Fantasy and reality blend in this delicately rendered 200 page graphic novel from Germany.  Two sisters and their mother are home together – but also alone with their thoughts.  Past, present and future possibilities mesh to varying degrees for each of them, with the younger, pre-pubescent, sister looking forward, the mother looking back, and the older, adolescent, sister powering through the present.  A fable for our times.  Check it out in this PDF Preview.

The Visitors Issue

Cover: Aisha Franz (Germany) Contributors: Aisha Franz (Germany), Anna Sailamaa (Finland), Emelie Ostergren (Sweden), Ines Estrada (Mexico), Joao Sobral (Portugal), Jyrki Nissinen (Finland), Kerija Arne (Latvia), Konig Lu. Q. (Switzerland), Leo Quievreux (France), Liana Mihailova (Latvia), Liva Piterane (Latvia), Marie Jacotey (France), Matti Hagelberg (Finland), Mikkel Sommer (Denmark), Nicolas Zouliamis (Belgium), Olive Booger (France), Powerpaola (Ecuador), Renata Gasiorowska (Poland), Tetsu Kayama (Japan), Titas Antanas Vilkaitis (Lithuania), Vivianna Maria Stanislavska (Latvia)

Format: A6, 164 pages, full-color, perfect bound, high quality and environmentally friendly Munken paper.

 

Berlin-based, Aisha Franz returns with a meditation on the porous border between dream, fantasy, and reality.  Shit Is Real posits that, contrary to normative conceptions, dreams and fantasies are real life – simply of a different order than what we consider as constituting reality.  In nearly 300 pages of crisp black and white comics, Franz delves into the subjective experiences of a young woman being out and about and within and without.  Consciousness is perceived in layers and conveyed in levels, making for a conception of living taking place simultaneously in/on different dimensions.  Experiences are had, decisions are made, and actions are taken – each on various planes of being, each interacting with the others, weaving a tapestry of temporality.