The Stonekeeper

Despite starting his career in animation, Kazu Kibuishi dreamed of creating a science fiction/fantasy graphic novel that could stand beside epic works like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki and Bone by Jeff Smith. He admired the way these works were able to build incredibly rich and detailed fantasy worlds in the manner of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, but with added illustrations that helped to enhance details and nuance. Kibuishi’s first attempts at rendering the world of the Amulet series did not meet his lofty expectations, so he put the project aside to focus his attention on developing skills more relevant to his career in animation.

However, he could not shake off his desire to write, and after a few years, he quit his job as an animator to focus on graphic novels. Before returning to the world of Amulet—which was his initial idea—Kibuishi published several other successful projects. Both Daisy Kutter: The Last Train (a comic book mini-series) and Flight (a graphic novel anthology) were released to critical acclaim in 2004. This gave him the experience and confidence to return to Amulet, which he began working on in 2005. Finishing the first book in the series—The Stonekeeper—proved more difficult than he expected, and it took him three years and several rewrites. He struggled most to write the tragic scene that would ultimately become the book’s Prologue. Kibuishi worried that it was too dark and emotionally charged to be the opening of a book aimed at younger readers, but David Saylor, who was the creative director at the publisher (Scholastic), encouraged him to keep the scene intact.

While working on the Amulet series, Kibuishi married Amy Kim Kibuishi (formerly Amy Kim Ganter), who is also an artist and graphic novel writer. They frequently collaborate on one another’s projects, but Kibuishi claims that “[w]hile [they] value [their] projects, raising a family together has been [their] top priority” (Kibuishi, Kazu. “Amulet.” Bolt City Productions). This emphasis on the importance of family can be felt throughout The Stonekeeper and is one of the most prominent themes of the series. Kibuishi also says that from a young age, he and his brother had to help financially support their parents. This influence can be seen throughout the Amulet series, as it is a coming-of-age story in which its young adult protagonist is thrust into a leadership role and must learn to adjust to her new responsibilities.

Kibuishi has noted that despite the Amulet series not receiving the same kind of critical acclaim as his previous works, he is satisfied that it has reached a very wide readership, particularly among reluctant young readers who are new to graphic novels.