Berlin



Berlin is published by Drawn & Quarterly. Price per issue is $4.95.

Last Issue

 * Berlin #18: 08 Feb 2012

Current Issue

 * Berlin #19: 24 Jun 2015

Next Issue

 * none scheduled

Status
Irregular limited series. Scheduled for twenty-four issues.

Main Characters

 * Marthe Müller - an aspiring artist who comes to Berlin in late 1928 from her hometown of Köln. She has slowly become immersed in the city, perhaps too deep.


 * Kurt Severing - a journalist for Die Weltbühne and a pacifist to boot, Kurt is becoming increasingly concerned with the direction Germany is heading.

Minor Characters

 * Anna - one of Marthe's fellow artists, she is also quite the lesbian. She is one of Marthe's closest friends.


 * Margarethe "Grethe" von Falkensee - Margarethe is one of Kurt's oldest friends, and an ex-lover. Although once much more sensitive and concerned with the politics of the world, she is now a pure hedonist.


 * David Schwartz - the son of a fairly well to do jew, David is just trying to live a normal life as the world shifts around him. An adamant follower of Houdini, he hopes to follow in his hero's footsteps.


 * Silvia - Abandoned by her National Socialist father and orphaned when her mother dies in the May Day Massacre of the Communists, Silvia is left trying to survive on the streets.


 * Pavel - A Jewish scavanger who lives on the street. He does business with both David and his father.


 * Pola - A dancer in a night club.


 * Kid Hogan - A member of the American jazz band, the Cocoa Kids, Kid plays the clarinet. Is involved with Pola.


 * Carl von Ossietzky - the editor of Die Weltbühne.

Other Characters/Places/Things

 * National Socialists - the party of Hitler. Also called Fascists and Nazis.
 * [Artistic note: Lutes has chosen not to depict the swastika, used by the National Socialists as an emblem. Instead, the space where it would have been is kept blank.]


 * Communists - the followers of Marx, Lenin, and the Soviets. The Communist Party is one of the few major factions opposing the National Socialists' slow rise in power.  The Communists butt heads frequently with the Social Democratic government.


 * Cocoa Kids - American jazz band made up of Jacob Jackson, Long Philips, Tiny, Kid Hogan, and Johnny Delacroix. They are currently touring and are visiting Berlin after time spent in Paris.

Berlin #11

 * City of Smoke - Part Three - Pavel attempts to save Silvia from a life of prostitution, while Margarethe introduces Marthe to the decadent world of Berlin--parties, drugs, and orgies. And Marthe discovers that she may be closer to Anna than she ever knew. . ..

Berlin #10

 * City of Smoke - Part Two - Kurt interviews witnesses of the May Day Massacre, Kid Hogan meets Pola, Johny Delacroix is hiding his sexuality, and Kurt and Marthe have their first major fight. Kurt leaves Berlin to accompany Ossietzky and leaves Marthe to Margarethe.

Berlin #9

 * City of Smoke - Part One - Silvia tries to take her revenge on the communist she blames for her mother's death, but instead ends up back on the streets. Ossietzky presides over an investigation into the May Day Massacre, but finds himself called to the federal courts for treason.  After months with only each other as (quite enjoyable) company, Kurt decides it's time to introduce Marthe to Margarethe.  And the Cocoa Kids come to town!

City of Stones

 * Marthe Müller arrives in Berlin and meets her first inhabitant on the train--Kurt Severing. Marthe takes up residence in a small lodging house and begins her studies at art school.  Before the year is out, however, she decides not to return to school the following semester and she loses her allowance.  Finally, depressed and alone on Christmas Eve, she shows up at the house of Kurt Severing.  Quickly, a romantic relationship develops.  Meanwhile, conflicts, both personal and political clash across the city of Berlin.  (Originally told in issues 1-8, and collected in Berlin: City of Stones.)

Trade Paperbacks

 * Berlin, Book One: City of Stones - Collects #1-8. "Set in the twilight years of Germany's Weimar Republic. Kurt Severing, a journalist, and Marthe Muller, an art student, are the central figures in a broad cast of characters intertwined with the historical events unfolding around them. City of Stones covers eight months in Berlin, from September 1928 to May Day, 1929, meticulously documenting the hopes and struggles of its inhabitants as their future is darkened by a glowing shadow." - WorldCat - ISBN 1896597297


 * Berlin, Book Two: City of Smoke - Collects #9-16? "The people of Weimar Republic-era Berlin search for answers after the lethal May Day demonstration of 1929. Tension builds along with the dividing wall between communists and nationalists, Jews and gentiles, as the dawn of the Second World War and the rise of the Nazis draws closer." - WorldCat - ISBN 1897299532

Creative Team
Writer/Artist/Creator: Jason Lutes

Publishing History
First published in 1996. Issues #1-4 were published by Black Eye.

Berlin is planned to be 24 issues long, broken into three 8-issue arcs.

News & Features

 * 05 Oct 2009 - Interview: Jason Lutes Pt. 3 (of 3)
 * 23 Sep 2009 - Interview: Jason Lutes Pt. 2 (of 3)
 * 15 Sep 2009 - Interview: Jason Lutes Pt. 1 (of 3)
 * 07 Jan 2009 - An Interview with Jason Lutes
 * 01 Oct 2008 - Back to the City - Jason Lutes on Berlin 2
 * 19 Aug 2008 - Jason Lutes talks Berlin

Links

 * Drawn & Quarterly - Publisher's Website
 * Berlin (comics)