We are delighted to be joined by artist Manu Larcenet. On September 17th Abrams ComicArts are releasing the graphic novel adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Cormac McCarthy’s novel received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. We got to chat with Manu about the adaptation.
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello, my name is Manu Larcenet and I’ve been drawing graphic novels at least for the last 30 years of my life.
I can draw almost anything in almost any style. I can make you smile (le Combat Ordinaire), laugh (Nicoumouk, Retour à la Terre) or make you experience darkness and despair (Blast, Brodeck Report).
Do not worry, I am not bold enough to believe this myself. Those are only my editor’s words.Anyway, nowadays, everything you want to know about my work is on the Internet. Of course it’s better to read some French but the drawings do not need any translation.
One last word. Drawing is my life, but it does not mean that my life is easy (Group Therapy).
Could you tell us how and when you were introduced to The Road?
Originally, I was planning to adapt another novel, the story of the hectic road trip of a father and his son. Knowing that, at the same time one of my editors at Dargaud sent me The Road less than 3 years ago.
The connection was immediate.
How would you describe The Road?
The endless wandering of a father and his son, fighting cold, hunger and fear.
A father wanting to pass on to his son and at the same time to prepare him for his absence.
All of this in an hostile, lifeless and dangerous post-apocalyptic world.
What is it about The Road that made you want to adapt it into a graphic novel?
I was immediately enthralled by the atmosphere it creates. Most likely because I enjoy drawing the snow, the chilling winds, the dark clouds, the sizzling rain, snags, rust, and damps. I draw violence or kindness, wild animals, dirty skin, pits, and stagnant water. I enjoy the contrast between the characters and their environment.
I was also very sensitive to slowness and the absence of Hollywood-style action scenes. There is no classic narrative arc but rather a succession of scenes, sometimes very contemplative.
Could you tell us about the origins of The Road graphic novel?
To present my project of adaptation we got in touch with McCarthy through his agents. We presented some of my previous works and especially Blast and an adaptation of another successful novel, The Brodeck Report.
I guess that it convinced him but it was obviously based on my future work that I thought we were going to have a dialogue. Unfortunately, this has not been possible; he died and only saw half of the graphic novel before we could communicate. I was only told that he was both happy and impressed by it.
Which is both too little and a lot.
It so happens that I had complete freedom. Today I like to think that it was the way McCarthy wanted and I believe that he would have been happy with the result.
Was it a challenge adapting The Road into a graphic novel?
A huge one.
Because in The Road, there was a lifeless world, apocalyptic landscapes, rocky and dirty, grimy, even and above all dead. A setting without nature, without leaves, without animals …I was afraid I would not be able to sustain it over time, suffocated by that coldness.
The ashes, omnipresent, did change everything by clothing that setting, by tinting and then transforming everything.
There was also the challenge of creating a graphic novel from a novel of little action and very few words. When McCarthy describes a landscape in 12 lines it may sometimes take me three pages to render it.
I wanted the readers to go through my drawings as if it were text. I felt I would be able to draw the silences of the novel.
How did Abrams ComicArts get involved with The Road?
One year ago, Abrams decided to strengthen its Comics department Abrams ComicArts and to extend its interest to European and Asian creation.
And it happened that Abrams is in the same group and is a sister company of my publisher Dargaud. So publishing The Road graphic novel seemed a perfect opportunity for those new developments at Abrams ComicArts. The timing was great.
How long did it take you to create The Road graphic novel?
It took me most of my days and some of my nights during two long years to draw this graphic novel.
What has it been like working with Abrams ComicArts?
I did not work directly with Abrams ComicArts. Dargaud publishing and foreign rights departments are working closely with their American counterparts.
So far the graphic novel has been translated in almost 20 different countries, but of course the US edition is very special to me as we are now on Cormac McCarthy territory.
Do you have a favourite scene from the The Road?
It’s a question which seems to call for a simple answer. Alas, I am sorry to say that it’s difficult to tell which panel, page, or scene I prefer… because comics are more than just beautiful panels strung together… the drawing itself is only a small part of the process for the author (even if it may be not the same for the reader).
However there are some panels where I felt like I was on the wings of the wind. Two of them stick in my memory:
- One is a completely unremarkable panel, a close-up of hands striking a match (not the one on the title page, another one…). I had set myself the goal of showing damp matches. I remember that, for Christmas, my parents would take me to the countryside, to a house that was a hundred years old at the time, with only one fireplace. And the matches were often damp, requiring several strikes to light. They emitted small bits of sulfur that ignited as they separated from the wood. Well, I succeeded! If you look closely at the drawing, you can see those sparks. It was a great victory.
- The other is the very first drawing of the ending, in black and white. I was very happy with the character, but I couldn’t manage to add a background to it. After multiple attempts, the simple electric wires swayed by the wind appeared by accident, while I was scribbling. My great pride as an author is recognizing when chance does better than my mind
Short question, long answer. Are you not sorry to have asked 😉?
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
I see this book as a great tribute to an immense writer. Dear Comic Buzz readers, I would be so happy if all of you felt the same …
We would like to say thank you to Manu for chatting with us, and we wish him the best of luck with The Road graphic novel.
