Bumper New Year German Super Hero Posting -Believe It!!

I was going through some art to archive and one thing led to another and I ended up going through the four issue D-Gruppe series and the trade, containing the final, unpublished issue -The Zeit Geist Saga

http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/d-gruppe-the-zeit-geist-saga/paperback/product-21156613.html

Larry told me that the idea of concentrating on D-Gruppe only in 2016 was a good idea.  Tygger, on the other hand, well, he asked "Why?"  and  went further asking "Why concentrate on another comic when you have all those already online?  What about a fan base -who is going to buy this?"

As usual, Larry argued that the new D-Gruppe would be in colour and "That gives it the edge over the old series and a fan base needs to be built up" which gave me second thoughts that led to more comments by Tygger.

Putting aside the arguments, it is going to be a pet project.  Looking at the current German market there are still no genuine German super heroes (unless you count Captain Berlin) and D-Gruppe has a pedigree going back decades.

But, as this post seems to keep vanishing -or lots of the images do!- I uploaded more images and here I give you a Bumper New Year German Super Hero Posting -the Post title says so.

If you are a German comic fan let me know what you think.

Super Heroes In German Comics

CBO is in its "Marvel Comics of the 1970s" mode...

dig it.

 

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 Oh boy, is this going to be a BIG post! It was pointed out to me that a great deal of the German comic posts I wrote had either vanished or lost most of their images.  I have no idea why -it seems to be a Blogger thing as it never happened over at WordPress (but a LOT of other things did).

I am still looking at up-dating the Scream post -where a German publisher took the title for Germany- and the Vulcan becoming Kobra post.  All of which have suffered at the hands of Blogger -who do not seem to want to discuss the problems.

Anyway, it gives me the chance to answer a couple questions.

Firstly: "Why are you mentioning these other German characters?  If you published the first German super heroes/team then shouldn't you just be posting about that?"

Answer...well, I may be a comic creator but I am also, obviously, also a comic fan.  I keep looking for things I may have missed -as with the Captain Berlin post: 

http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/captain-berlingermanys-only-super.html

I just stared and racked my brains because I had NEVER heard of the character.  How did I miss him?  WHAAAT?!  Then a bit more digging and I found out.  Not an actual comic character.

Wind Konig. Dorn, Der Engel I liked.  I am a big fan of Dorn and am still waiting for #5 to appear! Fellow blogger, Subzero then alerted me to -and later supplied me with the issues- of New Arden.  Though he and his brother, Enrique had created their own super heroes a few years back in the form of Power Freaks.

So I like to see these things and other people's take on super heroes in Germany. I do not have the exclusive rights to creating German super heroes!  That would be rather dull.

If I had the chance, yes, if it was paying work, I would sit down and write/draw D-Gruppe and the characters that revolve around the group until I drop dead at my drawing board aged 110 with the final panel of a story with all the solutions, unfinished.

It's the way I roll.

To be more honest I would have to say I would write and pencil D-Gruppe but I think an inker of the style and quality of Ben R. Dilworth would need to be the inker.  Never know.  Also, I would have a go at translating into German all the D-Gruppe stories to date since the first story "The Revenge Of The Ice Queen"/Die Rache der Eis-Königin was only ever badly translated by German publication Watcher in the late 1980s.

Oh, and D-Gruppe in colour.

I like to live in hope that some publisher might be interested one day but at the moment a lot of German comic publishers are very "arty" and you mention "super heroes" and they begin wretching and their heads explode.

Anyway, onto the posting and fingers crossed this does not vanish!

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I am not sure WHY Blogger does this but older posts tend to have images that vanish after a few weeks/months.  No reason why this should happen but I'm told now that this also applies to my German comics post of last October.

Well, it's been a year and a lot of new people here so why not re-post the complete-with-all-images post?


WINDKONIG -Herr Der Luft (WIND KING -Lord of the Air) Well, despite all my trying -I did even send an order to Crago Verlag who published Germania Comics Teams fan based superhero- but I never ever got a copy of issue 1.  That said, I have issues 2 and 3 (signed by the Team) but part 1 was in …two parts? So issue 3 would really be issue 4?

Dr. Thomas Richter is a doctor specializing in the treatment of children and is based in the city of Bochum. As I do not have his origin issue all I can tell you is that when Richter changes into Windkonig he can control the wind and air via a “Gurtel” (belt) he wears.

