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If this is not a sign: On the way to the studio of the designer Felix Görmann aka Flix in Berlin-Pankow, a blue sky Trabi crosses the visitor's path. A reminder that the time Flix spent on his current project has not been here in Berlin for a long time.
How did this happen? "Glück und Zufall"
Beside the door of the 41-year-old studio, another blue Trabi on a poster, this time in a much more spectacular situation: like a rocket, the vehicle pulls in the air, under the vehicle Berlin Wall of the late 1980s On the car, two of the most famous Frankobelgische comic figures, who also have a lot of fans in this country – Spirou and Fantasio, the groom and his reporter friend. In Spirou's hand, an open suitcase, from which fall half a dozen diamonds.
This is the cover of a cartoon that pays homage to a traditional brand and at the same time a first. Spirou will turn 80 this year and Flix, who has long worked for the Tagesspiegel, is the first German cartoonist and author to whom the directors of the character of the Belgian publisher Dupuis dare to tell the story of the series. These days, "Spirou in Berlin" is entering the book business.
How did this happen? "Chance and coincidence," Flix said as he sat down at his drawing table. The idea of a German Spirou adventure was developed by its German publisher, Klaus Schikowski of Carlsen, and the Belgian publishing house Dupuis on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Spirous. A big problem with characters like this is: How do you keep a series that also has tremendous material worth in life? How do you get to new readers, especially young people? What can be done for the German market?
"I would also do an Asterix album"
Thus was born the idea of sending Spirou to Germany for the first time, even though Dupuis could not have imagined it at first. To entrust the designer. Flix, whose Tagesspiegel comic collection "Beautiful Daughters" was recently published in French, wrote concepts, drew sketches, wrote a script. Initially, the Belgians were reluctant, especially on Flix's drawings, even though they liked his story. But the Carlsen publishing house has referred to his achievements in Germany for his strong draftsman – successfully.
A year ago, Flix began working on the album. He now appears in German at the beginning, but Dupuis is satisfied with the result, as Flix says. Therefore, it will only be a matter of time before "Spirou Berlin" is published in other languages. This is also pleasing to the rapporteur, as it was not easy for German designers to gain a foothold in France and Belgium. Perhaps now opens a door to this market, which is because of the comic enthusiasm of readers there many times larger than in this country. "I would also do an Asterix album", tells Flix
Breaking on the direction of the GDR
If you open the album, the first panel shows a historical sign: "You leave the French sector" stands above. Place of action is the Berlin of the year 1988, the initial sequence leads from the French sector to the northwest of the city divided on the wall in East Berlin in the headquarters of the Stasi on the Norman road . At the same time, the sign signals the new land that enters Flix: they are now leaving the Franco-Belgian sector
The story revolves around a kidnapping, Spirou and Fantasio from Belgium to East Berlin during the pre-tour. Starting point of a complex adventure in which many Berlin attractions play a role. In the former Palasthotel am Dom, Spirou, whom Flix modernized by drawing, sneaks into the familiar red pageboy costume for conspiracy reasons. At Alexanderplatz, the action wins in drama, as Fantasio met a civil rights activist who possesses explosive material on the leadership of the GDR and wants to fight the regime with unusual means. And on the television tower, the story is experiencing spectacular twists, including a dazzling descent of the spire with the help of trained monkeys.
Memories of the Berlin Wall
For these animal figures, reality becomes reality Godfather, says Flix, entering a library behind him. In a non-fiction book about East Berlin, you can see a picture of a sculpture in the zoo: a girl holding a big monkey by the hand. This girl inspired the freedom fighter Momo and his hairy aids, with Spirou and Fantasio crossing Berlin
Flix, born in Münster, Germany, was born in 2004 and studied design in Saarbrücken and Barcelona . more detailed. For the Tagesspiegel series "There was something" he collected dozens of more or less serious memories of the Berlin Wall and made short comic strips that were later also successfully published as a book
Some scenes of Spirou seem to be directly related to this, especially as regards the combination of historical facts with a whimsical fantasy . And this without ignoring the seriousness of the situation, which was chosen as the background here. How Flix manages to combine sequences of the economic and political crisis of the GDR and brutal scenes of a Stasi prison, in which Fantasio ends temporarily, with burlesque, humor and spectacular sequences of action to form a together, is the highest comic art, In addition, the Flix style narrative, just like the drawing here, is even denser than usual, so you will discover many details up to now. at the second or third reading.
