Bionicle 2016 Story Discussion & Rumors

[Fulcrumfan91]

Does anyone find it super odd that we still don't know the cover nor the title for the third graphic novel which is slated to be released at the end of this month? I find it to be super bizarre considering we got the covers/names for the last two well in advance (I believe a month and a half or so before? I can't quite remember)

[TwistLaw]

I still have some doubts about purchasing the second graphic novel. Is it drawn as badly as the first one? Because I still have nightmares remebering things like this.

[Bbrink1996]

In my opinion the second graphic novel is drawn better than the first one but I didn't think that the first one was badly drawn at all so maybe i'm easier to please than others. :p

[Master_Data]

I'm just jumping in now, but isn't that the bottom half of the Vahi in that picture? I must've missed something over the past few days, but I thought G2 only had the top half?

[avatarbrickman]

I'm just jumping in now, but isn't that the bottom half of the Vahi in that picture? I must've missed something over the past few days, but I thought G2 only had the top half?

Woah, that is weird...

[TwistLaw]

I'm just jumping in now, but isn't that the bottom half of the Vahi in that picture? I must've missed something over the past few days, but I thought G2 only had the top half?

It's literally a badly photoshopped G1 Vahi.

Edited May 6, 2016 by TwistLaw

[TheDesuComplex]

I'm just jumping in now, but isn't that the bottom half of the Vahi in that picture? I must've missed something over the past few days, but I thought G2 only had the top half?

It was probably made before there was an official design for the G2 Mask of Time. It's likely that the creator just googled 'bionicle mask of time' and found the G1 Vahi.

[Fulcrumfan91]

That is not the upper-half of the Vahi, it's a placeholder for the actual upper-half which was shown in the most recent graphic novel. Also, it's drawn the same way as the first graphic novel, but I think it's really worth buying this graphic novel. Much better than the first.

[Junior Shark]

The second graphic novel isn't drawn exactly the same way as the first. They're similar, but the art in the second one is better-looking IMO.

[Toa-Nuva]

Does anyone find it super odd that we still don't know the cover nor the title for the third graphic novel which is slated to be released at the end of this month? I find it to be super bizarre considering we got the covers/names for the last two well in advance (I believe a month and a half or so before? I can't quite remember)

Uh... Apparently, this never made it to the English-speaking part of the fan community, but ... there is strong evidence that GN3 has been cancelled. The first and most blatant evidence appeared back in December (only a month after we first heard of GN3!), when the online book catalog Edelweiss changed the status of the GN to "CANCELLED". http://edelweiss.abo...?sku=0316266264 The same month, the release date of GN2 was moved to only a month before the supposed GN3 release date (while the GN3 release date remained unchanged on Amazon etc), suggesting that the GN2 was delayed to compensate for GN3's cancellation. In March, Ryder Windham stated in the TTV interview that he hasn't heard of a third GN. And, as you said, the supposed release date is in less than three weeks, and there hasn't been any news about the book's title or cover.

[Junior Shark]

Interesting. Third graphic novel's still available for pre-order on Amazon. Is there anyone with other information on this?

[Fulcrumfan91]

Uh... Apparently, this never made it to the English-speaking part of the fan community, but ... there is strong evidence that GN3 has been cancelled. The first and most blatant evidence appeared back in December (only a month after we first heard of GN3!), when the online book catalog Edelweiss changed the status of the GN to "CANCELLED". http://edelweiss.abo...?sku=0316266264 The same month, the release date of GN2 was moved to only a month before the supposed GN3 release date (while the GN3 release date remained unchanged on Amazon etc), suggesting that the GN2 was delayed to compensate for GN3's cancellation. In March, Ryder Windham stated in the TTV interview that he hasn't heard of a third GN. And, as you said, the supposed release date is in less than three weeks, and there hasn't been any news about the book's title or cover.

Aw man.....well this is bad news! :( I hope that the cancellation of one graphic novel does not mean that the line as a whole for 2017 is doomed....but for 2018 at least, it's definitely not happening.

[GK733]

Uh... Apparently, this never made it to the English-speaking part of the fan community, but ... there is strong evidence that GN3 has been cancelled. The first and most blatant evidence appeared back in December (only a month after we first heard of GN3!), when the online book catalog Edelweiss changed the status of the GN to "CANCELLED". http://edelweiss.abo...?sku=0316266264 The same month, the release date of GN2 was moved to only a month before the supposed GN3 release date (while the GN3 release date remained unchanged on Amazon etc), suggesting that the GN2 was delayed to compensate for GN3's cancellation. In March, Ryder Windham stated in the TTV interview that he hasn't heard of a third GN. And, as you said, the supposed release date is in less than three weeks, and there hasn't been any news about the book's title or cover.

