Second use with a difference: first there was the Kika series about anti-Semitism in schools, which the award-winning children’s and youth book author Andreas Steinhöfel (“Rico und Oskar”) helped to develop and write.
However, the story develops a different drive in the comic and at the same time allows for a closer look. In addition, she comes up with new ideas that Garanin introduces through varied page construction: She interweaves parallel storylines on one page – separated only by different colors. Elsewhere, images that appear to tilt into the vertical open up a new dimension.
The story: The environmental and animal rights activist Charly, Hamid from Syria and the clever all-rounder Benny are friends. Their favorite thing to do is play with the model railway, where everything is orderly, peaceful and controlled.
The reality is different: there are mainly the verbal attacks by Lennart, the leader of a pack of bullies and followers. “Eco goat” he scolds Charly. He calls Hamid, who draws manga, “Al Fratzi” and “Picasso”.
Benny, as a talented and charming basketball player, has so far been spared. That changes when his dying grandfather gives him a necklace with a Star of David. Only then does the boy find out that he is Jewish. Benny proudly wears the Star of David, but the consequences are increasing attacks.
The group of friends is also threatened with a split: Benny’s new identity unsettles Hamid, who comes from an Arab-Muslim background that rejects the state of Israel. Big politics invades the small world of friends. When Hamid is suspected of being a thief due to racist prejudices, the situation deteriorates further. Things only take a turn for the better after the showdown between Lennart and Benny.
If Hamid is the narrator in the Kika series, we experience everything here from Charly’s perspective. Your texts accompany and comment on the events, but optically recede into the background and let the drawings take the lead. They sometimes appear to have been scribbled, are colorful and often fill the format.
In many scenes, the emotionally charged black and white manga sequences by talented artist Hamid (by artist David Füleki) play an important role. Manga in a graphic novel that plays with elements of children’s comics: This is experimental and draws readers into the experience of the protagonists.
A strong moment: When the bullies Hamid play along badly again, the one lying on the ground in the manga swings up to become the powerful “superhero”. A hero who counters hatred and hatred with courage and resistance. Just as Hamid succeeds in the end.
