Review Fix Exclusive: Box Brown Talks ‘Andre The Giant: Life and Legend’

April 2, 2014 Patrick Hickey Jr. Books & Comics, Professional Wrestling 0

Review Fix chats with writer and artist Box Brown about his new graphic novel, “Andre The Giant: Life and Legend.”

Brown’s graphic novel biography on Andre’s life is one that manages to humanize the nearly eight feet tall performer, but along the way makes us see how much larger than life he actually was. Sincere, yet fun throughout, Brown is able to show the world how perfectly imperfect the legend was- from his problems with alcohol and bouts with injuries to the strained relationship with his daughter.

Review Fix: Why and how does professional wrestling affect you?

Box Brown: I think of pro-wrestling as a true American art form much like comics.  Some people might argue that pro-wrestling is not art, some people say the same about comics.

Review Fix: Of all the professional wrestlers to write about, why Andre?

Brown: Why not Andre? The stories about him are legendary among wrestlers.  But, his story is also tragic as he was diagnosed with acromegaly in his twenties.  The same condition that made him famous also led to his demise.

Review Fix: In your research process, what cool stuff did you learn about Andre that you didn’t put in the book?

Brown: Well, I actually watched a few his guest appearances on TV shows in the 70s.  He appeared in BJ and The Bear.  I’d never seen that show before.  So, that was fun to watch.  I have an 8×10 glossy photograph of him dressed as Big Foot from The Six Million Dollar Man as well.  I don’t know if this counts as “cool” but he loved the game cribbage.  I got to know that card game a little bit, but didn’t go too far into it in the book.

Review Fix: What’s your favorite Andre moment that didn’t get in the book?

Brown: Probably the scene where you see his butt.  The original art for that page does exist…

Review Fix: Is there any chance of you doing a book on another wrestling legend?

Brown: I’m certainly still interested in wrestling, so who knows?  I’ve done a few short comics about other wrestlers in the past and I’m sure I’ll be doing more at some point.

Review Fix: Who’s your favorite performer in the WWE right now and why?

Brown: Daniel Bryan. I’m totally part of the YES movement.  I love that he’s a small guy that can beat up all the big guys.  He’s a perfect underdog like Luke Skywalker or Super Mario.

Review Fix: What’s your favorite moment in the book and why?

Brown: I really enjoyed working on the Chuck Wepner scene.  The whole boxer vs. wrestler match is such a crazy spectacle and the fact that it was turned into a scene from Rocky IV made it such a fantastical moment.

Review Fix: How do you want the book to affect people?

Brown: My loftiest goal is to maybe change peoples’ minds about pro-wrestling.  But, I think I’d just like people have a new understanding of the man who was Andre the Giant.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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