ICv2 reports that Abrams ComicArts will publish a graphic novel inspired by the life of author Patricia Highsmith (Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley), “Flung Out of Space: The Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith,” early next year.
Written by Grace Ellis (“Lumberjanes,” “Moonstruck”) with art by Hannah Templer (“Cosmoknights”), the book will imagine the infatuation that sparked Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt, which formed the basis of the Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara film Carol. (The title is a reference to the lines, “What a strange girl you are… Flung out of space.”)
The synopsis reads, “Pat is a chronic womanizer, but she’s ashamed of being gay, and so on the recommendation of her therapist, she enrolls in conversion therapy, where she meets many of her future sexual conquests. This is also not just the story of a queer woman, but of a queer artist. Written and illustrated by two heavyweights in the comics world — Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer, it’s a comic about what it was like to write comics in the 1950s, but also about what it means to be a writer at any time in history, struggling to find your voice.”
Highsmith, who died in 1995, was a racist, an antisemite, and an internalized sexist. Abrams’s page for the book alludes to this, saying it will not be “a rosy portrait of queer life, but rather an unflinching one. Ellis’s savvy writing combines with Templer’s stunning illustrations to create a work that will intrigue and fascinate comics fans. An afterword written by Highsmith’s authorized biographer, Joan Schenkar, contextualizes the writer’s life with this fictional portrayal and offers insight into Highsmith’s complex legacy.”
“Flung Out of Space” will be published on February 1, 2022, and will retail for $24.99.
