The Giant: Orson Welles, the Artist and the Shadow

by Youssef Daoudi

From graphic novelist Youssef Daoudi comes a radically new look at the director of Citizen Kane and Touch of legendary filmmaker Orson Welles.


Long after his death in 1985, the shadow of Orson Welles still looms over Hollywood. By twenty-three, Welles had revolutionized theatre and radio with The War of the Worlds; by twenty-five, he had secured his place in history with his debut film, Citizen Kane. Yet four films and less than a decade later, his career suffered a spectacular collapse, and Welles, once the most promising director in America, was written off as a “would-be genius”—a bad bet in an increasingly money-conscious industry.


In The Giant, Youssef Daoudi weaves together reality and mythology to create a radical new look at one of Hollywood’s most legendary figures and poses a question as timeless as Orson Welles What happens when a true artist comes up against the rest of the world?

Genres: Biography, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Comics, Biography Memoir

272 pages, Hardcover

Published May 6, 2025

About the author

Youssef Daoudi is a comic artist and illustrator living in France. He worked as an art director for multinational advertising firms for fifteen years before committing himself to writing and drawing graphic novels, including Monk!. He is an avid traveler, and New York is one of the most inspiring cities he’s ever visited.

Reviews

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free eARC of this graphic novel from NetGalley in return for and honest review.

Wells was larger than life. He was a mass of contradictions. He was an artist. This was a very complicated book about an extremely complicated man. I learned more about him and gained a great deal of respect. Let no one be cursed with the title of genius.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE GIANT is an atmospheric graphic biography of an artist whose shadow looms large across Hollywood and pop culture. This is a really nicely presented and impressive use of the comics medium.

[Pierre-Alexandre Buisson · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai envie de vous dire que c'est EXACTEMENT COMME ÇA qu'on devrait faire toutes les biographies sous forme de roman graphique.

Les dessins sont superbes, la recherche est là, il n'y a pas de répétitions (comme on en voit malheureusement beaucoup, habituellement, dans ce genre d'oeuvres), et dès le départ le récit nous donne envie de voir (ou revoir) les films de Welles. Même lorsqu'on connaît un peu l'artiste, on découvre des choses inédites. Bon, j'ai pas lu 14 biographies d'Orson me direz-vous, mais quand même).

Gros coup de coeur pour ce récit sans compromis qui montre le beau et le laid.

[Rob Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A miracle. A work of pure art, too good to be true.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7 🌟

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was attracted to this one because of the art, which did not disappoint. Black-and-white, realistic but stylized, heavy inks (although I'm sure this is digital), with some gray tones and spot yellows.

Turns out, I don't know as much about Orson Welles as I thought. He was never a commercial success. People were calling him a genius from childhood and he bought into his own hype. He peaked young, because everyone thought he was a wunderkind, and then had problems with his ego as an artist butting heads with the producers who were in it to make money.

The story in the book is told only somewhat linearly. It captures the narcissism, determination, and self-defeating behaviors of the artist who thinks they're right about everything and struggles to get everyone to agree with it.

[Abigail Pankau · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent graphic novel biography of Orson Welles. Encouraged by an early love of theatre, he excelled early on the stage. But after his early successes with the “War of the Worlds” radio play and “Citizen Kane”, he struggled to make movies in Hollywood, often going over-budget and leaving many projects unfinished. Was his artistic genius misunderstood or was he overrated? This book looks at his life and work, delving into his thoughts on acting, directing, and telling stories in movies. The art is wonderful, with the color choice (almost entirely black & white with just some highlighted portions of yellow) adding extra drama and emphasis. An interesting and thought-provoking read.

[Michael Lee My ComicBook World · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Giant is an excellent graphic novel about the life of Orson Wells. His story really fits well in the graphic novel medium. The illustrations in this story are perfect. The artwork is bold, striking like a film noir movie, and serves as a presence like Orson Wells lurking in the background over the entire story.

