Manu Larcenet adapts Cormac McCarthy's The Road into a graphic novel

French cartoonist Manu Larcenet has released a graphic novel adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's 2006 novel The Road, published by Coconino Press on April 12, 2024. The adaptation condenses the post-apocalyptic story of a father and son traveling toward the ocean into about 150 black-and-gray plates. Larcenet used fourteen shades of gray to soften the starkness, drawing inspiration from his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d'Art. He incorporated subtle homages to Homer Simpson, Minions, and Jean-Jacques Sempé, whose book Enfances appears in a scene. Larcenet emphasized fidelity to the original while adding gazes and animals to convey emotion, noting the novel's lack of eye contact and its contemplative, non-Hollywood pacing. The project was announced to McCarthy before his death. Larcenet described the process as suffocating and painful, sometimes losing himself in the merciless world he created.