Walter Moers (; born 24 May 1957 in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

) is a German comic creator and author.

Life and work

Moers held odd jobs after leaving school before starting a commercial

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

. He taught himself how to draw, and has been publishing since 1984. He first became known for cartoon-like comics that were marked by an ironic view of the world and a conscious violation of

political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

. Many of his works first appeared in the

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

magazine ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

''. Although he doesn't contribute to the magazine anymore, he's still listed as contributor. His last work published in 'Titanic' was the Superhero-Parody 'Deadman' (not to be confused with the DC-Comics Superhero of the same name, Moers' character was just a dead man lying in a coffin for three pages without a word or any change in the pictures). He rarely allows being photographed or interviewed, and every aspect of his biography (including name and date of birth) should be treated with caution. His best-known comic characters are: * Das kleine Arschloch (The little asshole), a precocious and irreverent little boy who constantly gets one over on the adults. * Der alte Sack (The old curmudgeon), a terminally ill old man in a wheel chair who makes sarcastic comments on what he sees. * Adolf, die Nazisau (Adolf, the Nazi swine), an absurd interpretation of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

in today's world. * Käpt'n Blaubär ( Capt'n Bluebear), a sea-faring bear with blue fur, who spins ridiculous pirate yarns, all of which, he claims, are true. In addition to these comics clearly intended for an adult audience, Moers also writes stories and books that he has been publishing since 1985. In 1988, his first "Käpt'n Blaubär" story was published, a character that has since been popular on TV, in books, and in audio cassettes. Starting in 1999 with ''

The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear ''The 13 Lives of Captain Bluebear'' is a 1999 fantasy novel by German writer and cartoonist Walter Moers which details the numerous lives of a human-sized bear with blue fur. Though the novel was originally written in German, an English translati ...

'', Moers has more recently become known for his novels, especially the ''Zamonia'' series. Moers wrote both the

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

and the song lyrics for the movie ' (1997) and the script for the movie ''Käpt'n Blaubär - Der Film'' (1999).

Zamonia series

The first novel of the ''Zamonia'' series, ''Die 13½ Leben des Käpt’n Blaubär,'' was originally published in 1999. The Captain Bluebear appearing in this novel is very distinct from the one portrayed in a popular German children's series '' Sendung mit der Maus''. There, Captain Bluebear appears as a grandfather, whereas he is still a youngster in the novel. The book is written for adolescents and adults rather than for children. It introduces the reader to the fictional world of ''Zamonia'' by providing, among other things, a detailed map and descriptions of its various inhabitants. The second ''Zamonia'' novel is '' Ensel und Krete'' which has not been published in English. The title intentionally misspells

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hansel ...

, and the plot bears only thin parallels to it. After ''Ensel und Krete,'' the ''Zamonia'' series continued with '' Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures'', '' The City of Dreaming Books'', '' The Alchemaster's Apprentice'', '' Prinzessin Insomnia & der alptraumfarbene Nachtmahr (literally, Princess Insomnia and the nightmare-coloured Nightmare)'', and '' The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books''. All of these novels, except Captain Bluebear and Rumo, include prefaces that explains to the reader that the fictional character ''Hildegunst von Mythenmetz'' is the actual author and that Walter Moers only translated the books from the Zamonian language to German. In the ''Zamonia'' series, each book contains detailed illustrations drawn by Moers; many portray creatures that Moers invented himself. Apart from these drawings,

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into ''nag a ram'', also the word ...

s and

intertextuality Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text, either through deliberate compositional strategies such as quotation, allusion, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche or parody,Gerard Genette (1997) ''Paratexts'p.18/ref>H ...

play a key role in the style of Moers' novels.

Works available in English translation

*''Little Asshole'', 1991, Eichborn, *''

'', 2000 (UK) / 2005 (US) *''

A Wild Ride Through the Night ''A Wild Ride Through the Night'' is a novel by the German author/cartoonist Walter Moers. It was first published in German in 2001 and is the story of Gustave Doré, a young boy who goes on a fantastical adventure to defy Death. The story is bas ...

