The series follows the lives of German citizens in Berlin throughout the years 1928 to 1933 as the Weimar Republic fell. Lutes chose to focus on the everyday lives of citizens, where their personal struggles blinded them to the larger political issues occurring around them until the effects entered their lives.
Lutes, an American cartoonist, attended the Rhode Island School of Design before working for Fantagraphics at Seattle. Soon after, he began research for “Berlin,” which became his primary project from that point on.
“Berlin” has been compared to the likes of Italian Neorealist films and pre-French New Wave films. Lutes has cited European comics as a major influences, and has stated that the 1987 Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire particularly influenced his work on “Berlin.”
The first collected volume of “Berlin,” titled “City of Stones,” was released in 2000, while the second, titled “City of Smoke,” was released in 2008. Drawn and Quarterly will publish the third, to be titled “City of Light,” in Fall 2018. After its release, the entire trilogy will be released in one comprehensive collection in both hardcover and paperback.
[Via]
