Gently Does It

Douglas Adams’ Holistic Detective comes to comics

With his first novel appearing in 1987, Dirk Gently has never been as popular as Douglas Adams’ other wellknown creation, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. But that could be about to change as IDW Entertainment and Ideate are developing a new US television adaptation starring the holistic detective – who solves cases by figuring out the interconnectedness of all things – with Chronicle’s Max Landis acting as showrunner. But before then, IDW Editor- in- Chief Chris Ryall is penning a new five- part comics series, which will play into the proposed small- screen version.

“It wouldn’t be Dirk without a connection, even if no one but Dirk can actually see that connection,” Ryall tells Red Alert. “The plan for the TV show is to set it in San Diego, so the comic does the same. It’s a lot of fun to set the comic here and not only because it’s about as fish- out- ofwater a place for Dirk as I can imagine him being. And there might even be a Dirk at Comic- Con special issue at some point.”

With his long overcoat and bequiffed hairstyle, it has been mentioned that artist Tony Akins’ depiction of Dirk bears a resemblance to David Tennant’s incarnation of the Doctor, which IDW published before current Who comics licence holders Titan took over. “I’m sure at some point, time travel will rear its head once again,” teases Ryall. “You can also expect a very angry and jealous god and a familiar face from one of the books in a very different role.”