He first appeared in Der Comic-Herold 2, from Crago Verlag in Marz 1996 (or at least a pin up did).  then, in issue 3, dated December, 1996, the character appeared in a strip drawn by Damir Hamidovic -“Abenteuer Strasse” (Adventure Street). The first actual title bearing his name that he starred in came out in 2002. The third and final issue appeared in 2004 and after that….

Nothing.

Santiago Ruiz (Subzero) and his brother did try to interest Germania Comics Team in a Windkonig storyline but it was rejected. I did actually draw a 4 pager but heard nothing back.

I’ve just found that issues are still (?) available from here -but check first:

___________________________

On German Super Heroes And Why I Am STILL The “Daddy”! ego! ego! ego!

Anyway, those of you speaking German will notice that on the front cover it reads: “Deutschlands erster Superheld” -Germany's First Super Hero. hmm. Not quite.

http://www.roki-art.de/5.html

Interior art varied from good to pretty amateurish but this was a fan character and the point is at least they got the character into his own short-lived book. I understand costs and a few other internal problems saw an end to the character which is a pity.

And then we have….

Dorn -Der Morgenstern

Without doubt my favourite German super hero has to be Dorn -Der Morgenstern (Thorn -The Morning Star). I wrote a rather lengthy post on his origins a good while back so in case you missed it….

When Helden Turned Into Dorn Der Morgenstern

 There are a few German comics -Small Press, Idependent- that I like to get out every-so-often and re-read. Nostalgia and big chunk o’ fun all in one. Randalf Paker may not mean much to English language comic fans but in 2001 Caption Comics published the comic series that he wrote and drew based upon a long running role playing game (RPG) he was games master of.

The title, Helden/Heroes was initially sold in gaming shops but really took off and spawned the comic.  So what was it about?

This is from the IPP website -http://ipp-comics.de/en/

Helden (Heroes) is the retelling of the fantasy role-playing game group that I led as the gaming master. The charakters and story of this group were so exciting, I had to write it down somehow. Since I love drawing, I used the COMIC to tell the story. —Ralf Paul

In this story seven heroes from the farthest corners of the World meet and stumble into their first adventure. In the center of it all is the mercenary Benwick, who, because of the imprisonment of his mother, is forced into a difficult mission…

The colour blowing your mind yet? I love this! Unfortunately, I can’t show the gorier scenes!

The heroes gathered.  Well, almost. I can tell you that this image says it all.

  Thank goodness he’s wearing that loin cloth!!!

I show people the cover below and they mostly all go “oooh” I’m just not sure why??!

Things are fickle in gaming and comics. As issue 6 was finished the interest had waned to such a degree that the cost of high quality printing, especially in pre-print on demand days, was too high.

Nr 6 felt bulkier than usual (all the IPP books were printed on top quality thick paper stock) what I found inside was the cover and,uh, issue nr 7!  Yes, the heroes finally get together and…well.  Nothing nice happens.

What is more there is a nice ending involving a rather bloodied Morning Star. “What’s a ‘morning star’?”  Its like a mace with spikes -DON’T you even dare ask “What’s a mace, then?”!!!!

Though I tried order the new title, when I heard that the follow-up was to be titled Dorn Der Morgenstern/Thorn The Morning Star, no comic shop was interested in getting me copies.  Why? It was foreign language and was not carried by Diamond. That made it “impossible” to get hold of.

So what did I do? I sent an email to Ideenschmiede Paul & Paul GbR and got a nice email back and…voila! I got Dorn 1-4.

Was I impressed? Of course I was.  Other than Helge “Herod” Korda and Mathias “EmdE” Dinter who were producing the semi parody Heroes From The Black Lagoon only one other person I knew was doing German super heroes -me, starting in the early 1980s with D-Gruppe.

This was no American artist drawing a super hero based in what an American artist thought Germany looked like: this was a German creator.

The IPP web site explains Dorn…

“The Morningstar also known as Dorn” describes the life of Paul Paker – a computer genius and game freak. An experiment gone awry and murdering circumstances have pushed him into a corner of society. Only an idea as phantastic as the events which put him there can release him. This improvised idea results in an ingenious but rather complex plan.

