Chico and Rita

Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unite them, but their journey brings heartache and torment. From Havana to New York, Paris, Hollywood, and Las Vegas, two passionate individuals battle impossible odds to unite in music and love.

Javier Mariscal’s art perfectly captures the steamy, vibrant atmosphere of 1940s Havana and transports the reader back to a time filled with music and romance. Based on the true story of Grammy Award–winning Cuban pianist and bandleader Bebo Valdes, this graphic novel is adapted from the animated feature film Chico & Rita, directed by Trueba and Mariscal.

Fernando Trueba is a multiaward-winning writer, director, and producer, with a career spanning more than three decades in film, television, documentaries, theater, and music. Javier Mariscal is an artist and designer working in multiple fields, including illustration, graphics, comic books, paintings, animation, interiors, product design, furniture, and web design. He has a long-standing association with the New Yorker.