In 2006, multi-award-winning author Cormac McCarthy published the novel The Road. This horrifying and dark tale of a father and son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic, desolate, hellish world was a critical and commercial success, notably winning the author (who died in June 2023 at the age of 89) a Pulitzer Prize in 2007. Earlier this year, The New York Times named it one of the “Best Books of the 21st Century.” A film adaptation was announced in 2009, directed by John Hillcoat and starring Viggo Mortensen, but surprisingly, it took almost 20 years for The Road to be adapted into a comic book. Until now, a graphic novel version by French creator Manu Larcenette has been published by Abrams and is due to hit bookstores this week.
Extract from the opening sentence of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006)
Manu Larcenay may not be well known outside of France, but many of his works are available digitally in English through Europa Comics. Born in 1969, the artist established the early stages of his career through cartoons in the French monthly humor magazine Fluide glacial in the mid-90s, after which he was approached by many well-known French and Belgian publishers and publications, and Larcenay found his creative home in D’Argaud. He doesn’t like to be boxed in, and he also produces serious and intimate works. While relying mainly on the comic book style, Larcenay has demonstrated his artistic talents in works with strong moods, such as the four-part Blast series (2010-2014) and his first literary work, Le Rapport de Brodeck (D’Argaud, 2015-2016), based on the novel of the same name by Philippe Claudel.
But The Road is a different challenge; it’s a tricky novel at best, and Larsnett was keen to adapt it. Interestingly, to stay as faithful as possible to the book, all the dialogue was lifted from the original, with Larsnett focusing entirely on the visual narrative and atmosphere to drive the story.
Ahead of the title’s release on September 17th, The Beat’s Dean Simmons spoke with the artist about the adaptation process, getting the green light, and more.
Dean Simons: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is an incredibly challenging novel, linguistically and thematically, what inspired you to adapt it?
Manu Larsenett: I was immediately fascinated by the atmosphere that the work creates, probably because I love to paint snow, cold wind, dark clouds, scorching rain, rocks, rust, dampness, etc. I paint violence, tenderness, wild animals, dirty skin, holes, stagnant water, etc. I enjoy the contrast between the characters and their environment.
I was also very impressed with the slow pace and lack of Hollywood-style action scenes: there is no classic narrative flow, but rather a succession of sometimes very contemplative scenes.
DS: Was there a lot of negotiation with McCarthy? Did it take a lot of convincing? Was he involved with the graphic novel before his death in 2023?
ML: I got in touch with McCarthy through my agent to introduce my adaptation projects. We introduced some of my previous work, specifically Blast (published in English by Europa Comics) and my adaptation of another hit novel, The Brodeck Report (by Philippe Claudel).
So I think that convinced him, but obviously I was going to discuss future work with him. Unfortunately that never happened, he passed away and I’d only seen half the album before we got in touch.
He was simply told that he was happy and touched.
It’s too little and too much.
As it happened, I had complete freedom, and I would like to think now that that was exactly what McCarthy wanted, and I believe he would have been happy with the outcome.
DS: I believe this is your first attempt at adapting a novel into a manga – what was different about working on this project compared to your previous creative endeavors?
ML: I had been working on a very personal and demanding project (Group Therapy, three volumes) for five years, and it required me to get out of myself and into someone else’s world.
But this is not my first adaptation. I already adapted Brodeck’s Report almost ten years ago, a very successful novel by Philippe Claudel. And not only successful, but also a very dark novel, full of snow, cold, silence…
(Maybe there’s a pattern? 😉)
DS: You’re an artist with many different styles. How did you decide on the visual direction for the project? Did you have to go through a lot of trial and error?
ML: The graphic style was decided from the beginning. It’s a classical drawing style, far from caricature. I knew that right away, but my inspiration might come from Gustave Doret.
DS: What’s interesting about this work is that you didn’t use any sound effects or subtitles, but instead used lines directly from the novel. Can you explain why you decided to do this and whether it posed a special challenge?
ML: I decided that the best way to stay true to the novel was to stick to the dialogue alone. Rewriting it and simply adding imagery would not do the trick. I wanted to get as close as possible to the characters and recreate the atmosphere as McCarthy imagined it.
Creating a graphic novel from a novel with so little action and so few words was understandably challenging: if McCarthy describes a landscape in 12 lines, it might take three pages to render it.
So I wanted readers to read my paintings like texts, I wanted readers to read my paintings, and I felt I could portray the silences of the novel.
DS: Your use of color is very interesting. You work with muted hues, but sometimes you change the color or make a bold change. Where does that idea come from? Have you ever considered not using color at all?
ML: I also made the firm choice to go black and white, but I found it too violent, too binary and too extreme. So I remembered my classes as an art student and discovered the color gray: using color very sparingly, in a way that softens the painting without altering it. I think I used 14 different shades of gray with my colorist (!). Readers tell me that some of the most beautiful pages of the album are thanks to these color grays.
DS: The novel and your work are incredibly dark. Was it mentally challenging to write? How did you personally deal with that?
ML: For two years, I spent most of my days and several nights rereading The Road and immersing myself in McCarthy’s world and words. Of course, living in such a world was hard and somehow depressing, and I sometimes felt suffocated by its coldness and lost in the dark world of my own making.
DS: You’ve created a fantastic book. Every page is fascinating. How much of this book was created through physical media and what materials did you use? Was there a lot of digital work?
ML: Thank you for your kind words. I am so happy that you have achieved your goal.
With the exception of one or two sketches that were done directly in my (sketch)book, everything is done with a graphic tablet. I stopped using paper 10 years ago and this album is the result of using digital tools.
It’s not easier or faster than traditional drawing, but it does open up unlimited creativity.
Drawing is my life and the tablet is just a tool.
And I can still use the pen.
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road: Graphic Novel Edition by Manu Raasnett will be available in all bookstores from Tuesday 17th September.
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