Reading habits have changed drastically in recent years. Children and young people have different viewing habits and are primarily socialized with images. You can often reach them more with comics and the like than with text-heavy, non-illustrated books.
In our digitalized world, the ability to read pictures has also become an important addition to classic reading, and more and more adults are also enjoying graphic novels and comics, which not only retell classics but also address current social problems. This week the Protestant literature portal is presenting two graphic novels and a comic that show what these genres can do.
Sperling, Ika: The Big Reset
Reproduction
Ika Sperling: The big reset.
A father loses himself in conspiracy ideologies and tears his family apart.
The student Ika actually just wanted to visit her family, but the provincial idyll has long been overshadowed by family drama. Since the pandemic, the father has been finding out about what is going on in the world exclusively via YouTube videos from self-proclaimed experts and critical thinkers. He is convinced that things will soon get “really bad” and plans to emigrate before “those up there” finally implement their plans. In order to avoid arguments about topics such as war, politics and vaccinations, silence takes over the house. While Ika’s sister retreats to her room, her mother just wants to spend a harmonious weekend with her youngest daughter to escape the worries of everyday life. Meanwhile, Ika tries to find out how serious her father really is about his plans. Has he already quit his job? Has he already sold the house? Will he actually emigrate?
A brutal depiction of how conspiracy beliefs change people. Stefanie Schmettlach
Ika Sperling. Berlin: Reprodukt 2024. 170 S. : überw. Ill. ; 23 cm.
ISBN 978-3-95640-407-8, price: €24.00
Fischels, Michèle: Outline
Reproduction
Outline by Michèle Fischels.
An impressive coming-of-age graphic novel about the difficulties and happiness of the last school year.
It’s the last school year, and Ben, Andreas and Clara will soon be taking their Abitur exams. All three are confronted with the typical problems of this time: (unhappy) love, uncertainty about their own future, increasing pressure and growing up, with everything that goes with it. Actually a rather unspectacular story that Michèle Fischels tells in her brilliant debut – but the seemingly everyday takes on a whole new meaning thanks to the alternation of long shots and meticulous snapshots, the delicate drawings and a fragmentary narrative form with precisely placed blank spaces.
A wonderful read. Miriam Weinrich
Michele Fischels. Berlin: Reprodukt 2024. 204 p.: overwhelming. Ill. ; 22cm.
ISBN 978-3-95640-429-0, price: €24.00
Me and Death Detective Agency
Kibitz
Me and Death Detective Agency. Patrick Dreheit and Matthias Lehmann.
Tod’s orders are constantly decreasing, so he is looking for new employment. A hobby.
Death is bored. Only a few people believe that they will see death in their last moment, so he has little to do. It’s a good thing that Death finds someone who not only doesn’t die when he suddenly appears, but also doesn’t run away. And that special someone is Luke. A boy who sees death for the first time after falling from a wall. But it is only when Lukas’ friend Johann, an older gentleman who always tells Lukas stories, dies that Lukas encounters death again. He tells him that his friend did not die of natural causes. However, even Death cannot say who murdered him. So they decide to uncover the crime together. The Ich und Tod detective agency was thus founded.
An exciting and beautifully illustrated detective story for young readers. Stefanie Schmettlach
Patrick Dreheit and Matthias Lehmann. Colors by Adrian vom Baur et al. Hamburg: Kibitz 2024. 132 p.; 24cm.
ISBN 978-3-948690-32-8, price: €20.00
evangelisch.de thanks this Evangelical literature portal Eliport for content cooperation.
