Chachu - by Iman Vellani (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Equal parts coming-of-age drama and sun-soaked detective story, CHACHU follows a teenage dreamer and her aging uncle through the fading glamour of 1979 California.

1979. Leila, a 19-year-old Pakistani-Canadian girl, stands on the cusp of adulthood, eager to experience the "real world" for the first time. With a head full of Hollywood dreams and a penchant for pulp novels, she ventures to California to connect with her estranged uncle -- her "Chachu" -- a middle-aged, semi-retired private eye who gained brief fame after marrying the starlet he was initially hired to find. But when Chachu's wife goes missing once again, the two are forced on an impromptu road trip to track her down -- with Leila navigating young adulthood and Chachu confronting his own mortality and regrets.

Inspired by her own coming-of-age experiences in the entertainment industry, CHACHU is the solo writing debut of superstar Iman Vellani (Ms. Marvel), a reinterpretation of the classic neo-noir private investigator story brilliantly illustrated by Marianna Ignazzi (Exquisite Corpses) and colored by Jordie Bellaire (Absolute Wonder Woman).

About the Author

Iman Vellani is a Canadian actress and comic writer best known for her role as Kamala Khan, also known as Ms. Marvel, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She made her acting debut with MS. MARVEL (2022), a groundbreaking series in the MCU, followed by the film, THE MARVELS (2023) and animated series, MARVEL ZOMBIES (2025) all on Disney+. Raised in Ontario, Canada, Vellani was a fan of the Marvel Universe long before her breakthrough role. Her performance in the MCU has been widely praised for its authenticity and charm, earning her a strong fanbase and establishing her as a rising star in Hollywood.

Iman expanded her relationship with both Marvel and Kamala Khan when she took up writing the next iteration of Ms. Marvel comics for fans around the world. Beyond her accomplishments with Marvel & Disney, Iman has worked on projects including SHIVER, the adaptation of the New York Times bestselling YA fantasy novel, opposite Maddie Ziegler and Greg Kinnear, the independent film MOUSE, by filmmaker duo Kelly O'Sullivan and Alex Thompson, which had its premiere at the 76th Berlin Film Festival, and ANIMAL FARM directed by Andy Serkis. Iman's solo comic debut is the upcoming release of CHACHU, published by Image Comics.

Marianna Ignazzi is an Italian comic artist based in Rome. Ignazzi made her debut in a cartoon strip on the second issue of Mostri from Bugs Comics. This was followed by Fuori la Notte and Malattie D'Amore for I Ragazzi di Pasteur series from Carocci Editore. For Edizioni Star Comics, she illustrated Il ritratto di Dorian Gray in I Maestri del Mistero series. Since 2016 she's been working on the series Julia by Sergio Bonelli Editore. Ignazzi has also illustrated comic book series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated original series An Unkindness of Ravens from BOOM! Studios.

Jordie Bellaire is a two-time Eisner winning colorist for acclaimed projects such as Vision, They're Not Like Us, Pretty Deadly, Injection, Auttumnlands etc, as well as mainstream hits like Batman, Deadpool, Moon Knight, and Hawkeye. She is writer and co-creator with artist Vanesa R. Del Rey on the ongoing Image Comics series Redlands.

She lives in Ireland with her famous cat, Buffy.