Indie graphic novel house Boom! Studios announced plans to publish a graphic version of Kurt Vonnegut’s classic sci-fi/antiwar novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, to be adapted into a graphic novel by the writer Ryan North, artist Albert Monteys, and colorist Ricard Zaplana. The book will be released in September 2020.
Originally published in 1969 by Delacorte, Slaughterhouse-Five is the fictional story of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a WWII American soldier and, like Vonnegut, a German prisoner of war that survived the American carpet-bombing of Dresden in 1945. The novel was an immediate bestseller when it was first published and over the years has been cited for its bleak humor, moral clarity and antiwar convictions, and for its imaginative narrative structure and enduring popularity. This is the first time Vonnegut's work has been adapted into a graphic novel.
North described Slaughter House-Five as “a deeply funny and deeply moving book,” and said: “Kurt Vonnegut has been one of my favorite writers since I first read his books decades ago, and it's been such an honor—and challenge—to adapt his most famous work for a new medium.”
North has written for the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning Adventure Time comics series published by Boom! and for Squirrel Girl, an Eisner-winning comics series from Marvel Comics. He is also the author of How To Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler, a quirky pop culture science guide published by Riverhead Books in 2018. Spanish artist Monteys is best known for his comics work in El Jueves, a weekly satirical magazine that he directed from 2006 until 2011.
Boom! Studios executive editor Sierra Hahn said, “The trust and support shown by the Vonnegut family [in the production of this adaptation] is gratifying for everyone who poured their hearts into ensuring we could best represent Kurt Vonnegut’s seminal work while creating something new in the graphic novel space. We believe we’ve created a gateway book for new Vonnegut readers and a book any longtime fan will admire and want on their shelves.”
