📚 Doubling-down on the trauma. When The Road — a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American author Cormac McCarthy — was first published, it spread like wildfire, even securing a movie adaptation less than three years after, bringing McCarthy’s horrors to the big screen. In September 2024, The Road received its first-ever graphic adaptation by French cartoonist Manu Larcenet, turning the words that had moved mns into heart-wrenching illustrations that hit you with a one-two punch before you can look away.

First things first; what should one expect to encounter on The Road? The Pulitzer prize-winning novel chronicles the lives of a father and son walking through a destroyed America. There are barely any signs of life, there is no color in the sky, and there is nothing to save them from all the dangers that lie ahead save for a single gun.

Still, they walk the road. As father and son struggle to survive on scraps, hide from gangs of humans-turned-cannibals, and avoid clashes with other survivors, it quickly becomes clear that there is not much to live for in this particular post-apocalyptic world. There are no sanctuaries, no hope for a sustained future. Life — as we know it — has ended.

The Road is not for the faint of heart. The graphic novel does not shy away from grotesque depictions — the illustrations themselves are macabre in style, and the nature of the story lends itself perfectly to the novel’s graphics. As the plot progresses, so do the depravities displayed. We’ll be honest, at times you’ll feel the urge to look away, and while we don’t blame you, it’s important to see what — both the author and the illustrator — want you to see.

At its core, The Road is about persevering through what is deemed unsurvivable, and what it means to stay human when all that once defined humanity is gone.

WHERE TO FIND IT- You can find the graphic novel adaptation of The Road as an e-book on Amazon, or read it on Storytel.

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