The Re-Up – № 01 / Spring 2022 (digital edition)

First hit free!!!

Download a digital copy of the first chapter of the critically acclaimed graphic novel-in-progress, The Re-Up, by Chad Bilyeu and Juliette de Wit.

Before he was known as “Chad in Amsterdam”, Chad Bilyeu spent a decade in Washington, DC, where he lived many lives. Most notably, he worked at and graduated from Georgetown University. However, unbeknownst to most, he also sold copious amounts of drugs there. The Re-Up is a crime story unlike any other, as it details how Bilyeu sold drugs from 2004 to 2008 at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and later throughout the East Coast of America. The life of a drug dealer is given nuance and depth rarely seen, as told directly by the person who actually lived it.

WRITER • Chad Bilyeu
ARTIST • Juliette de Wit

Published by Bistro Books
152mm x 229mm, 6" x 9"
24 pages
€8.00
two-color covers and interior
saddle-stitched

Chad Bilyeu • chadbily.eu • IG: chad.in.amsterdam

Juliette de Wit • juliettedewit.nl • IG: juliettedewit60

PRAISE FOR THE SERIES:

“On his bio on the first issue’s back page, Bilyeu describes himself as a “contrarian” and this one word perhaps sums up why his autobio practice has such a distinctive voice. There’s nothing sanitised about his approach; whatever self-editing is going on it’s certainly not about presenting a more reader-friendly on-page avatar for readers with fragile sensibilities. It’s this edge to the work that makes him such a compelling read and, in his creative partnership with Juliette de Wit, there’s a collaborative synergy that feels borderline symbiotic.”
Andy Oliver, Broken Frontier – "The Re-Up #1-4 – Chad Bilyeu and Juliette de Wit Collaborate on this Intimate Examination of Life as a Drug Dealer"

"The Re-Up has been one of my favorite comics going over the last couple of years doing reviews for the channel. It's kind of sold as a "weed book," but it's really so much more than that. It's an autobiography of a drug dealer, and Chad is very, very honest throughout the series. He's also dropping "game;" he's showing some principals of what made him a successful businessman as a drug dealer, and teaching the audience those principles. So I want to stress, yes–it's a book about weed, but that's pretty superficial. It's an impeccable product through and through."
Carson Grubaugh, Living the Line – "Chad Bilyeu & Juliette de Wit - THE RE-UP #6 - Must Read Book!"

"de Wit's art continues to impress, as well --- she's operating within the same stylistic wheelhouse that she started out with, but that's what you both want and need when you're talking about a story firmly set in a particular time and a particular place and that will, no doubt, find itself being collected in either TPB or hardback (or both) once all is said and done. Her visual interpretation of this (not to sound too grandiose, but) world is aesthetically and tonally spot-on and I admire the fact that her art consistently has something of a "chill" vibe to it. If she's ever been up against a looming deadline it doesn't show --- her compositions are naturalistic and her people look and feel as real as they are. Or were. Whichever the case may be. In addition, the spot-green color applications she utilizes continue to "pop" even though we've been at this for awhile now, and that's saying something --- like, this ain't no gimmick, it's a legit FEATURE of the series and plays a key part in its efficacy."

"What's of particular interest to me as a reader is seeing Bilyeu's facility with the conceptualization and execution of long-form narrative grow stronger with each succeeding issue. There's no doubt that the short strip was his stock in trade with his previous series, CHAD IN AMSTERDAM, and that he had a solid grip on the mechanics of that format from the outset, but a sprawling, lengthy story is a different sort of beast altogether. He's done the smart thing by breaking it down into easily-digestible chunks that very nearly function as discrete "stand-alone" entities provided one knows the basics of the series' premise."

"All in all, I have to say that it's not a case of THE RE-UP continuing to be an impressive little comic --- rather, it's a comic that's actually pulling off the rare feat of managing to impress EVEN MORE as it goes along."
Ryan Carey, Ryan C's Four Color Apocalypse – "Playing Catch-Up On THE RE-UP"

"I have to admit that when I read the first two issues I was a little skeptical of the subject and how much he could really do with it, but reading these four issues, I felt like I was completely wrong."
"Oh yeah. These are amazing comics."
Deconstructing Comics – "#819 We catch up with “The Re-up” and “Amazing Tales”

"Some of my favorite contemporary comics as of late. Much more than just comics about weed, Chad's been putting his heart and soul into these books. I thoroughly enjoy his writing. When you can take a topic like weed-culture and/or hustling and create something as universally felt as what we've got here by digging deep into the extra personal, well, the same reasons why I enjoy Martin Scorsese's films or Wu-Tang Clan's music, are the same reasons why I enjoy Chad & Juliette de Wit's The Re-Up – it ain't surface they're selling. This is a beautiful (and funny) story about a man's journey finding himself, navigating two (or three or four) different worlds, AND he just so happens to sell weed. Juliette's art compliments Chad's words very well, too, bringing an almost whimsical element to these stories; I can't imagine Chad's world-building without her. They're an excellent team."
Brandon Hayes, writer