Dragman
A Novel
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF SPECIAL JURY PRIZE AT 2021 FESTIVAL D'ANGOULÊME — NAMED A BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OF 2020 BY THE GUARDIAN
From "Britain's most loved comics artist" comes a superhero epic like no other—an ordinary man gains superpowers by donning women’s clothing, saving London and maybe even himself.
August Crimp can fly, but only when he wears women’s clothes. Soaring above a gorgeous, lush vista of London, he is Dragman, catching falling persons, lost souls, and the odd stranded cat. After he’s rejected by the superhero establishment, where masked men chase endorsement deals rather than criminals, August quietly packs up his dress and cosmetics and retreats to normalcy — a wife and son who know nothing of his exploits or inclinations.
When a technological innovation allows people to sell their souls, they do so in droves, turning empty, cruel, and hopeless, driven to throw themselves off planes. August is terrified of being outed, but feels compelled to bring back Dragman when Cherry, his young neighbor, begs him to save her parents. Can Dragman take down the forces behind this dreadful new black market? Can August embrace Dragman and step out of the shadows?
The debut graphic novel from British cartoon phenomenon Steven Appleby, Dragman is at once a work of artistic brilliance, sly wit, and poignant humanity, a meditation on identity, morality, and desire, delivered with levity and grace.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Appleby's offbeat fantasy, August Crimp is keeping a lot of secrets from his wife: since his teen years he's been dressing in women's clothes; when wearing them he has the ability to fly; and he used to be the superhero Dragman. This all takes place in a world in which superheroes only save those folks with the proper insurance coverage and human souls can be removed from the body and then bought, sold, or stored on tiny disks. An unknown murderer is targeting trans women, stealing their souls and dumping their bodies. (Notably, the violence of these scenes are retold in prose, reducing their sensationalism.) August, who thought he'd put his crime-fighting days behind him, gets dragged back by his old sidekick, Dog Girl, and Cherry, a girl he saved. The complex plot plays out with spirited color scenes of present-day action mixed with multiple flashbacks, shown in monochrome, including a few excerpts of news clippings and "officially licensed" comics about the exploits of their superhero milieu, with Appleby's loose, light comics reminiscent of Roz Chast and Quentin Blake. Despite its many twists and turns, the graphic novel's emotional heart lays with August's struggle to accept his own identity and its full power. Gender fluidity in this jaunty superhero story is trumpeted not only as a gift and a source of strength, but as something that might just save the world.
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