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Nervenkrank May 2012 Preview

Whew! I was all set with a general “what the hell is happening here” kind of review, then I noticed that this is a preview for a work that is projected to be much longer. Most preview comics are a bit more slapdash than this, and this looks fantastic, so you’ll have to forgive me for being momentarily fooled. Another thing that led to my confusion was the fact that the person depicted in this comic was only explained after the comic itself, and things open up in a vague “outside Berlin, 1915″ fashion, leaving me with very little idea of what I was reading until the actual comic was done. It might have served better, especially for a preview comic, to make that an introduction, but maybe she wanted to leave a bit of the mystery intact. So, technical quibbles aside, how was the comic? Damned intriguing, with two really powerful images in just a few pages of comic. John Heartfield served in the German army in 1915 and told his commander that he was mentally ill. Yes, that’s what “Nervenkrank” means in German, and once again I have to admire the sheer clunky elegance of that language. This eight page preview details his last day in a mental institution, and the conditions in 1915 are a bit shy of modern standards. John eventually plays a role on the side of the angels against the Nazis in WWII, but that’s a long way down the line. Katherine mentions that “this story is not strictly nonfiction, but it is based on fact,” which is a ripe environment for a graphic novel. In terms of the artwork, it’s already clear that she has a perfect handle on the various facial expressions of a man who’s coming out of an institution and the conflicting emotions that come with that, which does give me high hopes for an eventual larger book. She says it’ll be continued in September 2012, although I have no idea if that means another preview book like this, a complete “issue” (of what length I have no idea), or if she actually has this most of the way done and that’s when she’s planning on releasing the graphic novel. I highly doubt that last one, but I am eager to see more of this story in whatever format she has planned. $3