Orson Wells lived an extraordinary life that started in the theater where he acted in many William Shakespeare plays on Broadway. From there he worked in both radio and films. He left his mark on radio with his amazing telling of, The War of the Worlds, on Halloween night where he left his audience really thinking a Mars invasion was going on!

Orson Wells is most well known for directing and acting in Citizen Kane. His masterpiece film that is still fun and entertaining to watch today. I also think of him in the Third Man with saying his speech about the cuckoo clock. Also, Touch of Evil is such a dark, creepy, film noir that is still a great thriller today.

All of these movies are talked about in The Giant. We get to see how much success Orson Wells has early in his film career. Then as he got older it became increasingly more difficult for him to get any of of the movies he directed distributed to theaters. It shows just how much Hollywood did not want to work with him when he was in charge of a film.

Orson Wells has a great quote which they use in The Giant, “I love movies, but don’t get me wrong, I hate Hollywood.” I can picture him saying this and it’s so true looking at his history and how he seemed to be black balled by Hollywood from getting his films made.

I enjoyed how The Giant shows that despite his issues with Hollywood Orson Wells did not give up. He worked in radio, on tv shows, doing voice over work on cartoons, shows, commercials, and more. I had such a successful life.

If you enjoy film history and learning about behind the scenes stories about movies then this a great graphic novel to read. You’ll learn more about the golden age of Hollywood and about the dark side of Hollywood. Please get this graphic novel and enjoy it.

Stay awesome and keep reading.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Graphic Novel medium was the perfect way to portrait the Artist, the Legend.

[Josh]

"If you’re like me, mention of Citizen Kane’s director brings to mind some concept of an early and influential Hollywood figure, someone who set the course of filmmaking and left a mark for decades to come. But what if you were asked to describe his other films? Perhaps his roles in television, on stage, on the radio? Even his connection to the early and infamous radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds. How much does the average moviegoer know about Welles’s antagonism with Hollywood, or his career and artistic vision which were hampered by a variety of obstacles that seemingly stood between him and the artist he craved to be? Created by French cartoonist Youssef Daoudi and published by 23rd St., The Giant Orson Welles: The Artist and the Shadow seeks to capture the life of the influential director honestly, but also with an artistic flair worthy of a man who chased his vision regardless of whether those around him believed it possible."

Full review at: https://noflyingnotights.com/blog/202...

[Jenn Koehler · Rating 4 out of 5]

My many thanks to NetGalley and First Second Books for the review copy of this book in exchange for a fair opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Giant by Youssef Daoudi. Distilling down a larger than life life into about 250 pages of a graphic novel is an impressive feat. The Giant is the early life and career of Orson Welles narrated by Orson Welles. The story is engaging, informative, and leaves you with an impression of Welles's personality that will stay with you forever. If you enjoy memoirs or cinema history this could be the book for you. I’d have no problem recommending this book to others.




School Librarian Notes (if you need it):

Language: minimal
Drugs: continuous tobacco use, W's cigar smoke might as well be a character
Sex: none
Nudity: one page. Just two panels of a woman walking away and you see her backside.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Giant gives Orson Welles the chance narrate his own story, condensing the life and career of a fascinating, creative, and legendary individual into 272 pages. Daoudi doesn't avoid criticizing Welles, acknowledging his eccentric artistic processes. The art accompanying the story is terrific as well.

thank you, First Second Books and Netgalley, for an advance ebook in exchange for a fair review.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thank to both NetGalley and First Second Books for an advance copy of this graphic novel that tells the life of one Hollywood's most creative geniuses, his ups and downs,the disdain that many in the industry had for him, until finally the world caught up and like the wine he advertised it became his time.

