. There is an introduction by crime novelist and former San Francisco private detective Joe Gores
, and a foreword by Preiss. The original cover price was one dollar.
Preiss said the book was created to retail at American newsstands alongside hundreds of other paperback
offerings". The mass-market edition (ISBN 0-515-04078-9), which Preiss said had a "50,000+ press run", was supplemented by a 750-copy limited edition with a tipped-in signature plate. The latter edition was double the dimensions of the newsstand edition.
The third in a series from the publisher, it is also known as Fiction Illustrated
Vol. 3. (See image at left.)
Steranko in 1978 recalled the project's genesis:
He elsewhere said that in creating the book he used golden sectioning
, "a mathematical formula to arrange elements in a unified structure, to create an image-to-text relationship that readers would be very comfortable with. The text on any given page related only to that page".
Steranko, who retained rights to the character, was then assigned to create a 12-page "Chandler" story for Penthouse
magazine, working with executive editor Art Cooper. When Cooper departed Penthouse, the project was canceled and Steranko was paid a kill fee.
Dark Horse Comics
had planned to publish a revised edition of Chandler: Red Tide in December 1999, with revamped and more hardboiled art and text by Steranko, but this did not see fruition. Dark Horse Presents
vol. 3, #3 (Aug. 2011) included a 13-page Chapter 1 of Red Tide.
Chandler: Red Tide did not meet sales expectations, with Steranko recalling in 2003 that, "When the book appeared it was not embraced by the comic-book community because it didn't have word balloons or captions. Believe it or not, they found that shocking!" In 1978, shortly after the book's publication, he said, "I was disappointed in Pyramid's distribution and promotion of it. ... They did a major mailing on it, but there was more that can be done".
Prince Valiant
in that the narrative is carried by a combination of graphics and text blocks without word balloons. Critics are divided on whether it is a true graphic novel, its advocates noting that its images are integral to the story rather than merely illustrating the text. Steranko used the term "graphic novel" in his introduction, though it was labeled "a visual novel" on the cover.
Illustrated fiction
Illustrated fiction is a hybrid narrative medium in which images and text work together to tell a story. It can take various forms, including fiction written for adults or children, magazine fiction, comic strips, and picture books....
, an early form of graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, by writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
-artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Jim Steranko
Jim Steranko
James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....
.
The digest-sized book combines typeset
Typesetting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of types.Typesetting requires the prior process of designing a font and storing it in some manner...
text with two same-sized illustrations per page, utilizing no word balloons or other traditional comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
text conventions. A hard-boiled detective novel in the film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
style, its protagonist is a private detective named Chandler (an homage to author Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
) who is hired by a man who claims to have been poisoned by the same people responsible for a notorious gangland
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
slaying. As Chandler tracks down witnesses, each begins to turn up dead.
Publication history
Packaged by Byron PreissByron Preiss
Byron Preiss was an American writer, editor, and publisher. He founded and served as president of Byron Preiss Visual Publications, and later of iBooks.-Early life and career:...
Visual Publications and published by Pyramid Books
Pyramid Books
Jove Books, formerly Pyramid Books, is a paperback publishing company, founded in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers . The company was sold to the Walter Reade Organization in the late 1960s. It was acquired in 1974 by Harcourt Brace which renamed it to Jove in 1977 and continued the line as an...
, under vice-president Norman Goldfind, in 1976
1976 in comics
This is a list of comics-related events in 1976.- Year overall :* American Splendor, Harvey Pekar's long-running autobiographical comic book title, publishes its debut issue.* Fantagraphics Books, Inc. founded by Gary Groth and Michael Catron....
, Chandler was written, drawn, and colored
Colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates...
by veteran comics creator Jim Steranko
Jim Steranko
James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....
, who also provided the cover painting and oversaw production, including design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
and typography
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
. There is an introduction by crime novelist and former San Francisco private detective Joe Gores
Joe Gores
Joe Gores was an American mystery writer...
, and a foreword by Preiss. The original cover price was one dollar.
Preiss said the book was created to retail at American newsstands alongside hundreds of other paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
offerings". The mass-market edition (ISBN 0-515-04078-9), which Preiss said had a "50,000+ press run", was supplemented by a 750-copy limited edition with a tipped-in signature plate. The latter edition was double the dimensions of the newsstand edition.
The third in a series from the publisher, it is also known as Fiction Illustrated
Fiction Illustrated
Fiction Illustrated is a short-lived series of early illustrated fiction, similar to graphic novels, produced and packaged by Byron Preiss Visual Productions in the 1970s and published by Pyramid/Jove/HBJ. Four were produced, with a fifth was planned. All but one were written by Byron Preiss...
Vol. 3. (See image at left.)
Steranko in 1978 recalled the project's genesis:
He elsewhere said that in creating the book he used golden sectioning
Golden ratio
In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989...
, "a mathematical formula to arrange elements in a unified structure, to create an image-to-text relationship that readers would be very comfortable with. The text on any given page related only to that page".
Steranko, who retained rights to the character, was then assigned to create a 12-page "Chandler" story for Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
magazine, working with executive editor Art Cooper. When Cooper departed Penthouse, the project was canceled and Steranko was paid a kill fee.
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
had planned to publish a revised edition of Chandler: Red Tide in December 1999, with revamped and more hardboiled art and text by Steranko, but this did not see fruition. Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
vol. 3, #3 (Aug. 2011) included a 13-page Chapter 1 of Red Tide.
Reception
Illustrated-novel format
Chandler: Red Tide is similar to Harold Foster's comic stripComic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant
Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur, or simply Prince Valiant, is a long-run comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretch of that story now totals more than 3700 Sunday strips...
in that the narrative is carried by a combination of graphics and text blocks without word balloons. Critics are divided on whether it is a true graphic novel, its advocates noting that its images are integral to the story rather than merely illustrating the text. Steranko used the term "graphic novel" in his introduction, though it was labeled "a visual novel" on the cover.
External links
- The Drawings of Steranko: '"Red Tide (fan site)