A Review of Jason Lutes' Berlin
/Written by Ross Webster
Berlin by Jason Lutes
Published by Drawn & Quarterly.
$49.95
Berlin by Jason Lutes is at first glance, intimidating; a three volume 542-page deep dive into the final chaotic three years of Germany’s Weimar Republic, ending with the ascension of Hitler and the Third Reich. Not only are readers asked to navigate a complex and fluctuating web of history, ideology, politics, economics art and culture, but to do so through the eyes of over a dozen characters. However, for anyone willing to take the plunge and even more after that, it will be limitlessly rewarding.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #13, page 02 - by Jason Lutes.
Jason Lutes began his odyssey into the lives of early twentieth century Berliners in the late 1990s in part inspired by the unrest brewing in Seattle during the 1999 WTO Summit. Completed in 2018, Berlin once again feels timely now with economic uncertainty, grievances between the 1% and the 99%, populist demagogues subverting democracies from Brazil to India, and renewed clashes between radical leftists and neo-Fascists in European and North American cities[1]
A scene from Berlin (1996) #01, pages 14 & 15 - by Jason Lutes.
Lutes draws in a Ligne Claire (clear line) style which was pioneered be Franco-Belgian creators in the 1930s, used most notably in Herge’s “The Adventures of Tintin.” It uses clear strong lines all the same width. Cast shadows are often illuminated, while also featuring strong colors and a combination of cartoonish characters against a realistic background. Lutes breaks with this trend though by choosing crisp black and white over color - and although his characters are simply drawn, they are anything but cartoonish.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #07, page 01 - by Jason Lutes.
The faces and bodies of many of Lutes’ Berliners are worn, aged and bruised (one minor drawback of the style is that there are certain minor characters who look quite similar to the primary cast and may require some re-reads to differentiate them) More so, this Ligne Claire style is the best at bringing Weimar Berlin itself to life. From grand monuments, city squares and parks showered in sunlight, to cheeky burlesque shows and jazz clubs to dark claustrophobic slums and alleys rife with impending danger.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #05, page 02 - by Jason Lutes.
The first book opens with our two protagonists on a train to Berlin: Marthe Muller, a young art student from Cologne, and Kurt Severing, a middle-aged journalist. For Marthe, her primary experience of Weimar Berlin is one of wonder and endless possibilities; the Berlin of Christopher Isherwood. Berlin with budding avant-garde artist friends, risqué cabaret acts, jazz records and a flourishing underground LGBT culture.[2] All of this is compounded by her desire to escape the narrow confines of her bourgeois family life in Cologne and to relieve her sorrow over the death of her close cousin in the trenches of the First World War.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #03, page 24 - by Jason Lutes.
Kurt’s daily Berlin is much different. He has written about and borne witness to the political and economic chaos that have rocked his city and country since Germany’s defeat in World War I. Despite his typing, he feels increasingly impotent in the face of his collapsing government and the feuding communists and national socialists who battle to fill its void; a struggle that manifests in his personal life as his former lover Margarethe, an influential socialite who increasingly backs the Nazi cause.[3] While Kurt is sympathetic to the mission statement of the Communists he is increasingly wary of the same commitment to violence as their Nazi counterparts.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #07, page 18 - by Jason Lutes.
Despite differences between age and experience, Kurt and Marthe strike up a friendship and eventually a romance. However, it does not go untested. Marthe’s apoliticism and Bohemian pursuits irk and infuriate Kurt who sees them as distractions from the dire realities affecting his city. When the couple has a brief falling out, Marthe forms a new relationship with her classmate and female cross-dresser, Anna Lencke, who introduces her to Berlin’s underground lesbian culture[4]
A scene from Berlin (1996) #21, page 04 - by Jason Lutes.
The most important characters after Kurt and Marthe are the Braun Family, who unlike the former have little choice in facing or ignoring the grim realities of Weimar Berlin. They are an impoverished politically divided family, especially after the mother, Gudrun, loses her factory job and embraces communism. While Gudrun remains with her two daughters, her husband Otto gravitates towards National Socialism and grooms his young son to follow suit.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #18, page 13 - by Jason Lutes.
When Gudrun is killed during a riot between workers and police on May Day, her oldest daughter (Sylvia) is left to fend and fight for herself on the streets of Berlin. Over the course of the series, Sylvia becomes a hardened street fighter much to the surprise of any Nazi thugs unfortunate enough to bully her.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #20, page 14 - by Jason Lutes.
