In this behind‑the‑scenes monologue, Ryan Maloney recounts the evolution of a 2016 picture‑book idea into a full‑length graphic novel. Prompted by his kindergarten‑age son’s teachers, he revisited the story, received early feedback that the draft was hard to follow, and scrapped the initial version. Over six months he rewrote the script on his iPad, reframing the narrative as a submarine prequel to give himself flexibility. He experimented with various character designs, eventually simplifying them and committing to a consistent art style despite lingering doubts. His primary goal was to finish the graphic novel by the time his son reached third grade, a deadline he met, and he reflects on the process with a mix of humility and pride.
Chapters
In 2016, I wrote this picture book, but it never seemed like the right format for an adventure story, so I put it on the back burner. A few years later, when my son was in kindergarten, a couple of teachers at his school asked me if I would ever make a graphic novel. They referenced Amulet, and I thought to myself, there's no way I could ever make a graphic novel like this. Too many pages, too many characters, it would take me years. I just couldn't let this sit as a picture book with nobody reading it when I felt like the characters could do so much more. I made a couple attempts at it. This is some early artwork. The character is pretty cartoony here. My son took my early drafts of my script into his class in kindergarten without asking me, and the teacher emailed me saying they loved it, but it was pretty difficult to read and follow. So I knew it was unclear and it needed a lot of work. So I scrapped the version I was working on. I wrote an outline and a script for about 6 months in Apple Pages on my iPad. Instead of writing The Night My Bed Turned into a Spaceship, I decided to write it as The Night My Bed Turned into a Submarine, which is a prequel to The Night My Bed Turned into a Spaceship, mostly to overcomplicate things so I have an excuse if things don't work out. This script became my framework for the artwork in the graphic novel. Here's a look at some of the early artwork attempts. These characters get into the graphic novel, but all of them were simplified, like Gruffin, Zilko. Here's an early drawing of Till. I just wasn't feeling, so I locked into a style like this. I still don't feel 100% about it, but it's something that you have to do. You have to commit to a style to move forward to make anything. When I started this project when my son was in kindergarten, my only goal was to have a full-length book done by the time he was in 3rd grade. So that was accomplished. So I hope the story doesn't stink, but if it does, it's still a win in my book.
