Berlin: City of Stones

Read: Berlin: City of Stones – Book One by Jason Lutes (Drawn and Quarterly, 2004)
T and Warren gifted this lovely book to me when they came through town recently. T found it in a graphic novel place and took a chance, because she knows of my deep affection for the city of Berlin. It was a good decision – it’s wonderful.
It collects the first eight issues of a serial named ‘Berlin’. Across these eight issues, Lutes introduces a large cast of characters scattered through the social milieu of Berlin in 1928-1929, with occasional flashbacks to events in 1918. A lot of the book’s action is driven by the Communist movement and the conflicts around it, with characters lining up both for and against the Reds (and a goodly number keeping their noses well clear).
The two keystone characters are journalist Kurt Severing and Marthe Muller, whose gently-unfolding relationship is the emotional core of the tale. A second major throughline is the story of Gudrun, who leaves her husband with her two young daughters and tries to find her way without him.
It’s beautiful stuff, skipping from character to character to explore the complexities of inter-war German society, written with great restraint and sensitivity.
The art is unaffected, with a good clean line and an eye for detail. Time Magazine’s quote on the book compares it to Herge, and like Herge Lutes’ backgrounds and establishing shots are evocative and full of small delights; but Herge relied on simple human figures to suggest the universal, whereas the people in Berlin are drawn with more weight, worn and subtle and singular.
The people are the story, here, and Lutes’ patient investigation into their hearts and minds makes for a memorable achievement. Highly recommended.
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