Writers tell stories. Whether their stories appear in novels or anthologies, on television or in film, authors have an outlet for their creative visions, building worlds and taking audiences on a journey into their imaginations. The unique visual style of comics, where words and pictures are combined into a single whole, give authors a new path into their imaginations, where pictures in the mind's eye of the audience are painted not with words but with pencil and ink. In the past few years, some of the biggest authors working in fantasy, science-fiction, urban fantasy, and horror have brought their visions to comics, taking short stories and novels, adapting and reworking them, creating new visions in comics that appeal to both long-time fans and brand-new audiences.

Stephen King's name is synonymous with best-selling horror and fantasy.

Salem's Lot. The Shining. It. These novels, and dozens more, have placed King in the ranks of the best-selling authors of all time.

In partnership with Marvel Comics, two of King's most renowned works — The Stand and The Dark Tower — are being re-imagined for comics audiences.

Working with writers Robin Furth and Peter David, and artists Jae Lee and Richard Isanove, The Dark Tower mini-series do more than simply adapt the first book in King's novel septet; they reveal untold stories of the gunslinger Roland and his development into the fan-favorite hero of the novels. The Stand adaptations, from writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Mike Perkins, dramatize King's classic tale of the conflict between good and evil set against an apocalyptic backdrop.

Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels have been best-sellers for fifteen years, stories about a female necromancer with the power to bring the dead back to life temporarily, drawn into the world of vampires and werewolves. Working with Marvel Comics and artist Ron Lim, Hamilton is bringing these popular novels to comics, first with an adaptation of the first book in the series, Guilty Pleasures, and continuing with The Laughing Corpse.

Part private detective stories, part gritty urban fantasy, part supernatural romance, Hamilton's adaptation of the Anita Blake novels are bringing readers new and old to this long-running series.

Marvel Comics has also worked with George R.R. Martin in bringing some of his fantasy stories, the Hedge Knight novellas, to comics.

These little-known stories, prequels to his best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series, are essential pieces of his fantasy masterwork, and by bringing them to a wider audience through comics Martin fans will find important backstory to the events in his world of Westeros.

Dabel Brothers Productions has taken several different approaches to bringing best-selling authors into comics. In some cases, they work with the authors to adapt their novels and stories. In others, authors present original creations. C.E. Murphy, the author of the acclaimed historical fantasy novel The Queen's Bastard, brought her original super-hero saga, Take a Chance, to Dabel Brothers for a five-issue mini-series. George R.R. Martin's popular prose super-hero anthologies, Wild Cards, came to comics in a series from Dabel Brothers, Wild Cards: The Hard Call.

Jim Butcher's popular Dresden Files novels star Chicago wizard Harry Dresden, who works with the Chicago Police Department on crimes of a supernatural bent. These novels led to a television series on the Sci-Fi Channel, and last year Dabel Brothers began bringing them to comics. Beginning with an original story, Welcome to the Jungle, Dabel has moved on to adapt the first novel in the series, Storm Front.

Fantasy author Robert Jordan began publishing his epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, in 1990. Before his death from cancer in 2007, Jordan had begun working with Dabel on bringing the first book in the series, The Eye of the World, to comics. Working with writer Chuck Dixon and artist Chase Conley, Dabel's adaptation of this important fantasy work has just begun.

Dean Koontz is perhaps Dabel's most prolific author, both adapting his best-selling novels and creating new works for the publisher. His modern take on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, has been adapted to comics. He has also created a new science-fiction story, Nevermore, which takes readers on a journey through the multi-verse as a broken man searches for his lost love. Koontz, a regular fixture on the best-seller lists, is bringing a whole new audience to comics with these adaptations and new series.

Bluewater Productions is another publisher bringing a best-selling author to comics. Working with actor, writer, and producer William Shatner, they are bringing some of his best-selling novels — TekWar, Quest for Tomorrow, and Man O'War — to comics under the "William Shatner Presents" banner. These science-fiction stories have different styles and appeal; TekWar is a gritty, hard-boiled future noir, Quest for Tomorrow is an all-ages coming-of-age story, and Man O'War is a political science-fiction thriller. Beginning with Free Comic Book Day's William Shatner Presents special, these series begin in June with the debut of TekWar.

Philip K. Dick, though he died in 1982, has been hailed as the writer and prophet of the 21^st century. His novels and stories have been adapted to films such as Blade Runner, Minority Report, and Paycheck.

BOOM! Studios is adapting this visionary author's work with their innovative 24-part adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the novel that served as the basis for director Ridley Scott's 1982 film, Blade Runner. BOOM!'s series combines Dick's text with artwork from artist Steven Dupre and text pieces from Warren Ellis.

Like a modern take on Classics Illustrated, these adaptations of modern literary works serve to broaden the audience for storytelling. Fans can find new takes on works from their favorite authors, while comics fans can discover modern literary masterpieces and thus discover new and challenging literature from authors readers may not have considered before. From King to Dick, Butcher to Hamilton, readers will find stories that tug at the spirit, that entertain, that present the world in new an innovative ways. Whether as a novel, a short story, or a graphic novel, these stories are certain to challenge readers and take them on journeys into the imagination.

When Allyn Gibson bought his first copy of PREVIEWS in 1991, he could not have imagined that he would someday write the comic industry's catalog. Now he works in a geek nirvana and writes about comic books, writes science-fiction short stories, and roots long-distance for the Chicago Cubs.