Coiled Comics

Notice: Next week’s page may be late!

I am traveling with limited internet access next week. It’ll be up by Friday for sure.

Recommended Graphic Novels: Union of Heroes

By Peter

I recently came across a German “photocomic” called Union of Heroes. A photocomic is just what is sounds like: a comic strip that uses photography rather than drawn art. I’ve seen attempts at this before, and they always look stupid, but Union of Heros makes it work. Every so often, a page is animated, often with special effects. This is a technique that I find annoying in regular comics, but in Union of Heros, it’s extremely effective, making the photographs come alive.

The plot is that a young man is offered a chance to go to a parallel universe where he will replace the superhero who is that universe’s version of himself. In coming into the parallel universe, he gains the power to change parts of his body into metal, becoming the Erzangle (which can be translated as either Archangel or Ore-Angel).

It’s not a sophisticated plot, and the characters are pretty flat. (Ironically, the realism of the medium somehow makes the characters flatter.) But the photography is so beautiful, and many of the models look so natural, that I found myself drawn to it. The English dialog reads like subtitles in a German movie – not quite natural, but good enough that you know what they mean.  And it gives you a little view into what life is like for young people in Germany today. If you have a chance, check it out.