Tag Archives: jerome charyn

Preview: Family Man

Posted on by

Family Man

Jerome Charyn (w) • Joe Staton (a & c)

Two brothers: one, a man of God; the other, a man of the Mob. In a city on the edge of chaos, they’ll do anything to survive. The story begins in New York City… one hour into the future. Crime runs rampant, rogue cops patrol the rubble-strewn streets, predatory gangs steal anything that isn’t nailed down, and the once powerful mafia Dons cower in fear in their tenement prisons. Someone is killing the mob chieftains one by one, and the last survivors call on Alonzo, the Family Man, to hunt down the murderer. But it won’t be easy—not when Alonzo’s own brother Charles, the gun-toting Monsignor of the corruption-ridden New York City police department, is a prime suspect.

HC • B&W • $39.99 • 300 pages • ISBN: 978-1-68405-452-7

Family Man

It’s Alive! to Publish Family Man by Jerome Charyn and Joe Staton

Posted on by

Many years ago, DC Comics launched a non-superhero, non-science fiction, and non-fantasy imprint called Paradox Press, which produced such popular titles as Road to Perdition and A History of Violence.

One of the titles published by Paradox Press was an almost 300 page graphic novel (originally published as a three issue mini-series), entitled Family Man by Jerome Charyn and Joe Staton.

Family Man is set in the near future, when New York is a ruined city, the police are out of control and the Mafia families have all been wiped out. THE FAMILY MAN is Alonzo, haunted by the murder of his wife and children. His brother Charles is the leader of the police force and is coming ever closer to total power in the city. When Charles orders a round-up of all “criminal” elements into a makeshift prison camp, the various plots start to come apart and only Alonzo can save the city.

With the help of Eisner award-winning editor and designer Jon B. Cooke, It’s Alive! will take what was originally published in three digest-sized square bound comic books, and transform it all into a 300+ page, black and white, 8.25″ x 11″, hard cover graphic novel, with well researched historical essays about the creators, the imprint the comics originally came from, and the story itself.  A Kickstarter to help them raise the funds to publish this epic tale will be announced very soon!  Along with the ability to pick up a copy of the book itself, fans will have a shot at obtaining a page of Family Man original art, from the small handful of pages that Joe Staton will be making available. There will also be more original artwork and sketch rewards, donated by several incredible artists, including: Larry Hama, Paul Gulacy, Jamal Igle, Mark Wheatley, Timothy Truman, Batton Lash, Alex Saviuk, Scott Kolins, Rick Burchett, Ron Frenz, and many more!

The Magician’s Wife: Back In Print After Almost 30 Years!

Posted on by

DOVER COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS LOGO ][The Prize for Best Album (Prix du meilleur album), also known as the Golden Wildcat (Fauve d’Or), has been awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival since 1976.  Globally, it is one of the most prestigious and respected comic awards given out each year.  In 1986, The Magician’s Wife (Originally published in French as La Femme du magicien) won this award, helping to introduce important American author Jerome Charyn to French comic book audiences, and majorly propelling the career of the now legendary French comic book artist Francois Boucq. In 1988, an English edition of the book surfaced from a small US publisher, but only stayed in print for a few years before disappearing for almost three decades. With last year’s release of a new French edition by European publisher Lombard, Dover Publications‘ graphic novel editor Drew Ford decided it was finally time for the release of a new English edition.

Spanning multiple decades and continents, this phantasmagorical epic is the result of writer Jerome Charyn and artist François Boucq combing their talents to recount a surrealistic tale about the wife of a philandering magician and her struggles with terrifying demons, both real and imaginary. This new edition promises to mesmerize a new generation of readers for years to come!

Jerome Charyn, master of lyrical farce and literary ventriloquism, published his first novel in 1964. He’s the author of Johnny One-Eye, The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, I Am Abraham, and dozens of other acclaimed novels as well as nonfiction works. His short stories have appeared in The Atlantic, Paris Review, American Scholar, Epoch, Narrative and Ellery Queen. He is also the author of eight highly acclaimed graphic novels.

Charyn’s popular crime novels, featuring homicide detective Isaac Sidel, inspired a new animated drama series. ‘Hard Apple’ debuts on the small screen early next year, helmed by Hollywood insider James Gray (The Immigrants) and illustrated by famed artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka (Waltz with Bashir.) Charyn lives in New York and Paris.

Dover to publish The Magician’s Wife by Jerome Charyn & Francois Boucq

Posted on by

TheMagiciansWifeDover Publications has announced their upcoming publication of The Magician’s Wife graphic novel.  Long out of print in English, legendary French comics artist Francois Boucq teams with acclaimed, surrealistic crime novelist Jerome Charyn.

The story is about “the adventures, or the anti-adventures, of the wife of a magician. The problem is that the magician has two wives – and that they are mother and daughter – who find themselves in an uninvited competition for the affections of the troubled conjurer. And, as the magician becomes increasingly attracted to the younger woman, she, in revenge for his lubricity, turns into a werewolf in Central Park threatening his life and that of several others involved in his lubricity. What evolves is not a Captain’s Paradise but a macabre battle of the sexes cum detective story with mystical overtones.”

Out of print in English for nearly three decades, the original 80-page story won two prizes (Grand Prix) in France where it was first published as a Bande Dessinée in 1986 and now appears here from Dover in a handsome trade paperback format.  It has been compared to a kind of film noir caught between the covers of a comic book, directed by Fellini.

Over the years, the book has won a powerful cult following, and has appeared on several critics lists of top graphic novels of all time.

The Magician’s Wife is scheduled for release in October 2015.