Most old cities have monsters of their own, but none of them compare to Detroit's Nain Rouge. It's a story and a character perfect for colorful comic treatment, and someone has finally done him justice!
by Josef Bastian and Patrick McEvoy
The Tale of the Harbinger of Doom in the Motor City
Folkteller Stories and Caliber Comics have teamed up to bring the story of the Nain Rouge legend to life in a full color graphic novel. Released nationally in both print and digital, the Nain Rouge: The Red Legend is the follow up to the three novels based on the legendary Detroit folktale from writer Josef Bastian.
The Nain Rouge is the dwarf that resided in the Detroit area before the French moved in. Shunned by Cadillac, the Nain Rouge placed a curse onto the entire region of Detroit. The curse, it is rumored, befalls anyone who creates evil of their own will, empowering the Nain Rouge with strength especially in recent decades with Detroit’s problems. Each year, the Marche Du Nain Rouge in downtown Detroit, is a celebratory march to drive the Nain rouge from the city and attracts 1,000s of participants.
“We are so excited to share this wonderful story with the world in so many different ways,” said Bastian, who co-creator of Folkteller in addition to author of the graphic novel and the three books chronicling the history of the Nain Rouge. Illustrated by renowned artist, Patrick McEvoy, the 84 page graphic novel will be available at many of the area’s comic shops as well as online sites such as Amazon.
Bastian and his co-creator, Carl Winans, launched Folkteller Stories to spotlight what they term as a new genre, Crytofolk; a new style of immersive storytelling that resurrects old and obscure folklore and legends from around the world. The Nain Rouge is the first of such endeavors that utilize descriptive narrative to present the tales in thought provoking, visually rich stories that appeal to a global audience.
The Nain Rouge is being released from Caliber Comics, the largest comic book publishing house based in Michigan. Caliber has published over 1,300 comics and graphic novels and helped to launch the careers of some of today’s leading comic book writers and artists. Gary Reed, publisher of Caliber, says that The Nain Rouge, “is a great example of the power of the medium. Here we have a complete tale in one graphic novel that appeals to fans of comics yet also does a fantastic job of tying the legend into Detroit’s history. It is more than fiction, it is also a chronicle of Detroit.”
Josef Bastian and Carl Winans will be signing at many of the comic shops in the metropolitan Detroit area such as Comic City, Green Brain Comics, Fun4All Comics, Rogues Gallery, and more. The facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/nainrougeredlegend, will have the signing schedule constantly updated.
MOTORCITYBLOG always recommends you get your goodies at local shops like our buddies over at Green Brain Comics, but we are going to give you a head start on chasing that little devil away for Spring by giving away a few copies of this gorgeous book to some of our frozen readers.
Email MOTORCITYBLOG@earthlink.net to get in on the draw.
