A separate house for Walter Moers’ work is to be built in Oberhausen – working name: Moerseum. And a museum for comics from the USA is planned in Dortmund. The aim is to make the Ruhr area a center for the genre.
Shipwrecked people don’t just have to contend with hunger, thirst and the weather. But also against the gossips that constantly fill their ears with chatter. This is just one of many wonderfully crazy ideas that Walter Moers describes in his books about the fictional continent of Zamonia. For 25 years he has been working on a cosmos of fantasy, humor and poetry. Or is the real author a lindworm named Hildegunst von Mythenmetz, whose works Walter Moers only translates? At least this is what the writer and comic artist from Mönchengladbach claims.
“What’s there to laugh about?” – Under this title, the Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen is showing a large exhibition of the comic art of Walter Moers. While not far away, in the Dortmund showroom Comic + Cartoon, the successful exhibition about the US series “The Simpsons” is being replaced by “black comics”. Comic museums are soon to be built in both cities. The Ruhr area could then become a center for this art form.
Comics or graphic novels have a large audience, so the exhibitions attract a lot of people. For some time now, the drawn stories have also been recognized as literature, and no longer just as a trashy mirror of their time. Of course they are. In the 80s and 90s, Walter Moers summed up the anarchic underground humor of that time.
He caricatured the morbid fascination for Hitler in “Adolf, the Nazi Pig”. In it he plays through what would happen if the “Fuhrer” suddenly appeared on the doorstep or if you met him at the bakery. The short comic strips often trigger loud laughter in the exhibition. As wonderfully absurd as they are, the electoral success of right-wing populist parties gives them a different, bitter aftertaste.
Equally original is the “Little Asshole,” a boy who disrespectfully confuses the adult world. After the success of the comics, Walter Moers integrated this character into historical works of art. “Asshole in Oil” is the name of a room in Oberhausen Castle, where you can see parodies that range from cave paintings to Rembrandt and Andy Warhol.
And then of course there are Captain Blaubär and Hein Blöd, the famous characters from “Sendung mit der Maus”. Because WDR had no desire to develop the characters further, their creator Walter Moers did so himself. With the novel “The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Blue Bear” he developed the world of Zamonia. And also the gossiping waves, who are kind to the little blue bear and support him on the high seas.
Many companions came to the opening of the exhibition. Only one person isn’t – Walter Moers. “He is someone who is incredibly productive and works an incredible amount of work – and who has no desire for this book tour and this audition,” explains curator Christine Vogt. “He just prefers to do his books and drawings.”
The puppet maker Carsten Sommer, who has already developed Käpt’n Blaubär and Hein Blöd with and for Moers, paints a similar picture. “He largely draws on himself,” says Sommer. “But that’s just because he’s drowning in ideas. When it comes to his things, he usually has a clear idea. For example, I had the idea of giving Adolf a small rectangular mustache at the bottom as an intimate hairstyle.” The dolls from “Sendung mit der Maus” will probably be seen in Oberhausen for the last time. “They are slowly crumbling,” explains Carsten Sommer. He doesn’t want to restore it.
Moers expresses on a text panel how important jokes are, especially in times of crisis: “There is a fine line between melancholy and despair. This border, this wafer-thin protective wall that protects us from falling into the bottomless, this terrible nothingness, that is humor.” Despite all the laughter, the exhibition is also profound; for Moers, the play of fantasy is not an end in itself, but a necessity of life.
The exhibition runs until January 19th. But Christine Vogt has the idea of permanently anchoring Walter Moers’ work in Oberhausen. A separate house should be built for this purpose. “The working name is Moerseum,” says the curator. “Walter Moers has promised that we will receive his inheritance, which would of course be an incredible gift.” This Moerseum should also show the works of other important comic authors and artists and become a European comic center. The financing is still unclear. “If you have 20 million left,” says Vogt, “you could invest it very sensibly with us.”
Dortmund is a bit further. The decision to set up a comic museum has already been made. A suitable location is currently being sought. The basis is the enormous success of the Comic + Cartoon showroom. It is located opposite the main train station and entry is free. Alexander Braun is the founder and curator. He believes that the cultural significance of comics is far from being fully understood. “The subversive quality of comics,” says Braun, “lies in the fact that a single individual can speak to many, using very manageable, inexpensive means of production.” You don’t need film cameras, no costumes, no equipment, no special effects, just paper and pen – “and here we go”.
All kinds of comics are shown in the Comic & Cartoon showroom. There have already been exhibitions about superheroes and Disney characters, but also about graphic novels that describe wars and the Holocaust. The next show, starting in mid-November, will focus on the Black Comics genre, especially by black artists.
The aim is to show how the racist depictions of black people that existed in “Tintin”, for example, have been replaced – for example by African-American superheroes like “Black Panther”, who are part of the Marvel universe.
There are always lovingly designed catalogs for the exhibitions. They are often standard works, including for the academic study of comics. The exhibition about The Simpsons that has just ended also looked at how the episodes of the series, which is still running today, are created and how precisely the punch lines and drawings are refined.
But wouldn’t two comic museums be a bit much for the Ruhr area? On the contrary, say Alexander Braun and Christine Vogt. In addition to Walter Moers, Oberhausen could be more about the German scene, while Dortmund wants to focus on the USA. There are also enough exciting topics from other countries to fill two museums.
“The future of the showroom can only consist of growing,” says Braun. “Politics at all levels are giving the green light for a real museum.” And a real museum means having a permanent collection and temporary exhibitions on specific topics.
A step in this direction is an award that has just been announced: the Dortmund Comic Prize for creative and innovative authors and illustrators. It is endowed with 10,000 euros and goes to the illustrator Hannah Brinkmann for a graphic novel about military service and conflicts of conscience. Alexander Braun’s goal is clear: “Dortmund will become a comic museum city.” And if Oberhausen loses money somewhere, the Moerseum will follow suit.
“What’s there to laugh about? The comic art of Walter Moers”, Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen, until January 19th; “Black Comics”, Comic + Cartoon showroom, Dortmund, November 15th to April 27th
