Back in 2019, actor and activist George Takei co-authored Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for they call us enemiesthe award-winning best-selling graphic novel about Takei’s childhood in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, written by top shelf production. Today, the publisher announced that the creative team is working on a new graphic novel, It Rhymes with Takei, “telling the untold story of his rise from closeted actor to international gay icon.” Join this new full-color release The graphic novel team is a colorist Jose Villarubia.
The official description from the publisher reads:
George Takei has shown many faces to the world: actor, writer, outspoken activist,
The helmsman of the Starship Enterprise, a living witness to the internment of Japanese Americans, and the king of social media. But until October 27, 2005, one thing was missing – a face he hadn’t shown the world. There was a very private fact about George that he never shared…it rhymed with Takei.
Now, for the first time ever, George Takei shares the full story of his life in the closet, his decision to come out at age 68, and the way that moment changed everything. Following the huge success of his first graphic memoir, They Call Us Enemies, Takei reunites with the team of Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger for the award-winning color grade Artist José Villarrubia joins in to create a jaw-dropping New Testament. From his childhood crush and youthful experimentation in the conformist 1950s, to global fame as an actor and fear of exposure, to speaking his truth and becoming one of the most visible gay men on the planet A watershed moment, It Rhymes With Takei offers a comprehensive portrait of an iconic American figure navigating the waves of LGBTQ+ history.
Combining historical context with intimate subjectivity, IT Rhymes with TAKEI demonstrates how the personal and political are always intertwined. Its emotionally charged words and images depict the fear of being trapped even in gay community spaces, the pain of speaking out for many issues while remaining silent on the most personal ones, the sadness of losing a friend to AIDS, the joy of finding true love. Brad Altman, and the determination to declare that love openly and legally in front of the world.
Looking back on his amazing life on both sides of the closet, George Takei now emerges as a charismatic and candid witness to how far America has come…and how valuable that progress is.
Authors: George Takei, Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, Justin Eisinger and José Villarrubia
ISBN 9781603095747 | $29.99 (US)
Full color hardcover, 6.5” x 9” | 328 pages
