Ralf König (born 8 August 1960) is one of the best known and most commercially successful German

comic book creator developed specialized terminology. Some several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is un ...

s. His books have been translated into many languages. He has resided in Soest,

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and now lives in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Biography

After attending a German

Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...

, König completed an apprenticeship, learning the trade of a

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

. In 1979, he

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as a gay man, and about this time he created short comics stories that appeared in the Munich underground magazine ''Zomix'' and the gay periodical ''Rosa Flieder''. He returned to school from 1981 to 1986, attending the public

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová, ...

and pursuing a major in free art (''Freie Kunst''). Also in 1981, his early collected comics were published by the gay publishing house Verlag rosa Winkel as ''SchwulComix'' (''GayComix''). In 1987, he wrote ''The Killer Condom'' (''Kondom des Grauens''), his first comic with a continuous story, which was later produced as a film. In the German-speaking world, König's comics have a vast homosexual fan base. Despite initial skepticism about the prospect of a broader audience due to his works' frequent setting within the gay milieu, his comics have achieved considerable popularity among heterosexual readers as well. A few of his comics have been adapted into films, and several have translated into other languages. By 2008, his total publications exceeded 5 million copies. Since November 2017, König is an Ambassador of intaktiv e.V., an association against ritual circumcision of male children.

Works

König's stories are drawn in an expressive

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

style. Consistently written with

humour Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

, they occasionally deal with serious themes such as the tension between sexual freedom and the risk of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

infection. His work has repeatedly portrayed daily routines of gay life, often based on personal experiences of himself and his friends. He has also written works that deal centrally with heterosexuals (''Der bewegte Mann'', ''Hempels Sofa'') and with religious themes, criticizing literalist readings of the bible (''Prototyp'' and ''Archetyp'') as well as Islamic fundamentalism (''Dschinn Dschinn'') .

Comics

* ''Sarius'', 1981 * ''Das sensationelle Comic-Book'', 1981 * ''SchwulComix'' (Gay Comics), 1981 * ''SchwulComix 2'' (Gay Comics 2), 1984 * ''Macho Comix'' (Macho Comix), 1984 * ''SchwulComix 3'' (Gay Comics 3), 1985 * ''SchwulComix 4'' (Gay Comics 4), 1986 * ''Kondom des Grauens'' (The Killer Condom), 1987 * ''Der bewegte Mann'' (Maybe...Maybe Not), 1987 * ''Lysistrata'', 1987 * ''Pretty Baby'', 1988 (Maybe...Maybe Not Again!, sequel to ''Der bewegte Mann'') * ''Comics, Cartoons, Critzeleien'', 1988 * ''Safere Zeiten'' (Safer Times), 1988 * ''Beach Boys'', 1989 * ''Prall aus dem Leben'' (Life to the Full), 1989 * ''Bis auf die Knochen'' (To the Bones), 1990 (sequel to ''Kondom des Grauens'') * ''Heiße Herzen'' (Flaming Hearts), 1990 (with

Detlev Meyer Detlev is a German given name. It is a spelling variant of Detlef. People with this name Notable people with this name include: *Detlev Blanke (born 1941), interlinguistics lecturer at Humboldt University of Berlin *Detlev Bronk (1897–1975), ...

) * ''Zitronenröllchen'' (Lemon cake), 1990 * ''Schwulxx-Comix'' (Gay Comix), 1990 (with

Walter Moers Walter Moers (; born 24 May 1957 in Mönchengladbach) is a German comic creator and author. Life and work Moers held odd jobs after leaving school before starting a commercial apprenticeship. He taught himself how to draw, and has been publis ...

