W.W. Norton will release graphic novel master Peter Kuper’s take on Joseph Conrad’s classic novella Heart of Darkness in November. Kuper’s style seems well-suited to this story of Charles Marlow’s journey up the River Congo in 1899.  His art in pen, black pencil, and ink wash “captures the ominous atmosphere and tempo” of that journey, the publisher said.

Kuper adapted Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, written around the same time as Heart of Darkness, back in 2004 (see “The Jungle Sells Out”).  Both carried social significance and continue to do so today, territory with which Kuper is very familiar.  He co-founded World War 3 Illustrated, a semi-annual comics anthology focusing on the topic of war, back in 1979 as a way to use comics for serious social commentary and journalism.  WW3I continues today, 40 years later.  Kuper is also capable of lighter fare; he’s been producing Spy vs. Spy for Mad magazine since 1997. Kuper won an Eisner Award for Ruins, released in 2016 (see “Image, Drawn & Quarterly Dominate Eisners”).

Heart of Darkness will include a foreword by historian Maya Jasanoff, who wrote an award-winning book on Conrad.

The 160-page 6.1” X 9.3” hardcover will carry an MSRP of $21.95.