'', 2004 *'' Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures : a novel in two books'', 2004 *'' The City of Dreaming Books'', 2006. *'' The Alchemaster's Apprentice'', 2009 (English Edn). 978-1-846-55222-9 *'' The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books'', 2012 (English Edn)

Works

* ''Die Klerikalen'', 1985 (comic) * ''Aha!'', 1985 (comic) * ''Hey!'', 1986 (comic) * ''Das Tier'' (the animal), 1987 (story with pictures) * ''Schweinewelt'' (pigs' world), 1987 (comic) * ''Die Schimauski-Methode'' (the Schimauski method), 1987 (children's book) * ''Herzlichen Glückwunsch'' (congratulations), 1985 (comic) * ''Von ganzem Herzen'' (whole-heartedly), 1989 (comic) * ''Kleines Arschloch'' (little asshole), 1990 (comic) * ''Schöne Geschichten'' (beautiful stories), 1991 (comic) * ''Das kleine Arschloch kehrt zurück'' (the little asshole returns), 1991 (comic) * ''Schöner leben mit dem kleinen Arschloch'' (better living with the little asshole), 1992 (illustrated satires) * ''Es ist ein Arschloch, Maria'' (it's an asshole, Mary), 1992 (comic) * ''Der alte Sack, ein kleines Arschloch und andere Höhepunkte des Kapitalismus'' (the old curmudgeon, a little asshole and other pinnacles of capitalism), 1993 (comic) * ''Arschloch in Öl'' (asshole in oil), 1993 (graphical

parodies A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

) * ''Du bist ein Arschloch, mein Sohn'' (you're an asshole, son), 1995 (comic) * ''Sex und Gewalt'' (sex and violence), 1995 (comic) * ''Wenn der Pinguin zweimal klopft'' (the penguin always knocks twice), 1997 (comic) * ' (little asshole), 1997 (movie: script and song lyrics) * ''Adolf'', 1998 (comic) * ''Feuchte Träume'' (wet dreams), 1999 (comic) * ''Adolf, Teil 2'' (Adolf, part 2), 1999 (comic) * '' Die 13½ Leben des Käpt'n Blaubär'' (The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear), 1999 (novel) * ''Käpt'n Blaubär – Der Film'' (captain Bluebear – the movie), 1999 (movie: script; for children) * '' Ensel und Krete'' (''the plot of which is loosely based on "Hansel and Gretel"''), 2000 (novel) * ''Schwulxx-Comix'' (gay'xx comix), 2000 (comic, with

Ralf König Ralf König (born 8 August 1960) is one of the best known and most commercially successful German comic book creators. His books have been translated into many languages. He has resided in Soest, Dortmund and Berlin and now lives in Cologne. B ...

) * '' Wilde Reise durch die Nacht'' (A Wild Ride Through the Night), 2001 (novel) * ''Schamlos!'' (unashamedly!), 2001 (comics with additional material) * ''Der Fönig'' (the Fing), 2002 (story with pictures about a King who always mixes up the letters "F" and "K") * '' Rumo & Die Wunder im Dunkeln'' (Rumo : And His Miraculous Adventures), 2003 (novel) * '' Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher'' (The City of Dreaming Books), 2004 (novel) * ''Adolf. Der Bonker'' (Adolf. The Bunker), 2005 (comic, the truth about Adolf Hitler's last days in the bunker) * ' (The little asshole and the old curmudgeon – To die is shit), 2006 (movie: script) * '' Der Schrecksenmeister'', (The Alchemaster's Apprentice) 2007 (novel) * '' Das Labyrinth der Träumenden Bücher'', (The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books), 2011 (novel) * ''Die Insel der Tausend Leuchttürme'', (The Island of a Thousand Lighthouses), not yet published (novel)

References

External links