Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award–winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, has many exciting graphic novels on its 2026 slate. Announced today on Comic Book Club Live is another exciting addition to Oni’s 2026 graphic novel releases: Pink Monsters, the U.S. debut of German comics creator Claus Daniel Herrmann, which tells the moving story of casting aside negativity and coming out as LGBTQIA+.
Releasing in May 2026 ahead of Pride Month, Pink Monsters tells the story of 14-year-old Frank as he slowly realizes he is gay. Despite his shyness, his talent as an illustrator makes him popular at school. All the “cool” kids want to have one of Frank’s original monster drawings hung in their rooms. While Frank’s life is going okay, his father isn’t doing well. After struggling with severe depression, Frank’s mother gives up on traditional medicine as a way to help her husband, contacting an esoteric healer named Thea, who goes on to blame Frank and his sexual orientation for his father’s illness.
“Access to one’s own feelings and the ability to think critically are key to self-determination—especially in a world where fellow human beings advocate for unverifiable beliefs and use them to recklessly tear down personal boundaries,” said Herrmann in a press release provided to Comics Beat. “I hope my readers, whether they are young adults themselves or already responsible for younger ones, will find an impressive example of this in my story.”
Managing Editor Christopher Cerasi added, “Claus Daniel Herrmann has crafted a touching and timely story about how people in positions of false authority who think they know better can use their influence to manipulate others and make them feel less than. Pink Monsters navigates these heavy emotional themes through the lens of a young man who ultimately decides to stand up for himself and his identity and finds acceptance and friendship on the other side.”
Pink Monsters was a finalist for the Berthold Leibinger Comic Book Prize, and is described by Oni as “a powerful graphic medicine tale in the vein of Fun Home and Lighter Than My Shadow.”
Check out the preview pages below:
Source: Oni Press
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