Dragman

January 20, 2020
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.

Starred review from April 1, 2020

Augustus Crimp is keeping three secrets from his wife: that he's only ever really comfortable while wearing women's clothing, that when he's dressed as a woman he can fly, and finally that he briefly served as a superhero dubbed Dragman by the media before quitting after finding the superhero community less than welcoming. When a serial killer begins preying upon trans women, Augustus is forced back into action. British cartoonist Appleby (The Coffee Table Book of Doom) imagines a world where a mysterious corporation offers people cash in exchange for their souls--leaving them dull and amoral--and superheroes only bother saving those who can afford to pay for their services. It's all very offbeat and might sound merely quirky reduced to a brief summary, but Appleby's first graphic novel is, in fact, an intricately plotted epic starring a huge cast of memorable characters and, most important, a tender, illuminating meditation on identity, as Augustus struggles for acceptance, and to accept himself. VERDICT Imaginative and uncommonly moving, with extra poignance provided via an afterword by the author detailing his personal connection to the text. [See Prepub Alert, 10/14/19.]

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