Next month, Oni Press and Ren Strapp are grappling with the ins, outs, sideroads, and detours of love in one of the most fraught places to find it: college!
HOW COULD YOU cover
In her upcoming graphic novel How Could You, Strapp is throwing the spotlight of the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, and everything in between that comes with dating in your 20s. Dating is HARD. And in the age of social media, there’s another layer of headache and heartache that’s heaped upon that struggle of loss and love. Through fun and gorgeous linework and dialogue that rings clever and true, the preview pages for How Could You hint at a graphic novel that will hit home in huge way for so many readers.
Ahead of the book’s release, FreakSugar has an exclusive look at a Spotify playlist Strapp put together for the resonating book. Titled “HOW COULD YOU,” the playlist includes songs from artists such as CHVRCHES, kississippi, and Indigo De Souza. Check out the full list of songs here and listed below!
nice to be with you by AFTERxCLASS
General Electric by The Opelias
Berlin by Adult Mom
Heads Gonna Roll by Jenny Lewis
August by flipturn
Bathroom Bitch by HOLY CHILD
Abigail by Cassidy King
Junk by Vivienne Chi
Into You by TCSuperstar
Don’t Think About Me by Laura Stevenson
brushes by Insignificant Other
I Can’t Lie by Jayla Kai
Pressed 2 Death by illuminati hotties
i’m so glad i feel this way about you by Insignificant Other
Get Lost by Queen of Jeans
I’ll Be Holding by Miel
Never Thought by Mel Bryant & the Merry Makers
Simulation Swarm by Big Thief
Boys by Indigo De Souza
Wildflower by Mel Bryant & the Merry Makers
Feeling Like a Woman Lately by NoSo
Slip! by Aziya
Lash to Lash by Kississippi
Make Them Gold by CHVRCHES
Teen Challenge by Great Grandpa
Joanie by The Front Bottoms
The Thunder Answered Back by Gabby’s World
Leave The Party by Miya Folick
Bummer Days by Liza Anne
Nothing Gets Me High by Bad Bad Hats
Presumably Dead Arm (617 Sessions) by Sidney Gish
Marbles by Snarls
In Love Again by Mannequin Pussy
How Could You goes on sale December 17, 2024, from Oni Press.
From the official press release about the book:
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.