I suppose what I’m starting with here is technically a spoiler; but Andre the Giant died in his sleep in January of 1993, on his own in a Paris Hotel room, during a trip back to his home town to attend his Father’s funeral. It was a very sad and poignant ending, made even more so in the context of his extraordinary life. In 2015 IDW published a graphic novel biography of Andre Roussimoff, with the aim to both humanise and immortalise this wrestling and entertainment phenomenon.
The graphic novel, Andre The Giant: Closer to Heaven, opens with Andre in his final days, revisiting his childhood home in Molien, France, and reminiscing on the events of his extraordinary life and career. Andre had a condition called acromelagy, causing an overproduction of testosterone in his body, which effectively caused it to never stop growing. By the time he started wrestling for WWF he was reportedly over 7’ tall and weighed 500lbs, but the condition also caused him crippling pain and reduced his lifespan considerably. Andre was the literal personification of the candle that burned twice as fast and half as long.
Brandon Easton’s script admits from the outset that it is not 100% accurate, but it’s a fairly reliable chronicle of Andre’s professional career (which is public record), and a large chunk of his personal life (which is not). Easton does a good job of filling in some blanks about Andre’s motivations and mindset, and (re)creates a character who is both inspirational and tragic. A foreword from Andre’s estranged daughter Robin clues you in that the man had some deep flaws, which only serve to humanise the story even further.
Denis Medri produces some fantastic artwork, and the depictions of such real life characters as Andre, Vince McMahon Jr and Hulk Hogan are stylised without resorting to caricature. The colour palette is largely sepias and browns, to indicate someone reflecting back on their life’s memories, which only adds to the pathos. I’ve read this book through a couple of times now and I find it really affecting. An experience which could not be replicated in film, animation or text, this is a great example of what comics do best.
