There is additional information on the graphic novel that was first reported today by EW. Below is the official press release from Little Brown.

“Yen Press, the graphic novel imprint of Hachette Book Group, announced that it will publish the highly-anticipated first volume in the graphic novel adaptation of  Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight on March 16, 2010.  Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 will be released in hardcover for $19.99 ($22.99 CAN) with a first printing of 350,000 copies.  As is typical in graphic novel publishing, due to the length of the prose novel, the book will be divided into two volumes and the release date for the second volume is forthcoming.

Twilight: The Graphic Novel contains selected text from Meyer’s original novel with illustrations by Korean artist Young Kim.  A rare fusion of Asian and Western comic techniques is reflected in this black-and-white graphic novel with color interspersed throughout.  Meyer consulted throughout the artistic process and had input on every panel.

“I’ve enjoyed working on this new interpretation of Twilight,” said Meyer.  “Young has done an incredible job transforming the words that I have written into beautiful images.  The characters and settings are very close to what I was imagining while writing the series.”

Kurt Hassler, Yen Press Publishing Director, said, “Few American publishing properties are better suited to introduce a vast readership to the medium of graphic novel than the phenomenon that is Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.  Yen Press will certainly continue to expand this audience with the help of Bella and Edward.”

In four years, Stephenie Meyer has become a worldwide publishing phenomenon.  The Twilight Saga’s translation rights have been sold in nearly 50 countries and 85 million copies have been sold worldwide.

Yen Press is an imprint of Hachette Book Group dedicated to publishing graphic novels for adults and young readers.  Yen Press’ focus is primarily on licensed manga, but also publishes across the wide spectrum of the graphic novel market, including, but not limited to: original manga publications, original American comics/graphic novels, webcomics, licensed adaptations, and children’s graphic novels.”

EW has the scoop on this one:

“I’m delighted to announce, exclusively, that Yen Press will publish Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 on March 16, with a first printing of 350,000 copies.  Here’s a first glimpse at the book’s cover, as well as an exclusive peek at one of its panels (for a full ten-page excerpt, and the entire Q&A with Stephenie Meyer, see the issue of EW that goes on sale this Friday).

What strikes me, looking at the book, is how faithfully, and how beautifully, artist Young Kim has translated Meyer’s original vision. Kim, who has a fine arts background—in fact, this is her first foray into graphic novels—didn’t just read the book; she absorbed it. Her Bella is the Bella I had in my mind’s eye the first time I read Twilight; her Edward is the Edward I always imagined. It took me back to reading Twilight pre-movie: Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson faded into the background.

Meyer talked to us about all this, and more. Here are a few snippets from our conversation:

The text of your original novel is boiled down so carefully that it doesn’t feel like anything is missing. Were you the one who did that?

I was definitely involved.  I didn’t do the original “script” for the book, so to speak.  But when I got the dialogue with the images, I did a lot of tinkering. In a couple of places, I asked for missing scenes to be inserted.  For example, the conversation in the car that Bella and Edward have after she faints in Biology.”

Read more on EW.

You can pre-order it here.

Are you a long-time graphic novel devotee? Is this new to you? Are you going to run out and preorder? Let us know what you think.