Paco Roca recalls the moment that led him to read Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, sparked by Jules Verne. He spent months absorbing it, a slow process that now anchors a new collaboration with Astiberri, the publisher that has long supported his graphic novels. The project gathers Kafka’s tales in a bold illustrated compilation, showcasing Roca’s distinctive approach to adapting classic literature for the page.
Roca admits that Kafka’s works have never left him indifferent. He also points to the dreamy, 2009 graphic novel Las calles de arena as a companion piece that tests whether echoes of fantastic realism can reshape the reader’s fate. The influence of dreams, like a fortress or a court, leaves a lasting impression on his interpretation of the author’s world.
Nearly thirty illustrations, ranging from single panels to sprawling two-page spreads, juxtapose the opening of Metamorphosis with select tales from Condemnation, including The Fireman. A trailer accompanies selections such as In the Penitentiary colony, Rural teacher, Rural doctor, Gracchus hunter, Jackals and Arabs, Building the Great Wall of China, Report for an Academy, A Hunger Artist, and the singer Josefina, culminating in the village of mice.
Astiberri emphasizes that the artist embraces experimentation, exploring facets of the narrative that exist beyond the original pages. Some moments are presented in distinct perspectives, while others are reinterpreted from different vantage points rather than reproduced verbatim, offering fresh angles on familiar scenes.
For example, a seemingly simple line from La metamorphosis—«If they took everything calmly, he had no reason to worry, and if he rushed, he could be at the station at eight»—is translated into a two-page illustration. It captures Gregorio Samsa mid-transformation as he nears a train platform, while passengers around him appear indifferent, underscoring Kafka’s themes through Roca’s visual language.
Beyond shifting perspectives, Roca draws on the breadth of Kafka’s stories to weave varied graphic styles, sometimes making it hard to discern the author’s hand in certain drawings. The result is a mosaic that blends homage with invention, a visual dialogue with the original text.
Roca notes that the permissions granted for adapting the text did not cause anxiety among Kafka’s circle. The stories resonate deeply with him; the oppressive atmosphere and the array of memorable characters continue to spark his imagination.
He has long considered Kafka among his favorite authors since first encountering The Metamorphosis. The project then became a launchpad for creating parallel stories within Kafka’s narratives, with a hope to develop some of these ideas into longer comic forms one day.
Currently, Roca is at work on a new graphic novel inspired by a true event that occurred in Valencia between 1939 and 1944. This ongoing project keeps memory as raw material, revisiting Valencia’s postwar era, a theme he has already explored in Back to Eden, a book grounded in a 1947 photograph from the Natzaret beach and the mother’s Franco-era childhood. An exhibition on the postwar period in Valencia recently ran at Nau until April, highlighting how memory informs his craft.
Recently, Metrovalencia Line 10 (Alacant-Natzaret) opened a station honoring Valencian soldier and guerrilla Amado Granell. A large-format mural by Roca adorns the site, marking another facet of his engagement with history through imagery.
In another graphic novel, Los furrows of luck, Roca tells the story of Granell and the members of La Nueve, the squad that faced Nazi forces during World War II. Amado Granell’s legacy underscores the enduring struggle of exiles and the formation of democracies across Europe and Spain, a recurring thread in Roca’s work.
Astiberri’s Metamorphosis edition represents the sixth volume in a series pairing Kafka with other classic authors. The collection also features Wilkie Collins’ Monkton el loco illustrated by Fidel Martínez; Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World illustrated by Sagar Forniés; Gustav Meyrink’s El Golem illustrated by Santiago Valenzuela; Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard illustrated by David Rubín; and The Shadow over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft illustrated by Alberto Vázquez. The line-up positions Kafka within a broader tradition of graphic novel adaptations that invite readers to reexamine canonical works through new artistic lenses.