When “Cash” was published in 2006, the comic world in Germany was still different. The German comics scene had little international presence, but the German publishers also had few or no German-speaking authors under contract. What was it like for you in the noughties? Was it a big risk for you to take on such a large project?
I don’t remember it fondly at times, but at that time my efforts to be taken seriously as a German comic artist, at least from a financial perspective, were quite a crash landing. I published books, but they were anything but successful. I had reached a point where I had to think about how I wanted to continue working. The graphic novel movement was just gaining momentum in Germany and I had the fixed idea of making a book that fit into this category and could combine my love of music and a certain degree of marketability.
I pitched the idea of a comic biography of Johnny Cash to my friend Michael Groenewald over dinner, and he promised to present the project at an editorial meeting. Contrary to our expectations, Carlsen took the risk and the book was launched. I temporarily financed the year and a half of work on the work through work for a film, for advertising and a job as a driver at the Berlinale film festival.
The success of the graphic novel “Cash – I see a darkness” opened many doors for me. Not only was I now able to choose follow-up projects, but I also received many invitations from the Goethe Institute, which had become aware of the German comic. I was also able to organize many live drawing concerts with them, where the focus was initially on Cash’s music, then later on that of Nick Cave and David Bowie.
It was also my first long-term project in which I wrote the entire text myself with the help of my editor Michael Groenewald. Thanks to this book, I lost my fear of longer projects and instead dared to take on more and more daring ones, such as a book about Fidel Castro, which has 120 more pages than “Cash”.
And: For the first time I have implemented a narrator here who is extremely important for the story, not only as a provider of certain facts and dramaturgical transitions, but as an important addition to my biographical narrative, namely the theme of being trapped in one real prison or in the prison that you create around yourself.
Why did you choose Johnny Cash for your first musician biography? What meaning did and do his music and his life have for you? What particularly attracted you as a storyteller?
I have to admit that the idea of drawing a comic about Johnny Cash’s life wasn’t primarily mine. I had a loose idea of making a graphic novel about music, of depicting music in pictures. At the time I was living in a shared apartment in Kreuzberg with a big cash fan who handed me the biography of Franz Dobler. I was excited! I had been waiting for something like this. I initially pushed aside the fact that a feature film about him had already been announced.
I myself have been a fan for a long time and I have always been fascinated by his dark world view, his appearance and, yes, his sexiness. I had already organized two country parties with my roommate at the famous SO36 in Kreuzberg, where Cash was always the focus.
Cash has always known how to bring music and storytelling together. In many songs he used his music to illustrate the actions. I wanted to translate the same thing into an image level and it quickly became clear that I wanted to incorporate his songs as little short stories throughout the plot of the comic.
Since “Cash” you have already implemented a number of other biographical material, including other musical careers: “Nick Cave” and “Starman” (David Bowie). What did “Cash” and subsequent projects teach you about biographical storytelling? Are there things you would do differently on “Cash” today?
What has been important to me in every book project since “Cash” has been the reader’s personal connection to the life or material I portray in the comic. For this I often used the narrator, in whatever form. Sometimes it was a fictional character who appeared in the plot, as in “Castro”, or sometimes the protagonist’s Facebook entries, as in “Dream of Olympia”. It was always important to me to make the story come alive for the reader. Volker Skierka, author and Castro expert, spoke of a “perceived truth”.
I have worked through the “Cash” volume again from cover to cover for the new edition and have only changed and adapted the text slightly in a few places. I think, after reading through it several times, I can say that I did a good job back then. Dramaturgically, I wouldn’t want to change anything. The book strikes a good balance of biographical facts, suspense and emotional depth. It was only in a few panels that I noticed that I had developed further in my drawing skills.
The second and final volume of your David Bowie tribute is planned for 2024. Can you tell us a little about it? What phases of Bowie’s life will you cover? And what will your narrative focus be in comparison/difference to “Starman”?
Comic blog “Ninth Art”
The second part of the Bowie graphic novel will be about the years after the end of his Ziggy Stardust period: the excessive time in the USA and then mainly the years in which he lived in Berlin, my hometown. I focus on his creative work and how his environment and the people around him influenced him. Of course, it also explains who the narrator and the astronaut, who appeared in the flashbacks in the first part, are.
All images: Carlsen Comics