If the decision was made back then already it doesn't say anything of this year's sales.

But seeing as Amazon still has it up I really don't know what to say.

[Aanchir]

Well, Hachette Book Group (the parent company of the publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) doesn't have it listed on their website, and they do have Ninjago and Friends graphic novels for months to come listed. It wouldn't surprise me if the Bionicle graphic novels aren't doing as well as the Ninjago or Friends graphic novels, because it was sort of the odd duck in Little, Brown's LEGO graphic novel lineup to begin with. When the new line of LEGO graphic novels was announced, Ninjago and Friends had been selling like hotcakes for years, while Bionicle had only been back on shelves for three months after being effectively a non-entity in the toy and media industries for four and a half years.

That all said, GK733 is right, if it was known to be cancelled back in December of last year, then the decision would've been made before the first Bionicle graphic novel was even out, so it wouldn't likely have been affected by either the graphic novel sales nor by the sales of this year's sets.

Some other things to note: First, I think the Bionicle graphic novels might have been the only LEGO graphic novels by Little, Brown so far that had wholly original illustrations and stories. The Friends and Ninjago graphic novels so far are all illustrated by Blue Ocean (a German periodical publisher) and I believe they may merely be compilations of comics from the European LEGO Ninjago and LEGO Friends monthly magazines. So the Bionicle graphic novels probably cost considerably more to make.

Second, besides the regular LEGO Ninjago graphic novels "Ghost Ninja" and "From Ghosts to Pirates" coming out this year, there's also a new series called LEGO Ninjago Dark Island Trilogy, written by Greg Farshtey and illustrated by Paul Lee (who previously worked together on one of the Ninjago graphic novels from Papercutz). Maybe this series absorbed the writing and illustration budget that would have been used for further LEGO Bionicle graphic novels?

Edited May 12, 2016 by Aanchir

[GK733]

So we can safely say the book is cancelled but it doesn't tell anything to us in terms of the line itself?

I just hope they keep doing those novel books at least.

But I'm bearing myself for the disappointment that the "Escape From Underworld" is just a retelling of Journey to one.

[Dorek]

If the decision was made back then already it doesn't say anything of this year's sales.

But seeing as Amazon still has it up I really don't know what to say.

I've seem Amazon keep pre-order links up like that for a variety of products until the last possible moment before admitting/being forced to cancel, so I wouldn't have that as much of an indication.

Maybe there was no GN3 to begin with, and it was just some sort of listing error? Hard to say. Hopefully it wasn't something that was outright canceled, and in such a short space of time.

[Fulcrumfan91]

Umarak concept art!!!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1708689312705478&id=1472651449642600

[Dorek]

That's gonna be SICK in hi-res.

[Kalhiki]

That art is lovely. I absolutely adore the glow he puts on the characters; in this case mainly in and around the piece of unity.

And even the backgrounds. Those plants are fantastic.

I agree with Dorek. Can't wait for hi-res.

[GK733]

Escape From The Underworld has a new cover: http://www.amazon.co... chapter book 3

So it's primary focus is the toa if the cover is anything to go by.

Edited May 20, 2016 by GK733

[MrHerofan]

The cover of the books have been unoriginal tbh. They just put up a stock image of one of the figures and while it may be cheaper it's just not that creative.

[GK733]

The cover of the books have been unoriginal tbh. They just put up a stock image of one of the figures and while it may be cheaper it's just not that creative.

First book was a retelling of the animations and it had Tahu, second was about the protectors and it had Vizuna.

So basing on that I would say this focuses on thew toa.

[DuplexBeGreat]

First book was a retelling of the animations and it had Tahu, second was about the protectors and it had Vizuna.

So basing on that I would say this focuses on thew toa.

I think the second one had Izotor, actually.

[Aanchir]

The cover of the books have been unoriginal tbh. They just put up a stock image of one of the figures and while it may be cheaper it's just not that creative.

True, but that's basically what the Bionicle and Hero Factory chapter books from Scholastic have always done. Sometimes the stock art they used wasn't even finalized. The Ninjago, Legends of Chima, and Elves chapter books from Scholastic also use stock art, but in their case they use actual illustrations of the characters (from trading cards, posters, key visuals, etc.) rather than just renders of the sets themselves, so it isn't as obvious that it's stock art at first glance.

[Junior Shark]

So summer Ekimu has all of the Nuva element symbols on his armor.... Perhaps he succeeds where his brother failed, by making a mask that controls all elements? /rampant speculation