BOOM! Studios has announced that they’ll be publishing Girlsplaining: A (Sorta) Memoir by cartoonist Katja Klengel on March 9th, 2021.

The graphic novel draws inspiration from Klengel’s youth to ask questions like, “Why are kid’s toys stuck in the gender roles of the 1950s?” and “Why should women be ashamed of body hair, anyway?” Klengel adopts an earnest and comedic perspective to explore her experiences.

Klengel, a cartoonist and screenwriter who lives in Berlin, had her first graphic novel, Blattonisch, published in 2012. That year, she also began working on Als ich so alt war, a serialized graphic novel for F.A.Z., a German newspaper.

Since 2017, she has been working on her autobiographical comic column Girlsplaining for Broadly, the online feminist magazine. In 2018, the (sorta) memoir was released by comic book publisher Reprodukt in Germany, and in 2019, it was awarded a Rudolph Dirks Award for Best Coming of Age work at the German Comic Con in Dortmund.

Klengel says that she hopes that by sharing her experiences, she’ll be able to help other women or girls who might be able to see themselves in her stories, and is pleased that the release of the graphic novel in the United States will help share her work with a whole new group of readers.

The graphic novel, which is for mature readers, will be published by BOOM!’s Archaia Imprint, which is also home to the recent graphic novel adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Ryan North, Albert Monteys, and Richard Zaplana.

You can read the entirety of the press release from BOOM! Studios below, and let us know if you’ll be checking out Girlsplaining: A (Sorta) Memoir in the comment section.

 

BOOM! Studios Announces New Graphic Novel GIRLSPLAINING: A (Sorta) MEMOIR

Discover a Brand New Graphic Novel from the Acclaimed Cartoonist Katja Klengel in March 2021

 

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 26, 2020) – BOOM! Studios today announced a new original graphic novel GIRLSPLAINING: A (Sorta) MEMOIR, by cartoonist Katja Klengel, tackling the subjects that have shaped her life: from body shaming to the exploration of her sexuality, and from the representation of women in the media to the social pressure on women who don’t have children, available in March 2021.

 

Why do we fear the word “vulva” so much? Do we really have to be ashamed of our body hair? Why do gender roles in children’s toys seem to be stuck in the ‘50s? With a sense of humor, an open heart, and unsparing candor, Klengel looks back on her childhood through the lens of the popular culture that shaped her identity and examines what being a woman today means to her (and really, a whole lot of us!).

 

Katja Klengel is an award-winning German comic artist and screenwriter living and working in Berlin. Her first graphic memoir Blattonisch was published in 2012 at Schwarzer Turm. That same year she worked on a serialized graphic novel for German newspaper F.A.Z., called Als ich so alt war (When I Was Your Age). In 2018, Klengel drew the feminist comic column Girlsplaining for online magazine Broadly.

 

“When I was a teenager I couldn’t imagine that there were other girls and women who had the same problems and experienced the same things I did. So, for me, GIRLSPLAINING is the book I would have liked to have when I was younger to help me realize I’m not alone in this,” said Klengel. “I’m happy and excited that I can reach out to many more teenagers and grown-ups in the U.S. and elsewhere, and maybe it’s a bit comforting to them.”

 

GIRLSPLAINING: A (Sorta) MEMOIR is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ award-winning Archaia imprint, home to inspiring graphic novels such as Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Ryan North, and Albert Monteys; The Sacrifice of Darkness by Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver, and Rebecca Kirby; Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank “Big Black” Smith, Jared Reinmuth, and Ameziane, We Served the People by Emei Burell, The Realist by Asaf Hanuka, Girl on Film by Cecil Castellucci and Vicky Leta, Melissa Duffy, V. Gagnon & Jon Berg, New World by David Jesus Vignolli, About Betty’s Boob by Vero Cazot and Julie Rocheleau, and Waves by Ingrid Chabbert and Carole Maurel.

 

“The first time I saw Katja’s openly honest depictions of different experiences she’d had to deal with, just as a woman living her everyday life, I immediately recognized myself in her stories,” said Sierra Hahn, Executive Editor, BOOM! Studios. “Katja illustrates, with great humor and warmth, some of the everyday joys, issues, and challenges that a lot of women could relate to.”

 

Print copies of GIRLSPLAINING: A (Sorta) MEMOIR, for Mature Readers, will be available for sale in March 2021 at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one), bookstores or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Madefire.

 

For more on GIRLSPLAINING: A (Sorta) MEMOIR and other projects from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

 

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