Abrams has announced it will publish a graphic novel adaptation of Ghetto Klown, John Leguizamo's award-winning one-man Broadway show, under its Abrams ComicArts imprint next year. Leguizamo is working with artist Christa Cassano on the project.

Recently airing 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."

Leguizamo, who released the 2006 memoir Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life, is best known for roles in such films as To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar, Spawn, William Shakespear's Romeo + Juliet and the Ice Age franchise. He's also written and performed numerous acclaimed one-man shows, including Freak and Spic-O-Rama.

A member of Brooklyn's Hangi Dai Studios, Cassano has collaborated with Seth Kusher on Schmuck.