Gary Gianni (known for Monster Men and The Shadow) has adapted and illustrated Jules Verne's 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea . The book is published by Hieronymus Press in an oversized (bigger than magazine yet not quite tabloid) 56 page format with 44 pages for the actual story, 7 for a sketchbook gallery, 1 for the signed & numbered color print, 1 for the introduction, 1 for the credits and copyright info and 2 blanks.

Gianni's drawing is fairly detailed and textured in an engraved illustration style. The paper is a light cream/yellow/beige, so the art is not really black and white. Black and cyan were the only colors printed on the board stock cover similarly matching the interior page color. According to the artist info on the back cover flap, Gianni is working on a comic strip version of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Seems hard to believe they can pack the story into only 44 pages. Is this in any way related to the "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" figures that I have seen in the comic shop? When is this coming out?

I think this adaptation was originally planned for First's line of Classics Illustrated comics. The afterword page in the gallery section has some preliminary sketches for the signed & numbered plate, and it looks like the Classics logo area is indicated in them.