ROTOPOL

Cartons, tattoos and made-of-flesh artists

Rotopol days and nights in Erlangen 2016 Comic Salon

Maybe you were there this year in Erlangen and had the same rush of books, pics, colours, human smell and dolorous feet we experimented too. Big publishers, small ones, art school students, merch sellers hold stands and this combination of experimental books and big best sellers creates an equilibrate space where a large range of appetite can be satisfied.

The Comic Salon is now an Erlangen Tradition, occurring every two years since its first edition in 1984. It’s an exciting hive for comics’ readers, authors, publishers or lost souls. Honey here is not a golden delicacy any more, but hides in strange honeycombs where paper replaces wax. It became another kind of fluid, which can be black and white, two-tone, realistic, ambient... mostly drawn and often narrative, you cannot spread it on bread, but on your eyes and soul. Yes, graphic novels and comic books are a big mdeal in Erlangen.

At the Rotopol stand, a bunch of funky artists were there to sign and share their work (and drink a few beers, it was damn hot in there). Thanks to Thomas Wellmann, Nadine Redlich, René Rogge, Anna Haifisch, Max Baitinger, Rita Fürstenau, Sebastian Stamm and Alice Socal, our stand was full of life and giggles. Our gratitude goes as well to the Comic Salon team, who made this fest possible.

Glad we were there and see you in two years, Erlangen!

A video posted by Alice Socal (@alice_socal) on May 27, 2016 at 6:58am PDT

Nadine Redlich’s PANIKTOTEM is out!

With a few witty words and fake naïve characters, Nadine touches where it hurts, where it breaks, where a nervous little laugh releases relief.

In her collection of cartoons and comics Nadine Redlich plucks apart a bouquet of emotions. Anyone who can relate to phobia, lethargy, stress, panic or resignation will take great pleasure when viewing the results of Redlich‘s intense examination. That much I, as a phobic patient, can promise.

„I’m seriously afraid I might never die.”

They arrived just in time for Erlangen and were a hit there: we are proud to present Rotopol temporary tattoos, by a dream-team of various artists.

It’s now possible not to just look at Nadine Redlich’s ambient comics, Thomas Wellmann’s smooth marvels, Rita Fürstenau’s cute beasts, Alice Socal’s thug bananas or René Rogge’s goofy artefacts but also to wear them on your skin.

How To Use Rotopol Temporary Tattoos:

1. Find and buy them online or in our Kassel shop.

2. Pick up scissors and cut out the drawing which will fit the day.

3. Humidify a tissue (it must be pretty wet).

4. Remove the plastic part of the paper.

5. Apply it, design on skin.

6. Make it wet with the already wet tissue, for 15/30 seconds.

7. Remove, enjoy, show off.

Let’s listen birds’ talks now.

Hot sand, here we come!

Two new paper books are on our virtual shelves since a few weeks: Hearsay by Lea Heinrich and Pyramids by René Rogge. And one is waiting to be printed and pre-ordered: Paniktotem, from Nadine Redlich. They all were made in a different binding, a more magazine like, to go with their short format of 40 pages or less. The three of them are in English, while most of other Rotopol comics are in German: we made this choice so they can be understood by non German-reader that we often meet at book-fairs, international festivals or online - we will continue to publish German ones still.

It’s not exactly a dedicated new English collection where all the books will look the same: every story will have its own size, paper, style or binding. Each book will come in an envelope which matches its genre and content.

It is a small experiment. We decided to take the risk of publishing in another language, because we believe it won’t stop German-speakers to read our books, as we noticed that a lot of them master English and already read it online or offine. That’s also why this blog is written in English and why our website is bilingual.

And what about hot sand and talking birds? Let’s preserve mystery until next post.

Röhner is all around, on our shop-front, among liquorices, hiding himself badly behind an innocent arm.

Pia Carina, Rotopol crew member and young artist, was present on the Luzern Fumetto Festival in Switzerland to defend Rotopol colours and books.

The witty Anna Haifisch visited Rotopol last 9th of April for a vibrant preview of her exhibit, the Von Spatz Show. As the pictures reveal it, there were some palm tree cookies, deer biscuits and other coloured dishes involved: it’s too late to taste them, but not to have a look to Anna Haifisch’s work.

You can come to watch (or even buy) her initial drawings and unseen serigraphs in our shop in Kassel until the 31th of May. The exhibit shows both the process-making behind the comic Von Spatz and some original works not present in the book.

Colours are violently sweet and it’s like a pineapple breeze in the air while Walt Disney and his companions try to make it through a psychiatrist institute dedicated to artists in crisis. Welcome to the Von Spatz institute!

Right after an intense Millionaires Club festival in Leipzig, Rotopol was back on track for the Illu16 festival in Köln. As those few pictures show it, it was a feast for the eyes - and also for the ears when Rita Fürstenau talked about pictures, stories and what it means to publish comic books at Rotopol.

For a complete journey of the Illu16 by the public and participants eyes, you can explore the #illu16 Instagram hashtag.

Rotopol went to The Millionaires Club in Leipzig last 18th of March. Organized by a solid crew of hard working volunteers, this Graphic Festival exists since 2013 and happens parallel to the Leipzig International Book Fair.

Our comics and prints were in lovely company among a colourful gang of publishers, drawers, zines/books/print self-makers. It was also the occasion to offer some signed exemplars thanks to the Rotopol artists who where there:  Max Baitinger, Röhner author, Anna Haifisch, Von Spatz author (who are also TMC organisers) and Alice Socal, author of Sandro.

A very enthusiastic article about Röhner on Drei Mal Alles – to read this delightful comics, rendez-vous on our website. 

Rotopol has two new handsome comics in store!

Rhöner is, under its orange cover face, a black and white graphic novel where its author tickles the limits between words and pictures. Max Baitinger plays with his geometric lines to built a not-so-minimalist story about home and social boundaries. P. lives a symbiotic life with his neighbour, an online seller who waters his plants and stocks her products in P.’s flat. Until Röhner invades the place and breaks this quiet routine...

Welcome to the new Rotopol blog. Here we will display news, miscellaneous and nice pictures from our daily working life.

Rotopol, if you don’t know our small but audacious German company yet, is both a bookshop, a fine paper products maker and a graphic stories publisher.

We publish comics and illustration artists from all over the world who creates surprising stories and invents new way of telling them through drawing. You can find them on our online store.

Rotopol is not just about books. We also make postcards (beautiful ones, funny ones, even strange ones sometimes) and posters as well as elegant sketch booklets and tissue goods. All of them are also in our online shop.

Our bookshop is located in Kassel, Germany, 95 Friedrich-Ebert-Straße. If you visit us you will find comics and graphic novels, children books, paper games, art, self-printed t-shirts and tote-bags... There’s also a comfy bench to take a break and an exposition space with regular new exhibit to refresh eyes.

We are happy to come back in the blogging game!