As part of ROBOT 6's sixth anniversary celebration, we're pleased to present an exclusive look at Ghetto Klown, the graphic novel adaptation of John Leguizamo’s award-winning one-man Broadway show, from Abrams ComicArts.

Airing in 2014 as an HBO comedy special, Ghetto Klown takes audiences from the actor/comedian’s memories of his adolescence in Queens, New York, to his involvement in ’80s avant-garde theater to his motion-picture career, introducing some of the colorful characters he encountered along the way.

“Ghetto Klown is the history that I probably never should have told anyone but my therapist, but it’s a real lesson that even if you suffer a certain amount (a lot) of self-doubt and anxiety, you can still accomplish great things,” Leguizamo said in a statement. “It’s a lesson I’m really excited to impart to a whole new audience and in a whole new way with the help of artist Christa Cassano and Abrams Books. My life’s work took me my whole life to figure out, but, hey, better late than never.”

The graphic novel is illustrated by Christa Cassano, whose work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and in Italy. Cassano has also self-published several of her own stories, and has collaborated with Dean Haspiel and Seth Kushner.

Ghetto Klown by John Leguizamo and illustrated by Christa Cassano

© Abrams ComicArts

Due out in October 2015

(Please note: Interior art not final)