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IDW picks up English rights to David Foenkinos “Lennon”, adapted by Eric Corbeyran and Horne

By John Freeman on October 10, 2016

The year was 1975 and an ex-Beatle, at the height of his fame, chose New York City to raise his young family, setting career, adoring fans, and creative contemporaries aside. Just five years later, John Lennon was dead.

Now, US publisher IDW has picked up English language rights to Lennon, a graphic novel published last year in French by Marabout. The book adapts award-winning author David Foenkinos’ legendary novel to graphic album form, with striking black-and-white illustrations by French artist Horne, scripted by Eric Corbeyran.

This piece of true biographical fiction recounts the defining moments and experiences that shaped pop music’s – and popular culture’s – most influential voice, as captured by Eric Cobeyran’s moving graphic novel adaptation.

The graphic novel follows the extraordinary trajectory of the iconic singer/songwriter – from his difficult childhood, through Beatlemania, to his solo career. In his novel, Foenkinos imagined and transcribed the artist’s sessions on his therapist’s couch. Lennon reads like a classic autobiography, with the star as narrator.

Eric Corbeyran is a prolific scriptwriter, whose passion for the still image naturally pushes comics and whose insatiable curiosity encourages him to explore the most varied territories. He addresses all genres with equal enthusiasm: thriller (Le Chant des Stryges) family saga (Châteaux Bordeaux) and documentary (Malpasset). Lennon marks his first foray into biopic.

Born in 1978, Horne is a designer who has long worked in children’s publishing (for Bayard), and has emerged in the world of comics with the release of Malpasset (published by Delcourt), a masterpiece of realism and sensitivity.

• Reserve a copy of Lennon for when it shelves across the universe in May 2017

• Buy the French edition – published in November 2015 – from amazon.co.uk

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.