Oni Press to release Matthias Lehmann’s celebrated historical LGBTQ+ German graphic novel Parallel

Oni Press has announced the release of the 2018 finalist for the Berthold Leibinger Foundation comic book prize, Parallel, from creator Matthias Lehmann. The English-translated softcover is available June 13, 2023. Ginco Award-winner Lehmann deftly explores his own complicated family history—a relative who lived with the complexities of being gay at a time when queer relationships were forbidden. Parallel examines a life torn between longing for a family and simultaneous desire for gay love in 1950s Germany.

Taking place between the end of World War II and the 1980s, Parallel chronicles Karl Kling’s efforts to comply with social norms in order to keep his sexuality a secret. It also paints a picture of a life torn between conformity and rebellion, and the cruel realities of twentieth-century German society, where homosexuality was proscribed and punishable until 1994. Matthias Lehmann poignantly depicts the story of a decades-long yearning to live an open and free life, and the price Karl and those he loves paid for it. It is also a story of finding the courage to finally tell the truth no matter the obstacles . . . or the cost.

Parallel will be available in softcover for a list price of $29.99 (ISBN: 978-1-63715-100-6) at digital and physical retailers everywhere on June 13, 2023.