Andre the Giant Graphic Novel by Box Brown

The NY Times, in its Sports section, had a feature article on Sunday on the new graphic novel about the wrestler Andre the Giant. Box Brown wrote and drew the book, titled ANDRE THE GIANT LIFE AND LEGEND, and it was published by First Second.

Not a review, but more of an overview of Andre the Giant's life. Born Andre Rene Roussimoff, he suffered from acromegaly, "a disorder that causes an excessive secretion of growth hormones" which was painful. Brown talks about the challenges about working on this illustrated biography of the wrestler and (maybe more famous now for) actor from THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

"He combed through a variety of sources to shape his tale: sports articles, wrestling biographies, talk-show clips and television shows. Brown received help from his fellow wrestling fans, including one known as the Claw Master, who compiled a comprehensive win-loss record for the Giant. 

"'It’s not like baseball, where you can look up stats at any given time,' Brown said. The victories and defeats were not as important as the dates and locations of the matches, which helped shape the tale’s chronology."