A German Super Hero.

Yes, folks, before Der Engel there was Dorn..a German Superhero. Well, he had to sort things out first such as a costume and a name.

 Take a look at the lovely artwork below.

One of my favourite spreads from the comic comes when Dorn reveals himself on TV!

For various reasons the title never got beyond nr 4 and I’m sure that I’m not the only one who heaved a depressive sigh.  But now….HOPE!

My scanner decided to crap out on me so I thought I’d check online for cover images but apart from my previous items on the series I found only one other source -IPP.  A company I thought was no more!  And I found something a few of us have been hoping for a loooong time now -Dorn nr. 5 is currently being put together!

The gift in the cracker is that, as you’ll notice on the cover scans not my own, Helden and Dorn can be read as web comics.  So check out the IPP web-comics if you speak German but if not there is still a LOT of great art!

In more recent years we have had The NextArt publishing Tomppa’s Der Engel

The below cover and art are from a German comic titled Der Engel (The Angel) by Tomppa (that’s him in the photo below).

above Tomppa

 I published the following on the old CBO so….

Regulars will recall that I had posted on the fact that there was no reason why there could not be UK based super heroes, you just needed to adapt them to UK settings, etc.. Subzero on his Tales From The Kryptonian blog (see blog roll) followed this about German super heroes.  The same thing applied.

However, we both noted how hostile certain factions in both German and UK comics were to even attempting home grown super heroes.

I need to point out that Tomppa has done just that.  He has taken a scenario and based his character in Berlin in the year 2029 -not that far off really.  The story works well and there is good characterisation and I think that Der Engel will one day become a classic German comic series -rather like Dorn Der Morgenstern has become legendary.

What struck me was the art style.  In the first issue it looks a little sketchy and crude in places, though the architecture looks great.  I ought to point out that there is nothing wrong with the art -bear with me I’m getting there!  In the second issue the art improves and there is some nice usage of effects.  We then get to issue 3 where the art has improved greatly -better use of washes and much, much more.

This had me puzzled.  Then I looked at the dates of the comics.  Nr. 1 -2009.  Nr. 2 -2010 and Nr. 3 -2012.  That explains a lot as you would not expect such a change in quality over three issues produced in the same year (there are exceptions).

If you are one of CBOs German regulars and you’ve not bought the series yet -please do!  And I know there are people out there who like to collect  super hero books in other languages to compare or as novelties -Der Engel is one you ought to try.

With all the events going on at the moment with revolutions, mass rallies and attempted supression I think Der Engel is, and will continue to be, contempory even in ten years time.  The world changes that little.

Now, when does Der Engel action figure arrive???

There isn’t one?!  Oh.  Have a big helping of art then!

Remember there is a The NextArt link on the blog roll but you can use this link to browse and buy:

http://www.thenextart.de/verlag/index.html

Der Engel Nr. 1

Autor/Zeichner: Tomppa
28 Seiten, s/w/rot, US-Comic-Format
4,00 EUR
ISBN: 978-3-939400-28-8

Berlin in 2029. The cityscape has changed completely. Violence in the streets is a daily occurrence. Here the Angel goes on his own personal vendetta little realizing the dimensions of the conspiracy he has become caught up in.

Der Engel Nr. 2

Author / Illustrator: Tomppa

28 pages, b / w / red, U.S. comic format

4.00 EUR

ISBN: 978-3-939400-25-7

The assassination of the governing mayor of Berlin is on the verge of executed. Will the Angel be able to save him -and what happens if he cannot?

Der Engel nr. 3

Author / Illustrator: Tomppa

28 pages, b / w / red, U.S. comic format

5.00 EUR

ISBN 978-3-939400-38-7

The action intensifies as the Angel tries to intervene in the conflict and a new masked man appears.  However, the Angel’s intervention has tragic consequences.

 Not heard much since I did these reviews but I have fingers and toes crossed in the hope of seeing more of Der Engel!

All I know about New Arden is what Subzero posted over on Tales From The Kryptonian

http://talesfromthekryptonian.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/d-gruppe-germanys-first-super-hero-team.html

“A series that wasn´t afraid of being labeled as a superhero comic was NEW ARDEN CHRONICLES from Final Art Comics in 1999 which clearly showed it´s influences like the art of Todd McFarlane and the Image comics of the 1990s.”

