Whether you grew up watching professional wrestling or The Princess Bride, you need to read this graphic novel. Andre the Giant: Closer to Heaven is the story of man who was, literally, bigger than life.
It’s the biography of someone who was over six feet tall by his twelfth birthday, who was drawn to the wrestling ring both as a place where he belonged, and where his size would be an asset, instead of an embarrassment.
Click the jump for a review of the book, preview pages, and an interview with writer Brandon Easton.
Easton tells the story from Andre’s point of view, and he’s created a very realistic “voice” for Andre throughout the book. What’s really striking is that despite the hardships that André René Roussimoff dealt with his entire life (physical pain, being a source of ridicule for small-minded people, having to sit on the floor in the back of airplanes because no seat would ever fit him) the story is told without a trace of self-pity. Andre is aware of his size, aware that his life was often hard because of it, and while it sometimes made him careless, it never made him mean. He always expressed gratitude that he’d gotten to live a life doing what he loved.
The writing is perfectly paired with art by Denis Medri. Andre is easily recognizable in every stage of his life. Medri avoided the trap a lot of artists deal with: trying to draw a real-life person so accurately they look stiff and disturbing. You can always recognize Andre, without feeling like Medri was copying straight from a photo. Medri’s entire style is gorgeous, just stylized enough, without getting “cartoony.”
He illustrates a lot of points in Andre’s life that we may have heard about, but could never have seen ourselves (Andre’s point of view from the floor at the back of an airplane, surrounded by beer cans, on the way to Japan was wonderfully heartbreaking.)
No matter how much you know about Andre, whether you’ve read everything about him or just recognize him from pictures, this book is well worth a read.
Writer Brandon Easton was very generous with his time, and answered several of my questions in an e-mail interview.
Elizabeth Wallace: The vast amount of details in the book about professional wrestling implies a real love for the subject. Are you a long-time fan of wrestling?
Brandon Easton: Yes, as a child of the 1980s, I was fortunate to grow up during a golden age of pro-wrestling. I’m from Baltimore, Maryland – so I had access to both of the big wrestling companies of the time: the World Wrestling Federation, and Jim Crockett Promotions’ National Wrestling Alliance. On one channel I had Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage and on another I had Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes. It was an amazing time to be a wrestling fan and a lot of that spirit went into my script for the Andre book.
EW: What made you decide to write the story of Andre’s life?
BE: The guys at Lion Forge are also big pro-wrestling fans and they informed me about a pro-wrestling project they had in development for some time. Eventually, they revealed it was the Andre the Giant story and I jumped at the chance to write it.
I was shocked when it turned out to be Andre! I knew it was going to be a challenging process to write a non-fiction biographical original graphic novel. It was the toughest project of my career so far.
EW: Did you ever get to meet him?
BE: No. Never. I did get to see him at a match at the Baltimore Arena back in the mid-1980s. I was sitting in the cheap seats and even from that great distance, the man seemed larger than life. I never forgot how big he was and it’s surreal to be writing his life story in comic book form.
EW: The book is written from Andre’s point of view, what kind of research did you do to capture his “voice?”
BE: I drew from multiple sources: documentaries, books, my own wrestling knowledge, the lawyer for Andre’s estate and eventually his daughter Robin. I tried to offer a perspective unlike any seen before by melding Andre’s career with the expansion of pro-wrestling into pop culture. Amazingly, his career trajectory aligned with pro-wrestling becoming an global entertainment force.
I also listened to multiple interviews from various pro wrestlers who had crazy stories about Andre. I didn’t use most of them because they involved liquor, sex or other personal activities, but I took the general vibe about his behavior behind the scenes and used that to capture his attitude.
EW: What was it like working with artist Denis Medri; how did you feel when you first saw the images he created?
BE: Denis is one of the most talented illustrators I’ve ever worked with. Period. I was stunned, astonished and completely satisfied with how he interpreted the script into imagery. He not only captured the essence of what I wanted to see on the page, but he vastly improved upon my storytelling with his unique emotional visuals. Denis is a tremendous talent whose career is only just beginning.
EW: What would you hope a reader would take away from the book after reading it?
BE: That you never really know a person until you walk in their shoes. I hope the audience takes the time to immerse themselves in Andre’s life and career. It’s a story about how a man with a ticking clock of a life span handles his demons while attempting to live up to the promise of his celebrity. The wonderful thing is that you don’t have to be a fan of pro-wrestling to understand the story. It’s set up in a way that guides the reader through modern pro-wrestling history and balances the wrestling information with the personal struggles and successes of Andre from a human perspective.
EW: What projects can we find you working on next?
BE: I’m currently a staff writer on season two of Marvel’s Agent Carter. I’ve scripted another major Lion Forge release called The Joshua Run that was created by actor Flex Alexander. I’m also a writer on an international graphic novel/toy franchise known as Armarauders. I’ve adapted a screenplay from Scott Rosenberg (Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds) into a graphic novel series called Bad Moon Rising from the new 451 Media Group that was created by director Michael Bay.
People can also find me on my podcast Writing for Rookies as well as The Two Brandons podcast hosted by myself and fellow comics creator Brandon Thomas.
Preview images and interview courtesy of Brandon Easton, Denis Medri, and Lion Forge Comics.