SAN DIEGO, DAY 4: Max Allan Collins' road to Marvel

Max Allan Collins is having one hell of a year. He's seen his graphic novel, "Road to Perdition," turned into a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks that's got Hollywood predicting at least a "Best Picture" Oscar nomination. He's got some "Batman" work coming up. He'll be writing a five-issue mini-series based on the hit CBS television show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators." It's been announced he'll be writing two prose sequels to "Road to Perdition" called "Road to Purgatory" and "Road to Paradise." And finally, he may be doing another "Road to Perdition" comic.

At the Max Allan Collins Q&A held at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Collins revealed he's talking with Marvel Comics about a new 6 issue mini-series called "Tales from the Road." Briefly, RTP tells the story of young Michael Sullivan as he and his father, Michael Sullivan Sr., take to the road in an effort to save their lives. To survive they rob banks to pay their way. In the film this journey is only 6 weeks long, whereas in the graphic novel this takes place over a six-month period. This new mini-series will explore some of the adventures the two Michael's have while on the run together.

Collins also said the story is designed and meant to be collected as a graphic novel once the monthly version is completed. The plan is to have original artist Richard Piers Rayner provide the covers for all six issues and the interior art for the final issue of the series because, as Collins explained, "he's so damn slow!" Collins will write the final issue of the series first in order to give Rayner ample time to complete his contribution. As this deal isn't finalized yet, no date of release has yet been determined.

For more on RTP and Max Allan Collins, read CBR's interview with him from June. Also, look for a complete write-up on the Collins Q&A later today on CBR.

CBR Staff Writer Arune Singh contributed to this story.

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