Moers, Walter
Entry updated 28 November 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1957- ) German comics writer/illustrator and author, most of whose early work was in Comics, of greatest sf interest being the Adolf, die Nazisau ["Adolf, the Nazi Pig"] sequence, comprising Adolf (graph 1998) and Adolf, Teil 2 ["Adolf, Part 2"] (graph 1999), a Satirical Alternate History tale in which Hitler and Hermann Goering, who have both survived World War Two, are hired by the American CIA to assassinate various figures, including President Kennedy and Martin Luther King; their ultimate goal is to start World War Three.
Most of Moers's work is fantastical, and can be thought of as contributing to post-War Fantastika (see Germany since 1990), though little of it can be understood as straightforward sf. But there is a heavily foregrounded Equipoisal element in his Zamonia sequence, beginning with Die 13½ Leben des Käpt'n Blaubär (1999; trans Alan Brownjohn as The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear 2000) [for subtitle see Checklist below], in which the fantasy adventures of the eponymous magic bear are elucidated through the spoof scientism of Professor Nightingale's Encyclopedia, which (as it were) attempts to reduce the land of Zamonia itself to the mundane: unsuccessfully. Wilde Reise durch die Nacht: Nach einundzwanzig Bildern von Gustave Doré (2001; trans John Brownjohn as A Wild Ride through the Night: Suggested by Twenty-One Illustrations by Gustave Doré 2003), describes the dreamlike event-filled Night Journey [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below] of a twelve-year old named Gustave Doré; the events of his wild ride are seen to have inspired Doré's own extravagant illustrations for various works of fantasy, plus (incongruously) the Bible. [JC]
Walter Moers
born Mönchengladbach, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany: 24 May 1957
works
series
Zamonia
- Die 13½ Leben des Käpt'n Blaubär (Frankfurt, Germany: Vito von Eichborn Gmbh, 1999) [Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear: Being the Demibiography of a Seagoing Bear, with Numerous Illustrations and Excerpts from the "Encyclopedia of the Marvels, Life Forms and Other Phenomena of Zamonia and its Environs" (London: Secker and Warburg, 2000) [trans by John Brownjohn of the above: Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- Ensel und Krete: ein Märchen aus Zamonien von Hildegunst von Mythenmetz; mit Erläuterungen aus dem Lexikon der erklärungsbedürftigen Wunder, Daseinsformen und Phänomene Zamoniens und Umgebung von Professor Dr. Abdul Nachtigaller ["Ensel and Krete: a Fairy Tale from Zamonian ..."] (Frankfurt, Germany: Vito von Eichborn Gmbh, 2000) [Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- Rumo and die Wunder im Dunkeln: Ein Roman in zwei Büchern (Munich, Germany: Piper, 2003) [Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures: A Novel in Two Books (London: Secker and Warburg, 2004) [trans by John Brownjohn of the above: Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher (Munich, Germany: Piper, 2004) [Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- The City of Dreaming Books: A Novel from Zamonia by Optimus Yarnspinner: Translated from the Zamonia and Illustrated by Walter Moers (London: Harvill Secker, 2006) [trans by John Brownjohn of the above: Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- Der Schrecksenmeister (Munich, Germany: Piper, 2007) [Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- The Alchemaster's Apprentice (London: Harvill Secker, 2009) [trans by John Brownjohn of the above: Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- Das Labyrinth der Träumenden Bücher (Munich, Germany: Albrecht Knaus Verlag, 2011) [Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
- The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel from Zamonia by Optimus Yarnspinner: Translated from the Zamonia and Illustrated by Walter Moers (London: Harvill Secker, 2012) [trans by John Brownjohn of the above: Zamonia: illus/hb/Walter Moers]
individual titles (selected)
- Wilde Reise durch die Nacht: Nach einundzwanzig Bildern von Gustave Doré (Frankfurt, Germany: Vito von Eichborn Gmbh, 2001) [illus/hb/from Gustave Doré]
- A Wild Ride through the Night: Suggested by Twenty-One Illustrations by Gustave Doré (London: Secker and Warburg, 2003) [trans by John Brownjohn of the above: illus/hb/from Gustave Doré]
comics (selected)
- Kleines Arschloch ["Little Asshole"] (Frankfurt, Germany: Vito von Eichborn Gmbh, 1990) [graph: illus/binding unknown/Walter Moers]
- Adolf (Frankfurt, Germany: Vito von Eichborn Gmbh, 1998) [graph: Adolf, the Nazi Pig: illus/binding unknown/Walter Moers]
- Adolf, Teil 2 ["Adolf, Part 2"] (Frankfurt, Germany: Vito von Eichborn Gmbh, 1999) [graph: Adolf, the Nazi Pig: illus/binding unknown/Walter Moers]
links
previous versions of this entry