thecelebritycafe.com reports:

’War of the Worlds’ Illustrated

The graphic novel has now gone Hollywood. Just in time for the release of the Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise blockbuster “War of the Worlds,” comes the release of the graphic novel by the same title, complete with a 90-second trailer debuting on the internet in May.

The graphic novel, which is basically a grownup comic-book, is becoming more popular. Sales of these novels are up 25 percent and have reached in excess of $200 million, according to “Icv2,” a print and online trade publication that tracks pop culture for retailers.

The “graphic” trailer will feature black and white panels from the novel and comes complete with a soundtrack, special effects and voice talent. Best Sellers Illustrated, the book’s publisher, produced the trailer in Hollywood.

And from AWN Headline News:

War of the Worlds Graphic Novel to Get Trailer

Next month, the WAR OF THE WORLDS graphic novel will debut in bookstores across the nation and it will be promoted with a 90-second trailer, not unlike the way movies are promoted.

“We’re producing the trailer in Hollywood, and it will be complete with a soundtrack, special effects and voice talent,” said Aron Kessler, vp of Best Sellers Illustrated (www.bestsellersillustrated.com), the book’s publisher.

The trailer’s visuals include black-and-white panels from the graphic novel, many of which depict the havoc wreaked by Martian tripod war machines in and around New York City.

“H.G. Wells’ classic sci-fi tale took place in London and its environs,” said author Stephen Stern, “but Orson Wells’ updated radio version that caused a nationwide panic was set in the New York metropolitan area. We’re doing the same thing, in a post-9/11 world.”

The WAR OF THE WORLDS trailer will debut on the Internet in early May, just weeks before the graphic novel arrives in bookstores and less than two months before Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise’s summer blockbuster based on the same source material hits theatres.