"Eradicate this would be a mistake"
"The GDR was not fun at the time, but for many people it was a very real threat to their lives and their lives. everyday life, "says Flix. "To extinguish it, it would be wrong." Although his Spirou, as it is the tradition of the series, is primarily an adventure comic. "But if I already choose this place and this time, I have to point out what's going on" – that's where the torture scene belongs. However, he could not go too far too explicitly: the comic book also addresses young readers, there were strict rules on what works and what does not work. Thus, Flix had to defuse another scene in which a character is killed in an escape attempt.
Flix has had a close relationship with his protagonists since childhood. "We had a well-stocked municipal library," he says. "Since I was able to read many albums of Spirou and knew the characters quite well." We find in Flix's album many tributes to the designers who invented Spirou once and who have remained to this day in the comic book Frankobelgischen: André Franquin. The Belgian, who died in 1997, was not only the most influential cartoonist in the "Spirou" series. He was also one of the great idols of Flix when he took his first steps as a draftsman. And even today, Franquin 's volumes are piled up in the Flix workshop next to the office.
"When I started, I copied it," says Flix. "Gaston, Spirou, the Black Thoughts – I loved them a lot and I tried to imitate them all." With moderate success at the beginning: "I'm desperate for this shot, these incredibly fast and lightly thrown designs." Franquin's style combines precision and speed. "If you slow it down, it will stiffen." Time and time again, in his first books, he has tried to imitate the Franco-Belgian style and realize the enormous variance of the lines that Franquin has reached with his brush.
the feeling that only now, after 20 years, I have reached the certain relaxation I had aspired to at the time, "Flix says. And indeed: Flix's drawing technique, which also clearly shows his album Spirou, has become more and more dynamic in recent years, also because he has replaced his silhouettes with fine, fine lines, as the past with a strong line.
This has been seen in recent years in his travels "Beautiful Daughters" for the Tagesspiegel as well as in his work for the "FAZ", where he currently publishes the series "Glückskind". Still in its history Spirou, many panels impress by their almost summary dynamism. In addition, there is an experimental panel layout, as he has perfected in "Beautiful Daughters."
In addition, Spirou is characterized by a special coloring: soft warm colors, which give each scene a special atmosphere in the service of history. "For me, color is also part of the story," says Flix. While Spirou's old albums were "simply colored" due to a lack of technical possibilities, Flix insists on adapting his colors very precisely to different situations, while helping the reader to "let himself be guided".
Coloring was done by Flix's colleague Marvin Clifford. He is also known readers of Tagesspiegel: he is the author and draftsman of the monthly band "Mittenmang" in the Sunday supplement of this journal.
Flix: Spirou in Berlin Carlsen, 64 pages, 16 euro.
Event Note : Flix goes on tour with "Spirou" at the end of August, the first of the book is the 30.8. Hamburg (8 pm, Carlsen Verlag, Völckersstraße 14 – 20, 22765 Hamburg, moderation: Korinna Hennig, admission: 5, -). On August 31, there will be a bookmarking at 4 pm Berlin at Dussmann (Friedrichstraße 90, 10117 Berlin), in the evening Flix will read at the Pfefferberg Theater in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg) and there is a von Tagesspiegel Writer Lars von Törne moderate conversation (Schönhauser Allee 176, admission 10 / 11,50 €). All dates: carlsen.de/termine
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