The ineinander series marks my first foray into self-publishing.
Inspired by the North American self-publishing wave of the 1990's, I founded my own publishing company in the year 2000 and published five issues that follow the lives of Pablo, Kai and Stepha, three twentysomethings living in contemporary Germany.
The narrative structure has a twist to it: the published issues constitute the first half of a larger story arc. Titled “vormittage” (“forenoons”), this part already tells the story from beginning to end, yet only sheds light on those parts of it that have taken place between 12 pm and 12 am.
The second half, titled “nachmittage” (“afternoons”) will be winding back the story to the very beginning, filling us in on those scenes that took place between midday and midnight.
In addition to describing the relationship between the three people, ineinander just as much describes the relationship between words and images themselves, constantly examining new ways both could be combined to tell a story.
The result has been equally lauded as an “experimental lab kit for the science of comics” as it has been panned as a mystifying “comic book of seven seals”.
And what can I say, everytime the storyline gathers momentum and begins to appear somewhat coherent, a sudden diversion occurs, a dream sequence, a sunday strip or, even worse, concrete poetry.
I'm very proud of this first larger story, written and drawn in my early twenties, and look forward to finishing it somewhere in the afternoon of my life.