Description
The Set-Up, Joseph Moncure March’s original 1928 narrative poem, follows Pansy, a gifted Black prizefighter navigating the brutal American boxing underworld. It inspired Robert Wise’s celebrated 1949 film noir of the same name. Told in propulsive, syncopated rhyming couplets, this hard-boiled Jazz Age tragedy captures the unforgiving world of prizefighting in 1920s New York.
This Korero Press edition reproduces March’s original 1928 text and pairs it with specially commissioned artwork by Erik Kriek, the award-winning Dutch comic artist. A visually striking illustrated classic for readers of narrative poetry, boxing writing, film noir and Jazz Age culture.
Praise for The Set-Up
“As a whole, The Set-Up is urban, gritty, tough-talking… In short, it is a noir poem.”
— The Hudson Review
“The tale is told in relentless rhyme and pitiless beats presaging modern hip-hop culture… The Set-Up is a found classic.”
— Comics Review
“A cross between a graphic novel and a heavily illustrated epic poem.”
— Pop Culture Squad
About the author
Joseph Moncure March (1899–1977) was the first managing editor of The New Yorker, where he helped create its Talk of the Town section. After leaving the magazine, he wrote the two Jazz Age narrative poems for which he is best known: The Wild Party and The Set-Up.
Moving to Hollywood in 1929, he became the screenwriter who turned Howard Hughes’s silent classic Hell’s Angels into a talkie – a rewrite that brought the phrase “Excuse me while I put on something more comfortable” into the American lexicon. A Hollywood screenwriter until 1940, March later wrote documentaries for the US State Department and features for The New York Times Magazine.
About the illustrator
Erik Kriek is an award-winning illustrator, designer and comic artist from Amsterdam. He is best known for his Gutsman comics, for which he won the Dutch award Stripschapprijs in 2008. In 2012 he published From Beyond and Other Tales, his collection of graphic reworkings of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft. Among his influences are US artists Daniel Clowes, Will Eisner, Charles Burns and Chris Ware, as well as the classic 1940s horror comics of EC Comics by such artists as Wallace Wood. He has also expressed admiration for Dutch artists including Peter Pontiac, Typex and Peter van Dongen. He lives in the Netherlands with his girlfriend and son.
Read more about The Set-Up
- The Set-Up: Poetry in the Ring – an essay on the poem’s boxing world, film-noir adaptation and history.
- Erik Kriek on Illustrating The Set-Up – an interview with Erik Kriek about illustrating The Set-Up.
- The Set-Up by Joseph Moncure March – the story behind Korero’s illustrated edition.
1 Review
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If You Loved The Wild Party, You’ll Love This
I was a big fan of Joseph Moncure March’s narrative poem The Wild Party, illustrated by Art Spiegelman, so I was excited to hear that an illustrated edition of his other poem, The Set-Up, had been released. It doesn’t disappoint. March’s hard-boiled Jazz Age verse is as punchy and propulsive as ever, and Erik Kriek’s illustrations suit it perfectly. They are atmospheric and gritty, and they bring the smoky arenas and back alleys of 1920s boxing to life. Highly recommended.
