''Sarajevo Tango'' is an anti-war

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

by Hermann initially released in 1995. ''Sarajevo Tango'' is also the first of Hermann's big works done in direct color, and according to several critics, one of his finest. On the surface the book follows a crime story that takes place in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

during the

Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav ...

(1992–1996). However, in the background Hermann clearly shows his disgust with the international community‚ in particular with its lack of action and decisiveness in preventing killings that occurred in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

during the entire war. Key figures such as

Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (; , ar, بطرس بطرس غالي ', ; 14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1992 to 1996. An academic ...

Yasushi Akashi Yasushi Akashi (明石康 ''Akashi Yasushi'', born January 19, 1931 in Hinai, Akita, Hinai, Akita Prefecture) is a senior Japanese diplomat and United Nations Administration (government), administrator. Overview Akashi graduated with Bachelo ...

, General

Lewis MacKenzie Lewis Wharton MacKenzie Order of Canada, CM, Meritorious Service Cross, MSC, Order of Ontario, OOnt, Canadian Forces Decoration, CD (born 30 April 1940) is a Canadian retired major general, author and media Pundit (expert), commentator. MacKenzi ...

, and British diplomat Lord

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...

are portrayed in the book as active participants, though often under slightly modified names. The book is dedicated to the innocent victims of

Sarajevo siege The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav ...

and

Bosnian war The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

. Copies of ''Sarajevo Tango'' were sent to various politicians,

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, and government officials, artists, journalists and global celebrities. The book is also dedicated to Karim Zaimović, a young journalist and publicist killed in

during the siege by

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

mortar shells;''

Strip Art Features Strip Art Features (SAF) is a comic-book publishing house and rights agent currently based in Celje, Slovenia. SAF was founded by comic book author and publisher Ervin Rustemagić in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1972. The company is known t ...

'' 1996 edition, p. 2. and in part to

Ervin Rustemagić Ervin Rustemagić (born 1952) is a Bosnians, Bosnian comic book publisher, distributor, and rights agent, born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and currently based in Slovenia. He is the founder of Strip Art Features (SAF) in Sarajevo, as well ...

, Hermann's personal friend and survivor of the

. English language rights to the book were awarded to Rustemagić's

. The book was also translated into Bosnian,

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

, In 1995 Herman received the

Durbuy Durbuy (; wa, Derbu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. The total area is 156.61 km², consisting of the following districts: Barvaux, Bende, Bomal, Borlon, Durbuy, Grandhan, Heyd, Izie ...

-Grand Prix for ''Sarajevo Tango''.

References

1995 graphic novels Dupuis titles Non-fiction graphic novels Bosnian War in comics Siege of Sarajevo in comics Graphic novels about war Graphic novels set in Europe Graphic novels set in the 1990s {{1990s-graphic-novel-stub