Trade journal “Comixene” is again | EUROtoday

Vor einem Jahr habe ich an anderer Stelle das Ende der „Comixene“ beklagt, einer deutschen Fachzeitschrift für Comics, die vor fünfzig Jahren, im November 1974, erstmals erschienen war, damals herausgebracht von drei sehr jungen Leuten. Dem Alphabet nach ab- und dem Alter nach aufsteigend: Andreas C. Knigge, seinerzeit siebzehn, Thilo Rex, achtzehn, René Lehner, neunzehn. Lehner war dann derjenige, der das Heft mit Nummer 147 beerdigt zu haben schien. Rex war schon 2009 gestorben, und Knigge ist nun derjenige, der die „Comixene“ wiederbelebt hat.

Er war schon anfangs deren wichtigster Protagonist gewesen, weil er sich weniger als Zeichner denn als Autor verstand (und in der Folge zum wichtigsten deutschen Comicjournalisten wurde). Knigge prägte die „Comixene“ und blieb ihr anfangs auch am längsten treu: acht Jahre, bevor das Heft mit der fünfzigsten Ausgabe in wiederholte Dornröschenschlafphasen sank, aus denen es immer neu wiedererweckt wurde – 1994 für zwei Jahre und sieben Hefte, 2003 für neun Jahre und 58 Hefte und schließlich 2015 für weitere acht Jahre und 32 Hefte. Nur bei dieser letzten Wiedererweckung war mit René Lehner einer der Gründer maßgeblich beteiligt.

And that may have tickled Knigge, because the “Comixene” was all the time thought-about his work. So he has now develop into editor himself once more, and what was essential was that an skilled accomplice, Edition Alfons, which already publishes the specialist magazines “Reddition” and “Alfonz”, took the initiative for the present revival. Publishing boss Volker Hamann is Knigge’s equal by way of information and journalistic significance, and each get alongside effectively. This suggests a vivid future for the journal.

The idea, nevertheless, is totally different than earlier than. Lehner had the “Comixene” printed quarterly, with many present sections, because the journal had carried out from the beginning. From now on, Comixene will solely be printed yearly, in December, and the primary version of this format, situation 148, offers a foretaste of how it will change the comics journalism it gives. Etiquette now depends on a lexical idea.

The first version beneath his aegis gives an inventory of the “111 best graphic novels” decided by 9 specialists. Among these 9, Paul Gravett and Didier Pasamonik, there have been additionally two representatives from non-German-speaking international locations, which actually helped the trigger (in any other case there would in all probability be greater than fourteen German-language titles among the many 111 finest, and that – on your mercy – has been determined too beneficiant). There isn’t any query that such a variety is subjective, however extra Germans than Japanese?

Of the 111 titles, there have been solely 9 that I hadn’t learn, and I agree with at the least three-quarters of the choice. The incontrovertible fact that 4 tracks by Will Eisner had been recorded and just one by Chris Ware – effectively, the classics all the time have it slightly simpler.

The sorting is opaque. It all begins with Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” – what else? But from a observe within the booklet you’ll be able to see that initially Hugo Pratt’s “South Sea Ballad” ought to have been firstly. This would have favored chronology over which means, which would not have bothered anybody. And it could have made the order afterwards clear. Now Spiegelman is adopted by a pleasant chaos, which in all probability has extra causes for the publication than for the content material. A phrase or two in regards to the association would have been welcome – additionally to grasp why some titles get a complete web page, others solely half a web page.

The compendium is useful and can hopefully promote effectively at kiosks. The cowl picture might play a task: a Gaston drawing by André Franquin from 1975, which has nothing to do with the topic of the graphic novel (“Gaston” in fact does not seem as a gag sequence), however at the least exhibits a falling stack of books , by which one can assume the collection of magazines (though there are solely 33 books that Gaston collapses there). By the best way, the December 2025 situation has already been introduced: it can deal with the historical past of Franco-Belgian comics. You could not want for higher specialists on this than Knigge and Hamann.

But does not all of it sound lots like “Reddition”, the opposite specialist journal from Edition Alfons that focuses on main matters? However, the “Comixene” has extra to supply than the quilt image guarantees, particularly quite a few longer articles which might be bundled within the “Journal” part and likewise interspersed between the entries within the graphic novel record.

And as a lot of them are historic (in the most effective sense) – a few of them proceed the topical custom of “Comixene” in probably the most stunning means. For instance, an summary of latest secondary literature value studying or perhaps a preview of the publishers’ applications within the yr 2025, which has simply begun. Plus a little bit of gossip and good finds, together with one which considerations me and which I did not know something about till now, though the entire thing was 26 years in the past. You can see that “Comixene” can also be utilized in surprising locations. Surprises are what have all the time been a part of their enchantment.