Her leftist ideology also calcifies, often boiling into righteous fury against any real or perceived class enemies. However, her humanity is retained through the kindness and protection of Pavel (a homeless Jewish vagrant who takes her in after being orphaned) and David Schwartz (a middle class Jewish boy who shelters her for a time, much to the disapproval of his father).
A scene from Berlin (1996) #21, page 02 - by Jason Lutes.
Despite being drawn in stark black and white, all the story’s main characters are various shades of grey and no one exists in a vacuum. David’s father is a stubborn junk dealer attempting to maintain authority in the family while in deep denial of the worsening conditions for Jews in Germany which is obvious to David and his mother and grandfather. Sylvia’s father Otto harbors disgusting antisemitic views but is a loving father to his younger children and even attempts to avenge his late wife by confronting the factory boss who fired her.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #10, page 12 - by Jason Lutes.
Pola Mosse, a no-nonsense fine art model and cabaret performer offers some of the light-hearted playful moments of a story dominated by an atmosphere of impending dread. This is especially true in the second book when Pola befriends a touring Black American jazz band and embarks on a series of escapades to get back at their European manager stiffing them out of their pay.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #17, page 03 - by Jason Lutes.
Berlin is mostly a story of everyday people confronted with the tides of history and that is its greatest narrative strength. However, there are a few historic figures scattered throughout the books. Some, like the American-French expat superstar Josephine Baker, get minor cameos while others are more integral - like Kurt’s magazine editor (Karl von Ossietsky). He becomes one of the first German political prisoners sent to a concentration camp.[5] Josef Goebbels - the Infamous head of Nazi propaganda; Horst Wessel - a young murdered thug whom Goebbels makes into National Socialism’s first martyr; and finally Adolf Hitler himself all make appearances. Although he has few scenes in the final book, Hitler is doubtlessly the story’s most consequential presence. His rather ordinary and unceremonious entry signals the narrowing of time and choices for all of Berlin’s citizens.
A scene from Berlin (1996) #21, page 20 - by Jason Lutes.
Whether to flee or stay and fight, collaborate or stand to the side, and - more importantly - how much humanity can we retain; these are struggles that remain difficult and vital whether it is 1933 or 2020.
As a lifelong history buff, and especially one of the 20th century anywhere in the world, I was automatically drawn to Berlin when I first picked up a couple issues of it’s original comic book form in 2005. When I finally traveled to the German capital in 2013, I absolutely made sure I took the comics with me. Any lover of history will be impressed with how meticulously researched this project was when they reach Lutes’ bibliography of fiction and nonfiction resources including architecture and photography.[6] In depicting the journey from Weimar to the Third Reich, Lutes made sure not to suggest that any event was inevitable or to reduce any of its characters to historical aphorisms seen in countless depictions of the era.
However Berlin is not breezy reading. Given its scope, depth and dozens of characters - many who often have similar facial features - it may take several reading sessions to fully comprehend the threads of this historical spiderweb. While Weimar Berlin is hardly untrod ground for historical fiction either in Germany or elsewhere, I can’t think of any other depiction as compelling, or with as much heart and soul as Jason Lutes’ creation. And although it is a timely read given the current socio-political circumstances, Berlin in any time is one of the greatest visual and storytelling achievements in the medium and given enough time and commitment, it will never leave you.
[1]However, despite tragedies like the one in Charlottesville VA, these conflicts remain relatively tame compared to the pitch street battles of their ideological forefathers a century earlier.
[2] Christopher Isherwood was a British novelist whose novel “Goodbye to Berlin,” based on his own personal experience in the pre-1930s city. Bob Fosse’s hit Broadway musical “Cabaret “and subsequent Hollywood film starring Lizzie Minnelli and Michael York (which is probably the most well-known pop culture depiction of Weimar Berlin) is an adaptation of Isherwood’s novel.
[3] Throughout the book they are referred to by their early acronym NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker’s Party).
[4] By contemporary standards Anna would probably be transgender.
[5] The type of concentration camp Ossietsky spent time at was mainly for political dissidents. The concentration camps and death facilities such as Dachau, Treblinka, and Auschwitz that were part of The Final Solution were not implemented until after 1941.
[6] Berlin is available in its large hardcover, three paperback graphic novels, “City of Stone,” “City of Smoke” and “City of Light,”or its original 22 issues.