Sarajevo Through Image and Drawing

 

Last year, the comic book hero of the Sarajevo and regional scene, Ervin Rustemagić, passed away, and now he is followed by his faithful comic book companion, the giant of the world comic scene, Hermann Huppen. While various books about Sarajevo are being published simultaneously—such as "Art Under Siege: Poetics from the Ruins" and "Sarajevo in the 17th Century"—the life and work of Ervin Rustemagić created a different, yet clearly recognizable visual world of Sarajevo. While books often tell stories with words, comics do so with images.

At just 19 years old, Rustemagić founded the comic magazine "Strip Art" in Sarajevo. In 1984, "Strip Art" won the prestigious "Yellow Kid" award for the best comic magazine in the world. In the mid-1970s, his agency SAF began an ambitious collaboration with some of the world's leading comic authors. However, the SAF offices and Rustemagić’s home were completely destroyed at the beginning of the war in 1992, and Ervin remained trapped with his family until 1993. More than 14,000 original drawings by various authors were destroyed in the studio, including works by: Hal Foster, Doug Wildey, Joe Kubert, Warren Tufts, Sergio Aragonés, George McManus, Alex Raymond, Alberto Breccia, Carlos Meglia, André, Martin Lodewijk, Philippe Bercovici, Giorgio Cavazzano, and others.

Nevertheless, his wartime experiences in Sarajevo would find their illustrative depiction in two comic books. Based on Rustemagić’s collaboration and friendship with Joe Kubert and Hermann, two separate comics were created, both thematizing the Sarajevo war tragedy through the life of the Rustemagić family in besieged Sarajevo during 1992 and 1993.

„Fax from Sarajevo“

Joe Kubert wrote the graphic novel "Fax from Sarajevo," originally published in 1996, which went on to win numerous awards. It was named the best graphic novel of the year by the Washington Times. The theme of this graphic novel is heavy, mirroring the fate of Sarajevo in the 90s. The narrative consists of first-hand accounts from Ervin Rustemagić. From a time when the family's ethnicity was never an issue to the moment it became the central problem of their lives, the comic introduces us to the idea that our personal self-determination is not enough to protect us from evil. Everything changes when city streets are shelled from the hills, snipers target children, and fighter jets "buzz" over the house while tanks roll down the street in the middle of the night.

"While reports of something happening in Europe appeared on American television, the Kubert family, located in Dover, New Jersey, began receiving occasional faxes from Ervin—a minor revelation, even in the heyday of cable TV in the early 1990s. It was like receiving live tweets from the front lines, in sharp contrast to the 24-hour live television broadcasts."

The faxes Rustemagić wrote are a detailed testimony of a Sarajevan during those war years. Regarding Kubert's work, a good review on the BHR blog states: "At one point in the comic, Ervin thinks: 'How can I describe in words what is happening around us? No one could imagine it... unless they were here.' The point is that the power and expression of Kubert’s art mean that the reader is there."

Kubert achieves so much with so little—faces are often shown in close-up, with just a few lines conveying hope, anxiety, confusion... whatever the situation demands. Contrast is high and used sparingly—faces are usually in the light so that every line can be seen, while shadows serve to throw them into sharp relief. Even the shadows and darkness seem painted like watercolors rather than shaded with a pencil, making the art fluid and dynamic in a static medium.

A minor critique is that this collection is in color, which some feel diminishes its impact by not letting the art stand on its own. Subtitled "A Story of Survival," the narrative in the midst of the siege is not so much about whether the Rustemagić family will survive the siege itself, but whether they can escape Sarajevo before being killed in any of the numerous ways possible. Each chapter comes with a fax from Ervin, allowing the reader to read Ervin’s own account and see that Kubert’s art is not far from reality. In a fax dated April 13, 1992, Ervin writes: "The situation is much more dramatic than anyone can imagine."

„Sarajevo Tango“

As this text is being written, The Brussels Times brings the news: "Comic artist Hermann Huppen dies in Brussels at age 87." His connection with Rustemagić also produced a war comic focused on Sarajevo, titled "Sarajevo Tango." Ervin was one of Hermann’s most valued collaborators. He promoted Hermann’s art through his company SAFcomics, and as a direct witness to the breakup of Yugoslavia—thanks again to those famous faxes sent from the basement of bombed Sarajevo—he enabled Hermann to gather first-hand information.

This comic is a revolt against the passivity of international institutions, which were expected to turn to interventionism to prevent the killing of innocents rather than bureaucratic negotiations. One can feel the author's bitterness toward the passivity of the West and high-ranking UN officials; the UN building itself is depicted as Swiss cheese, where protests are made over drinks and tango. Through this comic, Hermann portrays the Sarajevo tragedy and all the evil that war brings to a society, and subsequently, to a family. Hermann’s high-quality drawings immortalized Sarajevo in its most difficult moments.

A story of survival of a Sarajevo family in the period 1992-1993 (PHOTO) Comic Book

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#NOTES "Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you?" — Walt Whitman