From Avant-garde to Historical Knowledge Transfer

The story of the Statue of Liberty told through the person of the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. How lucky he was...

The story of the Statue of Liberty told through the person of the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. How lucky he was to have a wealthy mother who gave her son a princely living. Even in the 19th century, it was difficult to make a living as a sculptor. This volume impressively demonstrates that Bartholdi's work was ultimately realised thanks to enormous lobbying, donations and good contacts. And the fact that prominent names such as Gustave Eiffel (even before he built the tower that bears his name), Victor Hugo and Joseph Pulitzer had a hand in the Statue of Liberty's construction is the book's big eye-opener. Beautifully drawn, with surprising perspectives, Liberty shows the great effort that went into France's gift to the USA for its centenary - and that doesn't just mean the construction of the larger-than-life figure.

Is this still a comic, or is it already a picture book - but for adults? The artist Dinah Wernli...

Is this still a comic, or is it already a picture book - but for adults? The artist Dinah Wernli works with full-page or double-page pictures. Painted like a watercolour box, almost impressionistically. There are no speech bubbles, the sparse text is written on white pages next to the pictures. It's all about Louise. But who is she? A farmer's wife, a mother, a servant. But also a muse, a body, an object. From 1905, the Swiss painter Cuno Amiet portrayed her. 

The book approaches the figure of Louise almost schematically. In the first pictures, one can only guess what is being shown. Then it becomes clearer: the woman takes shape as a farmer's wife and mother. When Amiet painted her naked, Louise became more self-confident, or so it seems. The pictures show a strong woman with a spark in her. Probably after emancipation and freedom. And yet she remains in her world, in her place. Like so many women of her time.

If anyone can draw comics about musicians, it's Berlin-based Reinhard Kleist. After Johnny Cash and Nick Cave, it is David...

If anyone can draw comics about musicians, it's Berlin-based Reinhard Kleist. After Johnny Cash and Nick Cave, it is David Bowie to whom the illustrator has devoted himself. The second volume on the exceptional British artist has now been published. 

After the Ziggy Stardust period, Low is about his time in West Berlin. In 1976, the Wall still divides the city and the androgynous gentleman musician Bowie is once again trying to reinvent himself. He takes drugs, has problems with his management, exchanges ideas with Iggy Pop and listens to Kraftwerk. Who is David Bowie, who does he want to be? What does fame do to him? What role does he play among all the other musicians, some of whom are his friends? Reinhard Kleist condenses all this into a fast-paced 160 pages, and one can only hope that there will be a third volume. Not only for fans of David Bowie. 

Set during the Corona lockdown in Berlin in the winter of 2021, Bärbel and Sherman have an unconventional relationship. She...

Set during the Corona lockdown in Berlin in the winter of 2021, Bärbel and Sherman have an unconventional relationship. She is their friend, their muse, their manager, their mother... They live next door to each other and yet somehow they don't. The ban on contact makes things difficult for Sherman, the musician. 

Then the flashback, 45 years into the past. 1976, East Berlin. Sherman and his friend Taifun have just formed a band. A name is quickly found: SB62. SB stands for Sweet Beats, and 1962 is the year the founders were born. The comic dashes through history at a gallop. From Yuri Gagarin to East German Winnetou, from Gojko Mitic to Cuba, from Che Guevara to the FBI. The band first rehearsed in the living room and then recorded a demo tape. 

At some point, a certain Mr Zöllner, a musician himself, arrives. And he gets it into his head to write down the story of SB62, drawn by Jörg Menge. Voilà: the graphic novel was born. 

The last months of school before graduation. Falling in love for the first time. Breaking friendships, discovering yourself. What happens...

The last months of school before graduation. Falling in love for the first time. Breaking friendships, discovering yourself. What happens next? Where do we go from here? These are the questions Michèle Fischels explores in her magnificent final year project for her design degree in Münster. 

It tells the story of Ben and his girlfriend Clara, and of course Andreas, Ben's friend who suddenly turns his back on him for no apparent reason. The fact that there is a reason, of course, is told in a vivid yet gentle way, as is the conflict Clara has because she has a place to study in Rotterdam but hasn't told Ben about it yet. In the end, it's all about making decisions and choosing the right path. 

Unbiased storytelling, sometimes with text, sometimes without, playing to the strengths of comics. This debut was rightly awarded the annual Lynx Prize for children's and young people's literature by the weekly newspaper Die Zeit and Radio Bremen. 

Frank's father is depressed. Worried about her husband, Frank's mother resorts to the last straw: she calls in an esoteric...

Frank's father is depressed. Worried about her husband, Frank's mother resorts to the last straw: she calls in an esoteric healer who combats bad rays with the help of crystals. Father's mood does indeed brighten. However, the healer also forbids Frank from drawing monsters, which he had previously made for a friend. To combat their negative influence, the family paints over the drawings with pink brushstrokes under the guidance of the healer. From then on, Frank's world is no longer the same. He begins to rebel on a small scale. The 14-year-old realises that he is gay, comes out to his mother and questions whether his rejection helps his father and what the stones are really for. Frank jeopardises his relationship with his parents, gets support from his mother and begins to live his own life. In the end, he has to take care of his father's life himself.

 

East Berlin a few years before the fall of the Wall. Little Mo lives right next to the Wall. Her...

East Berlin a few years before the fall of the Wall. Little Mo lives right next to the Wall. Her view of the West is full of longing. She likes to go to her grandmother's house because she always has sweets. Otherwise life is boring, between school, sport and socialism. As the years go by, Mo becomes more independent and rebellious. Her parents start to worry. Then the border opens. She goes to school in the West. Her father loses his job and her mother goes to work as a cashier. Mo gets into trouble first with her classmates from the West, then with neo-Nazis. But soon she meets some nice Wessis. They move into the house next door. The first joints are smoked and Mo grows into a young woman. 

Sandra Rummler tells her story with autobiographical inspiration. One sentence in particular sticks in the memory: I now live in another country without ever having moved.

It is the life story of Ernst Grube, an honorary citizen of the city of Munich, who as an adult...

It is the life story of Ernst Grube, an honorary citizen of the city of Munich, who as an adult speaks about National Socialism in schools - and wants to educate people about it. As a child with a Jewish parent, he was deported to Theresienstadt in 1945 and eventually liberated by the Red Army. After the war, he joined the communist movement in West Germany. In the 1950s he was brought before the Federal Court of Justice for his political activities. There he faced Kurt Weber, once the first public prosecutor under the Nazis. 

Brinkmann tells the stories of both men. He shows the conflicts, the reprisals, the fears. It is about German post-war justice. About the political persecution of communists in the young FRG. An exciting, different look at the country's history.

Two murders, a crate of cheese and a suspicious woman. This is the basic framework of a detective story set...

Two murders, a crate of cheese and a suspicious woman. This is the basic framework of a detective story set in the 17th century, in which animosities between Jews and non-Jews play a decisive role. We are in Hamburg and Altona - two separate cities at the time. It is young Rebekka Lipmann who, together with her husband Schmuel, takes up the investigation. But she has to overcome all sorts of obstacles. At the time, who would believe a woman, and a Jewish woman at that, investigating a crime with no proof but all the more instinct? 

The story itself is historically verified. It is based on the memories of Glückel von Hameln. The historical case on which the comic is based took place in 1687 and gives an insight into Jewish life in Hamburg at the end of the 17th century.