So that’s a complete mystery to me!

(a 2014 up-date: No, still not found any copies of this comic!!)

 

I should not forget The Power Freaks written and drawn by Santiago and Enriques Ruiz. In 2011 Santiago wrote to me:

“As for german publishers not liking superheroes ( aside from the successful ones from other countries ) we made the same experience. Which was how we came to self publish POWER FREAKS. We never intended to but nobody was interested not even the independent publishers and suddenly people go from ” It's impossible to do German superheroes. ” to ” It´s impossible to do MORE THAN ONE ISSUE OF german superheroes. ”

That was the late 1990s? I’d add a cover image but can’t find the comic so here’s an interior page!

My own D-Gruppe was parodied by Helge “Herod” Korda back in the 1980s in a mini comic title “D-Suppe” (D-Soup). Sadly, my copy was stolen. And I am still pissed about that.

And, although after D-Gruppe, Heroes Of The Black Lagoon by Helge and drawn by Mathias (EmdE) Dinter was the only other German originated super heroes -if a parody. I still like looking through it over twenty years later!

Above: Never saw or managed to get a copy of this and, apparently, those selling copies in Germany on ebay will NOT sell outside of Germany!

I mentioned Captain Berlin at the start of this post

According to Weissblech Comics https://weissblechcomics.com/onlineshop/captain_berlin_1

 Springing from the grainy celluloid of an amateur Super 8 film  Berlin's only true superhero fought through a radio play, went on to a stage play, was again film ... and finally arrived  the origin of  CAPTAIN BERLIN as he steps into a comic book!

In collaboration with Captain Berlin-creator and Horror Director Jörg Buttgereit, for the first time we collect the Captain Berlin comic books in one volume.

Also presented: Operation Downfall (created by Levin Kurio and Rainer F. Engel for a DVD booklet) and Captain Berlin against Fukuda (by Jörg Buttgereit and Martin Trafford)!

 

And THANKS to German blogger (Tales From The Kryptonian) Subzero I have copies!  Yes, I was told over and over it was a joke "there is NO Captain Berlin comic!"  

Hah!

Copies of D-Gruppe strips did circulate in Germany and the zine Plop! was interested at one point but I’ve no idea what happened there or even to then editor Heike Anacker (?).

In 1989 a German Small Press publisher was the first to actually publish the strip in German but the mess that was made…well, here’s the posting I did.

Watcher Das Internationale magazin fuer Phantastik was a photocopied fanzine of sorts published by Chris Dohr from Trier, in Germany.  It covered movies -such as The Fly (original), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Willow, the TV series UFO as well as fantasy literature and comics.

There were some great single illoes by American Dave Fontaine, from Attleboro-where is he now?? The third issue of Watcher contained a lengthy strip by David Stepheson (from the UK -another “Where is he now!?”) The Master Of Mengerheim (a strip originally published in Black Tower Previews Comic.

But earlier in 1989, Chris published the first story featuring D-Gruppe -Rache Der Eis Konigin. By 1989 “Gruppe D” as it was title in the magazine, was a well known strip in Germany amongst fans. Helge “Herod” Korda had already parodied it in a mini comic titled D-Suppe (“D-Soup”) which I no longer have sadly.

I was not very impressed by the way the strip was presented (crooked printing on some pages) but where I had a big problem was…the translation.  Ice Queen is feminine so it should have been “Die” rather than “Der” (?). I was also surprised that the name of a German national monument such as Externsteinen was miss-spelt as “Externen Steinen”!

Although I was not too keen on this German version I was surprised to learn that it had been copied and distributed to comic fans in East Germany where there was a strong underground zine scene.

But what the heck -here, unedited, is the story from Watcher. Herod -if you see this PLEASE tell me you still have a copy of “D-Suppe”!!!

I think in some interview I outlined how D-Gruppe came about. Created while I was still a kid in Germany. So, the group and characters were created in Germany by someone whose mother and family was German.  And the Previews New Talent comic featuring  the first story went to publishers in Germany blah! blah! blah!

So, basically, Der Engel, Windkonig, “New Arden” -yah-boo-sucks! 

I beatcha all! (inkplosions online comic strip “Versus” did not appear until 2001).

Come on, Germany -give me respect!!