The Cigar That Fell In Love With a Pipe: Featuring Orson Welles & Rita Hayworth

by David Camus, Nick Abadzis

Overview

On the eve of the release of his latest movie, The Lady From Shanghai, Orson Welles receives a gift: An admirer has sent him a box of cigars. Rich and full bodied, they are the finest he’s ever tasted. But then, these are no ordinary cigars: They’ve been assembled by the most famous cigar roller in Cuba, Conchita Marquez. It is an exquisite gift, though one not appreciated by Welles’s wife, Rita Hayworth. As he smokes these most coveted of cigars, he daydreams about the plump genius Conchita Marquez, whose story of triumph, despair, and love unfolds within the pages of this stunning and imaginative graphic novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781906838485
Publisher:	SelfMadeHero
Publication date:	04/29/2014
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

David Camus is an award-winning writer. His work Knights of the Kingdom won the Prix Relay for best adventure/fantasy novel. He lives in Paris, France. Nick Abadzis is an artist, writer, and editor who has won various awards, includ­ing an Eisner in 2008 for his graphic novel Laika, which was also selected as Best Book of the Year by both Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus. He lives in New York.

Editorial Reviews

04/14/2014
Camus follows up his award-winning series, the Book of the Cross, with a charming graphic novel about Orson Welles’s discovery of the secret behind a cigar box he received on the eve of the premier of The Lady from Shanghai, which he directed. On opening the box, Welles identifies the cigars as having been rolled by Conchita Marquez, the famous cigar roller. The narrative then drifts back to Cuba and tells the story of Conchita, who was imprisoned by her boss/husband and forced to roll cigars while suffering from a debilitating nicotine allergy. On a journey to cure her ailment, Conchita falls in love with a sailor who’s carving a pipe. Through a strange but entertaining series of events, Conchita and the sailor become trapped in Welles’s drawing room, with disastrous results. The book contains many gorgeous moments, such as a dream sequence. Abadzis’s (Laika) page layouts are innovative, and his art adds many layers of charm and tongue-in-cheek humor. Some of the characters (especially the women) are a bit one dimensional and cartoonish, however, and the connection to Welles is a bit tenuous. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Masterful artwork.

Booklist (starred review)