Herman is a seemingly unexceptional street cleaner. His fellow workers regard him as dull and unambitious, but during the night he takes to the streets in secret and makes use of a remarkable hidden talent: an ability to transform his appearance at will. When cult film director Mio calls an open audition for roles in her next project, Herman is emboldened to perform. But his decision to join the queue that forms along the city’s waterfront has far reaching and irreversible consequences. Toronto-based artist Chris W. Kim combines atmospheric, intricate pencil work with a compellingly offbeat story that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. Drawing inspiration from films including Jacques Tati’s Parade and Federico Fellini’s I Clowns, Herman By Trade is a captivating and cinematic debut graphic novel about art, identity and making room for self-expression.
About the author
Chris W. Kim is a Toronto-based comics artist and illustrator. A graduate of OCAD University in Toronto, his clients include The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter, among others. He regularly posts illustrations and short stories at chriswkim.com. Herman by Trade is his first graphic novel.
Notes to editors
SelfMadeHero aims to publish works that provoke, entertain, inspire and inform through the medium of the graphic novel. Celebrating our tenth anniversary in 2017, we are proud to showcase ground-breaking and beautiful work by authors and artists from across the globe, from the quirky and humorous to the political and profound. Releases for Spring 2017 include Néjib’s Haddon Hall; Fabrizio Dori’s Gauguin; Paolo Bacilieri’s FUN; and Pieter Coudyzer’s Outburst.
