Comic Summit on 15 March 2013 in Berlin: Scott McCloud, Chris Ware and Christoph Niemann

On 15 March, a rare summit meeting of the comic world will take place.
Appearing will be three outstanding comic artists of our times: Scott McCloud, who deals in his comics with history and theory like no other; Chris Ware, whose innovative comics have been awarded all important prizes of the comic world; and Christoph Niemann, whose “visual essays” have been enthusiastically received by New York Times readers.

The event will be chaired by two of Germany’s best comic connoisseurs: Jens Balzer (Berliner Zeitung) and Andreas Platthaus (FAZ).

Scott McCloud was logical in the form he chose to present his explorations into the theory and history of comics, i.e. by publishing them as a comic. His three volumes already released in as translations in Germany, Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics and Making Comics were worldwide successes and are seen as standard works on the subject. During his stay in Berlin, he will appear at two events (one for school pupils) speaking about comics as writing with pictures, children and art, the fundamentals of storytelling and the relationship between comics and the Internet.

The reason for Chris Ware’s visit is the release of his graphic novel “Jimmy Corrigan” in German translation by Berlin’s REPRODUKT publishers. The graphic novel, already hailed as a “century comic”, is seen “as one of the few milestones of an entire genre: it stands side by side with Maus by Art Spiegelman.” (Andreas Platthaus).

The discussion partners and chairs of the event are comic experts – Berlin illustrator/graphic designer Christoph Niemann ("Abstract City - Mein Leben unterm Strich" / Knesebeck publishers), Jens Balzer (Berliner Zeitung) and Andreas Platthaus (FAZ).

Events on 15 March 2013

10 am, Scott McCloud, Chair: Jens Balzer
6 pm, Scott McCloud, Chair: Andreas Platthaus
8 pmr, Chris Ware and Christoph Niemann, Chair: Andreas Platthaus

Please find more information here...

The event partners are the publishing houses CARLSEN and REPRODUKT, the Martin- Gropius-Bau, Modern Graphics bookstore, www.comic-report.de and the Waldorf Astoria Berlin. With a support of the US-Embassy.

The events are organised as part of an initiative by the ilb titled “New Symbols – Comics in Berlin”. It makes efforts, among other things, to involve Berlin comic artists in an international network and is co-financed by Berlin’s cultural administration using money from the European Social Fund for Regional Development (ERDF) as part of the “Promotion of Innovation Potential in Culture” (INP) programme.