Kurt Vonnegut’s science fiction anti-war novel feels like it was an instant classic. By the time I understood what science fiction was, I knew Slaughterhouse-Five was a famous example, so famous people who claimed not to like science fiction liked it. Loosely inspired by Vonnegut’s own experiences in World War II, the novel focuses on Billy Pilgrim, a hapless man chosen by aliens to be a representative of our species. Through that association, he travels through time and space, and through Vonnegut’s running themes. And now, it’s coming to comics, and I look forward to the adaptation. And that’s all I can say about it. Check out the art for yourself.
From BOOM! Studios:
BOOM! Studios today revealed a first look at a brand new graphic novel, SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE. An American classic and one of the world’s seminal anti-war novels, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is faithfully presented in graphic novel form for the first time by Eisner Award-winning writer Ryan North (How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler) and Eisner Award-nominated artist Albert Monteys (Universe!), available in stores September 2020.
Listen: Billy Pilgrim has…
…read Kilgore Trout
…opened a successful optometry business
…built a loving family
…witnessed the firebombing of Dresden
…traveled to the planet Tralfamadore
…met Kurt Vonnegut
…come unstuck in time.
Billy Pilgrim’s journey is at once a farcical look at the horror and tragedy of war where children are placed on the frontlines and die (so it goes), and a moving examination of what it means to be fallibly human.
Kurt Vonnegut’s black humor, satiric voice, and incomparable imagination first captured America’s attention in The Sirens of Titan in 1959, and established him as “a true artist” (The New York Times) with Cat’s Cradle in 1963. He was, as Graham Greene declared, “one of the best living American writers.” Kurt Vonnegut died in 2007.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ award-winning Archaia imprint, home to inspiring graphic novels such as Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank “Big Black” Smith, Jared Reinmuth, and Ameziane, Happiness Will Follow by Mike Hawthorne, 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, Waves by Ingrid Chabbert and Carole Maurel, The Grand Abyss Hotel by Marcos Prior and David Rubín, and more.
Print copies of SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE will be available for sale on September 9, 2020 at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the one nearest you), September 15, 2020 at bookstores or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Madefire.
In addition to running Fanboy Planet, Derek has written for ActionAce, Daily Radar, Once Upon A Dime, and The Wave. He has contributed stories to Arcana Comics (The Greatest American Hero) and Monsterverse Comics (Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave). He has performed with ComedySportz and Silicon Valley Shakespeare, though relocated to Hollywood to... work in an office? If you ever played Eric's Ultimate Solitaire on the Macintosh, it was Derek's voice as The Weasel that urged you to play longer. You can buy his book "I Was Flesh Gordon" on the Amazon link at the right. Email him at [email protected].
