Written Nov 1st

Last Saturday I visited Hannover with Anastasius, a Swiss WWOOFer who was also staying at La Chevrerie. We arrived in Hannover at around 10am and decided to do some wandering before meeting Marie & Ulf who had graciously agreed to let us stay at their house for the night. In the tourist office there were little business card sized pamphlets for various businesses in Hannover, including one for a comic book shop.

Of course, I had ot visit it. Following the tiny tourist map, we walked through the half empty streets, talking animatedly, until we’d walked right past the store. After asking a friendly Deutsche Post worker, we retraced our steps around the corner, into a regular bookstore, back out again, and finally into COMIX. I asked the people at the cash if they could provide some suggestions of good German comic books, which they graciously provided. I ended up buying Nase Ab, by Gernod Gayk, a Hannover artist, and an anthology celebrating Wilhelm Busch, one of the originators of the comic strip. I had an odd feeling that I’d heard of Nase Ab before, and as I read it, I became more sure that I’d read about it on the flight blog, or boltcity.com, however, google shows nothing, so who knows.

It’s really a fantastic book. The basic story is that there’s a man on the subway with no nose, and the people who walk past him each come up with a story about why. It’s an impressive book, since each story is told with a unique voice and unique artistic style.

I enjoyed it rather a lot, so since I was back in Hannover on Thursday with 12 hours to kill before my night train to Paris, I decided to go back to COMIX. After wandering about a bit and thanking the woman at the cash for her suggestions, I asked if there were any more comics by Gernod Gayk. She said, this is Gernod Gayk, you should ask him, and indicated the man standing next to her who she’d been teaching to use the price sticker machine a few minutes ago.

When I got over the “Buh, whaaaaaa?” stage, I otld him I’d really enjoyed his book, and asked him if he had any more. He told me that he’s working on another one, but it’s not finished yet. I shall definitely have to order it from my favourite canadian comic book store when it’s finished.

So now people will think I’m a big comic book nerd, having heard about an obscure German artist, then actually having met him. That’s a label I hope to be able to lay claim to in the future, but I don’t think I can yet.

I went on to spend 4 bloody long hours waiting in the cold for the train to Paris. Note for the future: 12 hours is more than needed to wait for a train. *sigh*

Posted in just one more eurotrip blog |

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