John Cusack is set to release his debut graphic novel, Momo, on September 29, 2026. Mad Cave Studios is publishing the book, and Ignacio Noé is handling the art, turning Cusack’s next move into a real medium shift instead of a side project.
Cusack Calls It a Brand-Buster
“It’s not ‘on brand,’” Cusack said in an interview ahead of his Comic-Con panel to launch the book. He went further: “It’s more like a brand-buster.” That is the clearest signal yet that he is treating Momo as a break from expectation, not a safe extension of the actor identity that made his name.
He also said, “It is based on a true story,” and added, “It’s all in recently declassified files that I managed to obtain.” The book is set in 1972, which gives the project a fixed historical frame and keeps the story from reading like loose genre pastiche. For readers, that means the release is less about celebrity novelty than about whether the material can support the promise of a structured, document-driven narrative.
1972, Johnson, Tina Louise
Momo is described as a sci-fi buddy, heist, and road trip story centered on Johnson and Tina Louise, who join Doc to pursue an alien head held by Nixon’s government. That mix gives the book a built-in contradiction: Cusack is pitching a true-story basis while also putting together a story that moves through conspiracy, history, and genre mechanics. The format can carry that tension if the rules stay clear; otherwise it risks feeling overstacked.
Mark Leyner wrote the foreword, and Cusack said he is already planning a second graphic novel with Noé. That matters because it shows Momo is not being framed as a one-off experiment. If the first book lands, the partnership already has a second project waiting behind it, which is the kind of operational detail that turns a celebrity detour into a publishing line with momentum.
Mad Cave Studios, Next Step
The practical takeaway is simple: Momo now has a release date, a publisher, an illustrator, and a creative lane that Cusack says he wants to keep widening. The one question left hanging is the source material itself — what exactly is in the declassified files he says he obtained. That is the piece that will determine whether the book reads as hardwired history or just a well-staged blend of claims and fiction.
