Beat emailed Steve Kuzor to discuss the adaptation of his graphic novel in Stephen Crane’s classic Civil War novel, “Red Badge of Courage.”
Red Bad of Courage has already solidified its place in American literature for Abrams Comicarts’ publication on May 13, 2025. However, this new graphic novel adaptation brings it to life with the illustrations of Cuzor. Cuzor not only brings readers to the heart of busy, beautifully painted battles, but also offers strict portraits of soldiers in daily civil wars.
Beat caught up with Cuzor and learned more about the projects he worked on and what Cuzor would like to do next.
This interview has been compiled for content and length.
Javier Perez: Counting previous works like Black Cotton Star and some of Blackjack, taking place in Brooklyn in the late 20’s, will it attract you to American stories?
Steve Cuzor: When I was a kid, there was a TV show called La Dernière Séance, hosted by a French rock star who loved old movies, especially old Westerners. The show was filmed in person at the cinema, an old-style cinema from the 1950s. All screenings feature two films in the original version, the other in black and white colors. Between the two there was a Tex Avery manga. It aired once a month, and I didn’t miss a single episode. I think that’s where my understanding of America, especially Westerners, comes from.
Perez: I love book prologues. There appears to be a sense of impending fate from the beginning of the book. How important is the theme of the graphic novel, and how did it show that sense of fear from an artistic perspective?
Cuzor: In the prologue, my goal was to show all the main characters, without dialogue, before the story actually began. On these two pages I also had to convey a sense of waiting, as the wait time before the fight is inevitably time to settle for these young men. As stated in the story, “Waiting is more painful than a bullet in the heart.” Henry is also afraid that he is not the heroic soldier he imagined. He is afraid of what other people will think about him if he abandons him.
Perez: I like to maintain the perspective of the main character Henry Fleming. It doesn’t actually give you a specific place or time, and it comes with the disorientation of war. You can see Henry beginning to lose his mind and art follows. Did you like working with those parameters?
Cuzor: For me, I loved using these elements because joy doesn’t lie about drawing characters. My joy is to explain what the characters are feeling. That requires a specific framing, an accurate perspective, and a different lighting for each line of dialogue. What I’m explaining is what the characters say, not who they are. And when the character says nothing, the image must be filled with subtext.
Perez: The clear purpose of Stephen Crane, who writes this work, is to be a journalistic and honest account of war, and how did you take on that spirit in your art when you painted the book?
Cuzor: I only used novels that I think are important to me. Henry’s fear is that he is not living in the heroic soldier he had imagined. In the novel, the narrator is Stephen Crane. He talks about third-party characters. I felt that this technique was aging a little. So I created an internal dialogue so that Henry could talk to himself. In addition to the outside battles, Henry is experiencing a real internal struggle. I kept that guide thread throughout the graphic novel. What’s important to me wasn’t to betray the crane spirit.
The most challenging part of being an illustrator was staging the battle scenes. Crane gives little details in his book about military tactics and how soldiers are organized. Stephen Crane’s writing is so skilled that it sometimes reads like a poetry. It evokes readers’ senses, but there are few concrete images. Because that’s the essence of graphic novels, I had to create those images with a certain consistency.
Perez: I like the use of green and blue to show the difference between day and night. I think I really came across the cold tranquility of the evening section in its colour. What made you the choice?
Cuzor: That was a request I made to my wife, Meephe Versavevel. I said to her, “I don’t want color for a red badge, I want light.” There were two reasons behind my black and white demands. First, don’t disappoint the work of black, white and gray inks with all lighting effects. Secondly, I don’t want readers a blue or gray uniform that might make you wonder who’s winning or losing a fight. There is only one colour in war: dust, smoke, and hellish colour, so there is no green grass or blue sky. The only time that appears in the book is on the cover as a reminder to the title.
Perez: When Henry Fleming experiences a rather dramatic experience, he begins to become reckless, which appears to be seen as courage by his fellow soldiers. Do you agree with the definition of courage?
Cuzor: Is it courage or is it a suicide? He is angry that he is not the brave soldier he imagined. He wants to redeem himself the day before he escapes from his enemy. He doesn’t want to experience that inner pain again. I have him advance alone towards the enemy, alternating gunfire and internal monologues. He knows he has lost his grip thanks to the reactions of other soldiers left behind. “Where is that idiot going?” – and who ends up laughing at him. Henry wants revenge, and instead finds himself humiliated. Ultimately, it is his officers who will restore his honor. Crane’s entire novel is built on these contradictory emotions.
Perez: What do you think about graphic novels covering historical events? In a sense, why is it a comic? What does comic media bring to stories that movies and television can’t do?
Cuzor: I’m not an expert on historical books. When I write graphic novels, what interests me is human psychology. It’s their struggle to find humans and their world and especially their place. At Black Cotton Star, which takes place during World War II, Yves Sente as a writer, we talked about the difficulties African Americans faced with acceptance by the US military. We didn’t talk about war.
My next book is about the bear hunt set in the Great Lakes region in 1836, and about five characters that were never intended to meet. They will never catch bears during this hunt, but they will get caught in their own dark side and their past. Comic or graphic novel mediums allow you to tell all the stories of the world.
Perez: Is there anything you would like to add in the end?
Cuzor: I’m proud to have united my small family for this graphic novel’s red badge of courage. This is the first time that it happened. thank you.
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