Bruce Springsteen To Release 'Outlaw Pete' Graphic Novel

Legendary US rocker Bruce Springsteen is collaborating with illustrator Frank Castro on a graphic novel loosely based on his song of the same name.

The book, which is due to be released in November through Simon & Schuster, has a release date of November 4, and tells the tale of "a bank-robbing baby whose exploits become a meditation on sin, fate, and free will", to borrow from The Boss' statement. Um — screw a book; why is this not a movie?

The song — taken from Working On A Dream (2009) — and the graphic novel take their influence from 1950 children's book Brave Cowboy Bill, a book with particular personal significance to Springsteen, and a story that has stayed with him since childhood.

"Outlaw Pete is essentially the story of a man trying to outlive and outrun his sins," Springsteen said in a statement.

The graphic adaptation was Caruso's idea, stemming from the artit's belief that "when Bruce wrote Outlaw Pete, he didn't just write a great song; he created a character".

"The first time I heard the song this book played out in my head. Like Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Dorothy Gale and, for me, even Popeye, Outlaw Pete cuts deep into the folkore of our country and weaves its way into the fabric of great American literary characters."

The 56-page hardcore is available for preorder through several outlets; see Springsteen's website for more info.