I had problems sleeping as a child so was usually up late watching Johnny Carson, and that is where I might have first seen Orson Welles. Large, but in charge with a voice that made on listen, wreathed in cigar smoke, laughing, smiling, and yet with a bit of sadness. Or maybe it was the wine ads, praising a wine that one knew a man like Welles wouldn't even gargle with after brushing, again with a gravitas that made the wine seem like something kings would dine on. Or the Muppet Movie, where he listened, again surrounded by cigar smoke to a group of puppets, smiled and offered them the rich and famous contract. It was probably the Muppets. I knew of Welles but I didn't know Welles, his numerous trials and tribulations in making movies. His problems with financing, problems with wives, and problems getting people to support his vision. Watching Citizen Kane the movie still mesmerizes. The way it was shot, the way it looked, all made by a child prodigy who didn't know better, who surrounded himself with people who wanted to do better. A titan in both talent, and ego. Youssef Daoudi in the graphic novel biography,The Giant: Orson Welles, the Artist and the Shadow captures all these multitudes and more.

The book begins with a large shadow over the Hollywood sign. An older, maybe not wiser, maybe not yet beaten down Orson Welles, looking like the pulp hero the Shadow whose voice he portrayed on radio, looks at his career and his life. The many things he accomplished before coming to California and the movies, and the town that finished him in so many ways. Orson Wells was a gifted child, not comfortable with being a child, but with a love to entertain. Music, magic, plays, Welles could do them all. To believe him, Welles traveled around Ireland learning the craft of theater, supporting himself and his donkey doing small shows where he could. As with much about his past, Welles is very much like the role he would play in Mr. Arkadian, a little bit full of it. By age 23 Welles had a theater group and a radio show, had scared a nation doing War of the Worlds which was thought as a little too real. Hollywood came a calling with an unprecedented deal for one so young. Film what you want, edit the way you want. This would never happen again. Citizen Kane Welles first movie is thought of a classic now, at the time it gained enemies, broke friendships, and set the ball on the downward slope for Welles, a slope that was still brilliant, but heartbreaking the further it went down.

Welles lived such a huge life, that even encapsulated just a bit is a mammoth chore. Marriages, ten years making a movie, funding problems, editorial problems, Brazil, F is for Fake. Daoudi does a fantastic job of getting to the main points, and keeping the story flowing without many of the distractions that could happen. One can easily spend pages on the different cuts to the afore mentions Mr. Arkadian aka Confidential Report aka probably something else. Doudi has done an amazing amount of research, all shown in his bibliography, and really gets to the heart of Welles a genius with an ego to match, so full of ideas, ideas that even today seem hard to sell. The art is really good a mix of black white and yellow which is well done. Everything looks crisp and clear, movie scenes put the reader there, and over it all is the looming shadow of Welles tying to direct from wherever he found himself.

A great introduction to the magic that was Orson Welles, or for fans a great way to remind oneself of all the amazing things he was involved in, and what could have been. A Heart of Darkness with only one point of view, and all the other things he wanted to share. This is what I love most about graphic novels, showing a life, showing what was, and showing what could have been.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Orson Welles was a contradiction. He was unwavering as a film director; to the point of being so pioneering that he could be considered avant garde. Yet in order to fund his passion projects which he created away from the constraint of an art film despising Hollywood, the genius actor would whore himself out for desperately needed funding by appearing in some of the worst films ever made. Don't get me started on his formulaic sponsorship of second rate wines and computers for cash because his directorial vision was considered damaged goods.

Also, don't get me started on his narration of the 1981 documentary about Nostradamus, The Man Who Saw Tomorrow. I saw it at my grandparents when I was about 7. It scared the absolute hell out of me. And I'm kinda glad this graphic novel overlooked that small blip on the movie legend's nearly 50 year long acting career

The Giant is a 2025 graphic novel by Youssef Daoudi about the trials and troubles of Orson Welles. Declared a wunderkind at an extremely early age, Welles shocked the world with his Halloween, 1938 radio presentation of The War of the Worlds. The panic caused by the radio program made Welles a household name. It also opened the floodgates to Hollywood. Right off the bat, Welles crafted a work of art: Citizen Kane. Though it would be decades before critics, audiences and Hollywood would appreciate it's ground breaking use of flashbacks and never before seen camera angles.

By the way, I think it is a brilliant movie. Yet, it's a film not without it's flaws. If the title character of Charles Foster Kane died alone, how did anyone know that his last word before dying was 'Rosebud'?

