My original plan was to establish a relationship between Marthe (an art student) and Kurt (a journalist) which would provide a central thread for the reader to follow through a web of intersecting lives. At the same time I was intent on showing the density and richness of life in the city, so the following of characters moment-to-moment is interspersed with a kind of probing observer's perspective that sometimes recedes in an attempt to capture the bigger picture.Ĭan you describe the roles that such fictional characters as Marthe Muller and Kurt Severing play in the narrative? From there, I followed the characters to see where they would take me, the hope being that my curiosity would carry over to the reader. I wanted to understand what life was like for people from different social strata as earth-shaking events unfolded around them, so my main task was to immerse myself in their world. The story for me is an exploration of a specific time and place.
That appears to be my creative modus operandi: trust my instinct and follow it to the bitter end.īerlin seems like the equivalent of an architectural cutaway that reveals the city’s social infrastructure including its many subcultures. The decision was completely impulsive in the moment, but it's obvious to me now that I was trying to fill the void in my understanding of how the worst horrors of the 20th century came to pass, but at the time I was just following my instinct. Why did you choose to profile (or dissect) the Weimar Republic? On somewhat of a whim, inspired by a random magazine advertisement for a book about Weimar Berlin, I decided my next book would be about Berlin between the wars, and that it would be 600 pages long. I felt like I had come to an understanding of the medium and could tell any kind of story I wanted to.
In 1996, I was finishing my first graphic novel, Jar of Fools, which was my self-education in how to make a long-form comic book.
PW spoke with Lutes about the conception and execution of his masterwork.Ĭan you outline how you began this work and how you arrived at its scope? D&Q is also publishing a complete hardcover edition of Berlin that includes all three books in one volume, that will also be released this month. Berlin consists of three volumes published separately beginning with City of Stones (2000), followed by City of Smoke (2008), and the final volume, City of Light, will be published this month.
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