) * ''Deutsche Tuntenpost'', 1991 * ''Bullenklöten!'' (Bull's Balls), 1992 * ''...und das mit links!'', 1993 * ''Konrad und Paul'', 1993 * ''Konrad und Paul 2'', 1994 * ''Konrad und Paul 3'', 1997 * ''Jago'', 1998 * ''Superparadise'', 1999 (sequel to ''Bullenklöten'') * ''Poppers! Rimming! Tittentrimm!'', 2001 * ''Wie die Karnickel'' (like bunnies), 2002 * ''Sie dürfen sich jetzt küssen'', 2003 (Third part of ''Bullenklöten'') * ''Suck my duck'', 2004 * ''Roy und Al'', 2004 * ''Dschinn Dschinn: Der Zauber des Schabbar'', 2005 * ''Dschinn Dschinn 2: Schleierzwang im Sündenpfuhl'', 2006 * ''Trojanische Hengste'', 2006 * ''Hempels Sofa'', 2007 * ''Stutenkerle'', 2008 * ''Prototyp'', 2008 * ''Archetyp'', 2009 * ''Antityp'', 2010 * ''Der Dicke König'', 2011 * ''Elftausend Jungfrauen'', 2012 * ''Herbst in der Hose'', 2017 * ''Santa Claus Junior'', 2017 * ''Stehaufmännchen'', 2019

Films

* ''

Der bewegte Mann ''Der bewegte Mann'' (international title: ''The Most Desired Man'', U.S. title: ''Maybe ... Maybe Not'') is a 1994 German comedy film directed by Sönke Wortmann and starring Til Schweiger, Rufus Beck, Joachim Król and Katja Riemann. The film ...

'', 1994 * '' Kondom des Grauens'', 1996 (script by Ralf König) * '' Wie die Karnickel'', 2002 (script by Ralf König) * '' Lisístrata'', Spain 2002 (following ''

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...

'')

English translations

Some of König's books have been translated into English. First was ''Kondom des Grauens'', published as ''The Killer Condom'' (1991, reprint 2009). The two-part book ''Der bewegte Mann''/''Pretty Baby'' appeared as ''Maybe... Maybe Not'' (1998)/''Maybe... Maybe Not Again!'' (1999). Later translations include ''Bullenklöten'' as ''Bull's Balls'' (2002), ''Roy und Al'' as ''Roy & Al'' (2006) and ''Down to the Bone'' (2011).

Documentary

A 2012 German documentary film directed by

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, painter and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world. In ov ...

named ''König des Comics'' follows König's life and work. Besides König, those interviewed include

Hella von Sinnen Hella Kemper (born 2 February 1959), known by her stage name Hella von Sinnen (lit. ''Hella out of her mind'', making pun of the aristocratic "von"), is a German entertainer and television presenter. She has been a regular on several TV shows o ...

, Ralph Morgenstern,

Joachim Król Joachim Król (, born 17 June 1957 in Herne, West Germany) is a German actor, known for his appearances in the films '' Run Lola Run'', '' Maybe, Maybe Not'', and '' Anne Frank: The Whole Story''. Early life and education Król was born in H ...

as well as friends and admirers of the cartoonist, like a Swiss fan who visits his beloved writer, a couple of friends who played important roles during König's youth, a comic book seller etc. The film also includes clips from König's comic public readings. It was screened at various festivals such as

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, and San Sebastian. It reached a wider audience than most of von Praunheim's documentaries and it is available for streaming on digital platforms.

Awards

* ''Joop Klepzeiker Prijs'', 1988 * ''Best German comic creator'', Grenoble, 1990 * '' Max-und-Moritz'' Prize, 1992 * ''Best International Comic Creator'', Barcelona, 1992 * ''

Bundesfilmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

'' for the movie

, 1995 * ''

Goldene Leinwand The Goldene Leinwand (Golden Screen) is an award created in 1964 by the HDF ("Hauptverband Deutscher Filmtheater e.V.", literally translated "Federal Association For Movie Theatres") and the journal ''Filmecho/Filmwoche''. Like a Golden Record, it ...

mit Stern'' for the movie Der bewegte Mann, 1995 * ''Goldener RIK'', Köln, 2002 * ''Zivilcourage-Preis des Berliner CSD'', Berlin, 2004 * ''Prix Alph’Art'',

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

, 2005 * ''Premio miglior storia lunga'', 2005 * ''Max-und-Moritz Prize'', 2006 * ''Max-und-Moritz Prize'', 2010

References

Ralf König publications
from Goethe-Institut Footnotes

External links

Ralf König official site

on Lambiek Comiclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Ralf 1960 births People from Soest, Germany Gay artists German comics artists German comics writers Living people LGBT comics creators LGBT artists from Germany Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni German male writers