18. Dortmunder Comic-Streit

In the organizer's words:

Thursday, January 09, 2025
6:00 pm
in the showroom: comic + cartoon
Free admission, no registration required

Dortmund comic dispute
Comic duel:
Four experts present comics and mangas and exchange controversial views.

Similar to the concept of the literary quartet, the Comicduell offers space for both harmonious discussions and lively debates.
The opinions of the participants are sought and comic fans have the opportunity to decide which titles they would like to borrow or purchase from the City and State Library in the future.

As part of the current exhibition "Black Comics. From Colonialism to Black Panther", this time comics will be discussed in line with the theme.

Journalist, editor, author and presenter Lilly Amankwah from Cologne will also be taking part for the first time as a guest panelist!

In her work, she is particularly concerned with the topics of global justice, constructive journalism, politics and society as well as music and pop culture.
For the 18th Dortmunder Comic-Streit, she will be joining the panel at schauraum.

Note: This comic dispute will also be recorded and later uploaded to YouTube.

4 READERS

Lilly Amankwah / sociologist and cultural journalist
Sophia Paplowski / City and State Library
Alexander Braun / Curator of schauraum comic + cartoon
Stefan Mühlhofer / Director of Kulturbetriebe Dortmund

ARGUE ABOUT
7 "BLACK" COMIC TITLES

"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad and Catherine Anyango

"Ten Thousand Elephants" by Pere Ortin and Nze Esono Ebale

"Kililana Song" by Benjamin Flao

"Aya" by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie

"Aquaman: Guilt and Innocence" by Brandon Thomas

"King" by Ho Che Anderson

"Rude Girl" by Birgit Weyhe

Information on the titles:

"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad and Catherine Anyango

Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is one of the most important European novels and has now been exceptionally illustrated in a graphic novel by Catherine Anyango.
"Every page of Catherine Anyango's graphic novel is extraordinary, and extraordinarily beautiful. And it doesn't matter whether you've read Conrad's work or not."
This is how Rachel Cooke described the adaptation of Otago captain and writer Joseph Conrad's most important novel, published in 1902, in the Guardian in 2010. David Zane Mairowitz, who compiled the text for the new adaptation, supplemented the story with excerpts from the author's Congo diaries. In the novella, Joseph Conrad dealt with his last journey to the Belgian Congo, which he only just survived and which cost him his health. "Heart of Darkness" is one of the most important European novels.
(Text: Modern Graphics)

"Ten Thousand Elephants" by Pere Ortin and Nze Esono Ebale

In 1944, a team of photographers and cameramen traveled to Guinea under Franco's mandate to portray colonial life in this unusual "Black Spain" in the heart of Africa. One of these "picture hunters" was Manuel Hernández Sanjuán, who amassed an enormous, now forgotten archive during his two-year stay.
The story of his expedition is told in Ten Thousand Elephants through the memories of Ngono Mbá, one of the porters who took part in this strange journey to "document" the invented truths of the regime: the indelible memory that still represents Spain's colonial past today.
(Text: bahoe books)

"Kililana Song" by Benjamin Flao
Ten-year-old Naim lives in one of the last paradises on earth, in the harbor town of Lamu in Kenya. He is a rascal and he is happy. But the Lamu World Heritage Site is under threat from real estate sharks and compliant authorities...
(Text: Schreiber & Leser)

"Aya" by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie

At the end of the 1970s, Aya and her two friends Adjoua and Bintou live in the Ivorian metropolis of Abidjan. Aya is 19 years old, the age at which everything seems achievable - perhaps even a medical degree against the wishes of her father, who would rather see his daughter married off today than tomorrow. While Aya dreams of a future as a doctor, Adjoua and Bintou spend their nights in the local dance bars and get on her friend's last nerve with their chaotic love affairs...
Whether it's the upcoming "Miss Neighborhood" elections or Aya's lively little siblings - of whose existence she had no idea - everything is possible and nothing is as it seems in Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie's lively "everyday drama" (Süddeutsche Zeitung). Enchantingly funny and full of joie de vivre, "Aya" shows an Africa far removed from Western clichés and, despite the fast-moving events, also leaves room for thoughtful nuances.
(Text: Reprodukt)

"Aquaman: Guilt and Innocence" by Brandon Thomas
Jackson Hyde is the up-and-coming hero Aqualad and one of the companions of Arthur Curry, alias Aquaman, the famous hero of Atlantis. Arthur now has to leave the undersea realm for an important mission and appoints Jackson as the new Aquaman! But no sooner has Arthur left than there is a bomb attack in Atlantis, and suspicion is directed at Jackson of all people! Hunted by the Atlantean guard, he must uncover the background to the attack. In the process, he learns a lot about his origins that has been kept from him until now - and for good reason!
(Text: Panini)

" King " by Ho Che Anderson
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King fell victim to an assassination attempt. To mark the 40th anniversary of this murder, which shook the world, Carlsen is publishing a comprehensive biography of the great civil rights activist. Author and illustrator Ho Che Anderson not only presents the luminous figure of Martin Luther King, but also shows the man behind the myth. On 248 pages, a comprehensive picture of King's life and work emerges.
(Text: Carlsen)

"Rude Girl" by Birgit Weyhe

In times of globalization, we can move anywhere, work from anywhere, live anywhere - provided we have the right skin color, sufficient education and most importantly: the right passport. As part of an exchange program, Birgit Weyhe from Germany, who is white, taught at a US college. During a conference of American Germanists in the Midwest, she is confronted with accusations of cultural appropriation. Is she exploiting her privileges as a white author when she tells stories about black people?

She meets Priscilla Layne, an African-American professor of German studies with Caribbean roots. She is an "Oreo": too white for her black classmates and her skin is too dark for the whites. She decides to rebel against everyone and everything at the same time by joining the skinhead movement in her youth and becoming a "rude girl".

But how should Birgit Weyhe tell a life story like this? What mistakes should be avoided? The narrative construct itself becomes its own narrative level in this biography.

(Text: avant-Verlag)

Click here for the last recording:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyGaaIDJmBf23f7lCQrK97xdQ86Oih46H&si=1D8OLNlSE4TCb0SE