In this contemporary noir thriller written and illustrated by Shawn Martinbrough, a hardboiled debt collector confronts the ghosts from his past while contemplating his future on the streets of New York City.

THE HEAVY
by Shawn Martinbrough
Abrams ComicArts, April 2027

In THE HEAVY, author and illustrator Shawn Martinbrough tells the hard-hitting story of Charles “Dukes” Duchamp, a New York based debt collector with a love for jazz and a loss that has haunted him for years. Each week, Dukes makes his rounds collecting money for Basil-Leon Panassie, an eccentric club owner with criminal ties in New York and abroad.

When Basil announces a change in business and a night’s worth of collections goes missing, Dukes pursues a vicious, former colleague who escapes to Paris. Although the City of Light holds dark memories for him, Dukes has never let a debt go uncollected, and in order to set things right, he must face his fears and retrieve what has been taken.

THE HEAVY is an original, contemporary noir themed graphic novel about rivals, revenge, and redemption.

Shawn Martinbrough is an Eisner Award nominated artist whose comic book projects include; Batman: Detective Comics, Luke Cage Noir, The Black Panther, Hellboy, Promethee 13:13, Anansi Boys and the NAACP Image Award nominated, bestselling kid’s book, Like Lava in My Veins published by Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Kids. He is the writer of Red Hood: The Hill for DC Comics, co-author of Judge Kim and the Kids’ Court for Simon & Schuster and is currently writing and illustrating original graphic novels for Ignition Press, Image Comics and First Second/ 23rd Street Books. Shawn has lectured about his career at Walt Disney Animation, Lockheed Martin, The Pentagon, Peterson Space Force Base, TEDx Mid Atlantic, The International Spy Museum, The California African American Museum, The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Society of Illustrators, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, Columbia University, Savannah College of Art & Design, The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Temple University. He is also a Vanity Fair contributor, an art curator and currently draws / writes in Washington, D.C.