Schedule Irregular Genre Historical Artist(s) Jason Lutes Writer Jason Lutes | Format Limited series Publication date April 1996 – present | |
 | ||
Number of issues 19 (Released), 22 (Planned) Publishers Black Eye Productions, Drawn and Quarterly Similar Jar of Fools, Underwater, Peepshow, Ed the Happy Cl, Yummy Fur | ||
Berlin is a comic book series by Jason Lutes, published by Black Eye Productions and then Drawn and Quarterly. Planned as a series of 24 magazines (since reduced to 22), then re-released in book form, it describes life in Berlin from 1928 to 1933, during the decline of the Weimar Republic. As of 2015, the halfway point of the final book in the trilogy had been reached, and the series was reduced to 22 magazines.
Contents
Book One
The first eight issues were compiled into a book titled Berlin: City of Stones, published in 2000. It starts with Marthe Müller, an art student, arriving in Berlin. One story arc details the start of her life in Berlin, focusing on her relationship to journalist Kurt Severing. A second storyline describes a working-class family which breaks up due to differing political views, the mother, Gudrun, eventually joining the communists with her daughters Elga and Silvia, while the father takes his son Heinz to the Nazis. The book ends with Gudrun's death in the massacre of 1 May 1929, the International Workers Day (known in German as Blutmai).
Book Two
Issues 9–16 have been compiled in Berlin Book Two: City of Smoke, published in 2008. In the second volume, the relationship between Marthe and Kurt disintegrates, partly due to the influence of Kurt's former lover Margarethe. Marthe develops a relationship with fellow art student Anna. Gudrun's daughter Silvia struggles to stay alive by herself; Elga was apparently taken in by her father, but Silvia refuses to join the Nazis and blames the Communists for Gudrun's death on Blutmai. Another major subplot involves a group of African-American jazz musicians who perform at a Berlin nightclub. The volume concludes with the electoral victory of the Nazi Party in September 1930.
Book Three
As of 2016, the final part is still in progress, and will comprise issues 17–22 (planned), and be called City of Light.
Collected editions
The series has been collected into trade paperback:
Reviews
The series has been widely acclaimed, most notably, perhaps, by Rolling Stone, listing it among their "50 Best Non-Superhero Graphic Novels".