Oni Press Presents Cartoonist Ren Strapp’s Debut Graphic Novel HOW COULD YOU – A Heartwarming and Queer Coming-of-Age Tale!
Oni’s Next Great Original Graphic Novel Tells a Story of Friendship, Heartbreak, and Self-Discovery
PORTLAND, OR (February 29th, 2024)– Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey award–winning publisher of groundbreaking comic books and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to announce HOW COULD YOU – a heartwarming, coming-of-age love story by cartoonist Ren Strapp. The humorous graphic novel spotlights four college upperclassmen navigating morally gray decisions regarding the relationships in their life—friends, lovers, exes, roommates…and most importantly, themselves. HOW COULD YOU arrives in shops everywhere this December!
Falling in love? Scary. Falling for your best friend? Terrifying. Naming all the ways your heart hurts? Impossible. College upperclassman Molly Song is set on getting over her ex this semester, but it's hard when she dumps you via email and posts all over social media about cozying up with her study-abroad roommate. Molly convinces her friend, Lou Kingston, that they should go to parties and find rebound girlfriends, but with only so many eligible lesbians in their college circle, the two best friends end up vying for the same girl’s attention. Soon, Molly learns to be careful what she wishes for when she starts to develop real feelings for someone she’s not sure feels the same way
Meanwhile, Molly and Lou’s exes, Yona and Olene, have left their pasts behind as they study abroad in France. Together they see springtime in Marseille, find new friendships, and uncover new personal truths. Will their whirlwind trip bloom into a whirlwind romance, or will their journeys to self-discovery put them on different paths entirely? College is a time to find yourself, but what could you stand to lose along the way?
"Every year of college is a discovery into some new form of heartbreak,” says Ren Strapp. “It's your junior year, your girlfriend left you and your best friend is graduating at the end of the year. You're caught between moving on and praying things will stay the same. It's your junior year, and you left your girlfriend in America to go to France with a girl who gives you butterflies, but she won't look you in the eye. It's your sophomore year and changing your mind feels like shame. It's your senior year, and you still don't fit in anywhere. You look to graduation for salvation.
“HOW COULD YOU is for anyone who made mistakes, who spoke unkindly, who were selfish, who lost friends, who lost themselves. It's for people stumbling into adulthood, carrying guilt over faux pas, betrayal, and not making amends when you could. I hope this book finds you and tells you you're not alone."
HOW COULD YOU masterfully weaves readers into the lives of its characters--complete with messy breakups, messy rebounds, and even messier college dorm rooms." says Senior Editor Grace Scheipeter. "Ren has a uniquely clever way of telling a story that is full of humor, heart, and heartbreaks. But through it all, HOW COULD YOU tells a story about finding yourself and staying true to who you are, no matter what college throws your way."
Lessons of the heart abound in HOW COULD YOU, perfect for fans of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me and Heartstopper. Don’t miss Ren Strapp’s graphic novel debut this December 17th!
About the Creator
Ren Strapp is a comic artist, designer, and gender nonconforming lesbian werewolf. She grew up in Susquehannock territory and now lives on unceded land at the confluence of the Wimahl and Willamette Rivers. Ren started her comics career in zines and web comics and will be a zinester until she dies. Her work is inspired by risograph printing and American traditional tattooing. She loves weight lifting and hiking.
About Oni Press
Founded in 1997, Oni Press has a 25-year history as one of the industry’s most respected and acclaimed publishers of award-winning comic books and graphic novels with titles including Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, K. O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society, Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt's The Sixth Gun, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Ezra Clayton Daniels' Upgrade Soul, Brenna Thummler’s Sheets trilogy, and many hundreds more. In 2019, Oni Press merged with Lion Forge Comics – the Eisner Award-winning independent comic book publisher founded by Academy Award-winning producer and entrepreneur David Steward II – to create one of the largest, independent libraries of comics content anywhere in media. The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group now exists as a publishing subsidiary of Steward’s diversified global media company, Polarity.
The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group publishes more than 60 original and licensed graphic novels annually, in addition to an extensive list of periodical comics.
HOW COULD YOU INTERIOR ART BY REN STRAPP
HOW COULD YOU INTERIOR ART BY REN STRAPP
HOW COULD YOU INTERIOR ART BY REN STRAPP
HOW COULD YOU INTERIOR ART BY REN STRAPP
HOW COULD YOU INTERIOR ART BY REN STRAPP
HOW COULD YOU INTERIOR ART BY REN STRAPP
HOW COULD YOU INTERIOR ART BY REN STRAPP
HOW COULD YOU INTERIOR ART BY REN STRAPP