Confused audiences and a controversy involving a smear campaign by Welles' inspiration for Citizen Kane put the newcomer on notice. Going over budget and refusing the studio's requests for re-shoots and to be dumbed down caused Orson Welles the director to flee to Europe where he was appreciated by artsy audiences. But Orson Welles, the actor, was considered the ultimate casting by any studio, director or actor. Yet, he could still be difficult to work with; never afraid to express his displeasure with a horrible script.

But with several divorces, child support and an appetite for excess, Welles needed money for his art. And that meant taking on roles in films the actor felt was below his genius.

Along with his ego and sense of importance, the title of this book could refer to Orson Welles imposing physical presence. He battled with food and drink. At times, he weighed over 300lbs. Though based on some segments of this book, I would not be surprised if he came closer to 400. Standing at 6 feet tall, add the weight and the personality, and Orson Welles could be the tallest person in a room full of Harlem Globetrotters.

Just like Welles, creator Youssef Daoudi gets artistic. He loves to utilize the lobby cards of Welles' films as scene framing devices. He time jumps all over the place like Citizen Kane on caffeine pills. But to go deep into the troubled artist's psyche by having Welles' shadow point out the man's faults and shortcomings. I think I would have preferred a more straightforward look at the life and career of the actor and groundbreaking filmmaker.

[Sorcered · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What happened to Orson Welles?” Well, life happened - but when you’re devising the biggest radio prank of all times at 23 (broadcasting H G Wells’s War of the Worlds like a regular news feature, making millions of listeners believe the alien invasion was real) and writing and directing arguably the best movie ever made at 26 years old (Citizen Kane, obviously) then the only way you can go from such dizzying heights is, well, down.

We all like jovial losers, but Youssef Daoudi’s smartest choice was to make Welles even more likable by setting him up as the narrator of his own life, speaking earnestly about his angels and his demons. Sublimating mountains of interviews in only 250 pages is a massive accomplishment, yet Daoudi does it brilliantly - and his sharp, zig-zagging lines add even more meaning and expression to the pages, his paneling work turning the book into the movies we’ll never see.

If you love cinema, read this. It’s one of the most cinematic biographies I’ve ever read, on a man that defines cinema - triumphal, excessive, but endlessly captivating.

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was terrible. Just about unreadable. Pretentious. And I'm guessing if I knew Orson Welles, it probably came off feeling absolutely true and reasonable. And likely a good use of the graphic novel medium. But I don't really known Orson Welles and this didn't lead me to wanting to. The art was fine but not enough of a distraction from the text.

[Sorcered · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Qu'est-il arrivé à Orson Welles ?” Évidemment, la vie - mais lorsqu’on conçoit la plus grande farce radiophonique de tous les temps à 23 ans (en diffusant La guerre des mondes de H.G. Wells comme un journal régulier, faisant croire à des millions d'auditeurs que l'invasion extraterrestre était réelle) et lorsqu’on écrit et réalise sans doute le meilleur film jamais tourné à 26 ans (Citizen Kane, évidemment), la seule façon de quitter des sommets aussi vertigineux est, eh bien, de redescendre.

Nous aimons tous les perdants joviaux, mais le choix le plus intelligent de Youssef Daoudi a été de rendre Welles encore plus sympathique en le plaçant comme le narrateur de sa propre vie, parlant avec sincérité de ses anges et de ses démons. Sublimer des montagnes d'interviews en seulement 250 pages est un exploit, mais Daoudi le fait avec brio - et ses lignes vives et zigzagantes ajoutent encore plus de sens et d'expression aux pages, son travail sur les panneaux transformant les pages en séquences des films jamais tournés.

Si vous aimez le cinéma, lisez ce livre. C'est l'une des biographies les plus cinématographiques que j'aie jamais lues, sur un homme qui, a lui seul, définit le cinéma - triomphal, excessif, mais infiniment captivant.

Avertissement : j'ai reçu ce livre de NetGalley pour en faire un compte-rendu équitable. Ce qui n'a pas influencé mon opinion de quelque manière que ce soit.