IDW imprint Top Shelf Productions has announced they will publish The Butcher, a historical graphic novel written and drawn by CNN correspondent Jake Tapper. The book, full title The Butcher: The Decades-Long Hunt for Klaus Barbie, One of the World’s Most Notorious Killers, tells the story of how Nazi Klaus Barbie, the head of the Gestapo in Lyon, France, escaped justice for decades after World War II, “the Nazi hunters and journalists who tracked him down, and the shocking investigation that revealed who helped him escape to begin with.”
The book marks the first original graphic novel by Tapper, who used German, English, Spanish, and French sources for his research. The 57-year old says, “This has been one of the most difficult and rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on — both in terms of the research into the astounding and troubling life of one of the world’s most notorious and elusive Nazi war criminals, the effort to turn that into compelling storytelling, and the work to illustrate it all. I hope readers find it as satisfying to read.”
Chris Staros, editor-in-chief of Top Shelf, adds, “Jake Tapper combines his passions for investigative journalism and literary comics in his debut graphic novel, which he both wrote and illustrated. What sets this book apart is its powerful revelation of those who assisted in helping a notorious Nazi evade justice, contrasted with the relentless, uncompromising efforts of those who fought to ensure accountability.”
The news may come as a surprise to those only aware of Tapper’s (frequently controversial) broadcasting career, but his background in comics began as an eighth grader, when he had a weekly strip published in a local newspaper, and he has frequently shared drawings on TV. He has contributed cartoons to several papers, and ran a comic strip called Capitol Hell in the Washington D.C. paper Roll Call from 1994 to 2003. His first novel, the political thriller The Hellfire Club, was published by Little, Brown in 2018.
The Butcher will be released in paperback on June 1, 2027, and retail at 264 pages for $19.99. A limited, signed and numbered hardcover edition will also be available exclusively via IDW Publishing’s online store for $49.99. In the meantime, you can read the full reveal interview with Tapper at Variety, and check out interior pages below.
