Graphic Novelist Thrilled To Work With United

Belgian artist Philippe Glogowski was pleased to receive the first copy of his official graphic novel ‘Manchester United: Tales from History Volume 1’ when he visited the Aon Training Complex earlier this week.

Over 40 pages of illustrations were printed as a result of a collaboration between the club and publishers TJ Editions, as Glogowski’s retelling of parts of United’s history – such as the Busby era and more recent times including the club’s record-breaking 20th league title – becomes the first to be produced in its form.

The graphic novel, narrated by a United fan along with his family and friends, is designed to be the first of a three-part series encompassing the most important events in the Reds' history.

In an interview at the Aon Training Complex, Glogowski acknowledges that while he’s entering unchartered territory with his latest release, he hopes his unique publication can reach out to United fans in Britain and beyond.

Speaking to ManUtd.com, the artist explained: “We really appreciate the Premier League and we wanted to get to the head of it and do something with the best team. So we prepared something to catch the attention of people at United and it worked.

“This is a club known all over the world, so maybe we will find readers outside of the UK borders. We think there are people very far from Britain who are interested in graphic novels and football, too.

“The idea came about with a meeting with a friend of mine. We had the same passion for football. I was working in graphic novels as an author for more than 20 years. We had the idea through a simple conversation. Why not present a graphic novel about the history of a great British club?

“I worked alone but I showed every step of my work to the people here at United, who helped us very much. From the moment I started the drawing, it took me seven months, which is a short time, so I did a lot. But there was a lot of collecting information for the script. Normally it would take me nine months to a year to do such a book, so it was full speed.”

With many unforgettable moments in the story of United left to be illustrated by Glogowski, the Belgian is already planning content for the other two instalments of his project.

"We have talked about one Champions League title in this one,” he continued. “We will talk about the Treble in the second book and then we will talk about the '68 triumph in the third one. We have so many things to tell.”