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Andre the Giant: Life and Legend

Andre the Giant: Life and Legend:The man with the biggest body, heart, and bartab has a book that does him justice.

France gets a lot of shit for a country that produced Laeticia Casta, french fries, Jean Reno, and the foundations of American government. Its a safe bet then to say they contributed to the world in an admirable way. However, their greatest contribution came in the form of a seven foot four beast of a man that gave young wrestler Hulk Hogan a run for his money. That's right, people. I am talking about the one and only Andre the Giant. He is probably the greatest drunk to have ever lived; a reputation marred only by his wrestling celebrity. In an attempt to showcase his history and humanity, Box Brown managed to capture it in a minimalistic style in graphic novel format. Piecing together a cohesive narrative from a collection of sources and interviews, Andre the Giant Life and Legend is an awesome look at the legendary man and makes for one of the best comics to come out this year.

 

There a ton of amazing stories in and out of Andre's wrestling career and Brown tries to take it all in. Everything from his youth to his ending in his wrestling career, Life and Legend takes these moments and puts them down in a comic-strip style that does well to express the emotion and actions. We are also shown a really cool look at “The Business” getting a look behind the curtain of the wrestling scene. It doesn't try to shy away from some of the more controversial moments in his life like the Bad News Brown incident and the TV interview with his daughter. Probably the most insightful is how it gives a damn good look at what it was really like being the biggest man in wrestling. What we are left with is an isolated man with a great love of the sport stuck in a monster's body.


Andre managed to see Santa with Muscles and thought it was bullshit.

Box Brown has done a damn good job with this book. He not only made one of the year's best comics of 2014, but has made one of the best biographies about the Giant's life. Comic and wrestling fans alike should be proud to make this part of their collection. Andre the Giant was big in every way and Life and Legend manages to capture the 8th Wonder of the World.