Django, Hand on Fire

Salva Rubio (writing) Efa (art) Django Reinhardt is a legend. But Django -which may have meant "He who wakens"- was twice born. A first time in the snow, during the winter of 1910 in a nomadic gypsy family stationed in Liberchies, Belgium. The second in Saint-Ouen, near Paris, in the fall of 1928, when a fire in his caravan mutilated his left hand. Writer Salva Rubio and artist Efa have already produced together a remarkable biopic on Monet, paying tribute to the painter's obsession with light. Likewise, this biopic devoted to the youth of the prodigy musician features the passion and determination of the man who has always considered himself the greatest guitarist in the world. In this story-score, by laying out the panels like chords, the artist brings to life his passion in vibrating watercolor to better accompany the musical and technical development of the inventor of gypsy jazz. From musette to jazz, from violin to banjo then to guitar, Django's destiny is that of his ‘hand on fire’, possessed by the supernatural spirit of the "duende" which burns in the soul of each gypsy musician. That of a miracle who is reborn from his ashes, more dazzling than ever. Cue the music! Reviews: Among top anticipated graphic novels for winter '22! -Comics Beat "A passionate rendering of a fiery life." -Publishers Weekly "The art provides crucial visual details, from subtle facial expressions to the rich backgrounds of a Roma camp, jazz club, and hospital. It includes a kind of soundtrack, too, naming song titles that are supplemented by an enlightening afterword with photographs. Django, Hand on Fire is a fascinating account of the crucible in which an artist's second life was forged." -Foreword 9x12, 88pp., full color hardcover, $19.99 ISBN 9781681122878 Buy the e-book: $9.99, ISBN 9781681122885