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Dragman

Dragman

Summary

'A superhero like none you've seen before. Thrilling' IAN RANKIN

*A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR*

A delightfully witty and exciting graphic novel by one of Britain's favourite artists

Dragman
tells the story of August Crimp, a man who has superpowers when he puts on women's clothes. August loves wearing a dress but is deeply ashamed of his compulsion and terrified of rejection should it ever come out. So he tells no one. Not even his wife. But then one day a little girl falls from the rooftop cafe at the Art Museum and August has no choice but to fly and save her - an event witnessed by hundreds of people.

And August Crimp's life is never the same again.

Dragman is Steven Appleby's first long-form graphic thriller. Inspired by the superhero comics he read as a child and informed by his own secret life as a transvestite, Steven Appleby has created a multi-layered, tightly plotted, cleverly structured novel with a compulsive forward drive in which August battles greed, evil and his own self-doubt in a fight to save himself, his marriage - and the human soul. A real page-turner, Dragman brims with humanity, subtlety and wit - plus plenty of Steven Appleby's oblique and absurdly imaginative musings on 'what is life really all about?'

Fans of Steven Appleby's unmistakable drawing style, as seen in his many books and in comic strips such as Captain Star (NME, Observer), Small Birds Singing (The Times), and Loomus (Guardian), will not be disappointed.

Reviews

  • Great graphic novel this. A superhero like none you've seen before. Thrilling but also packs an emotional punch.
    Ian Rankin

About the author

Steven Appleby

Steven Appleby is a cartoonist and illustrator living in Britain. A dual citizen of the UK and Canada, Appleby has published over 20 books, had many exhibitions of paintings and collaborated on a musical play, Crocs In Frocks, staged in Camberwell and at the ICA, London in 2006. His work has also appeared on album covers, most notably on Trompe le Monde by the Pixies. His strip Loomus can currently be seen in the Guardian.
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