Walter Moers (German pronunciation: [ˈvaltɐ ˈmœʁs] (listen); born 24 May 1957 in Mönchengladbach) is a German comic creator and author.

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (September 2015) This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2016) This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (June 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the German article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 9,804 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Walter Moers]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|de|Walter Moers}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Life and work

Moers held odd jobs after leaving school before starting a commercial apprenticeship. He taught himself how to draw, and has been publishing since 1984. He first became known for cartoon-like comics that were marked by an ironic view of the world and a conscious violation of political correctness. Many of his works first appeared in the satirical magazine Titanic. Although he doesn't contribute to the magazine anymore, he's still listed as contributor. His last work published in 'Titanic' was the Superhero-Parody 'Deadman' (not to be confused with the DC-Comics Superhero of the same name, Moers' character was just a dead man lying in a coffin for three pages without a word or any change in the pictures).

He rarely allows being photographed or interviewed, and every aspect of his biography (including name and date of birth) should be treated with caution.[2]

His best-known comic characters are:

• Das kleine Arschloch (The little asshole), a precocious and irreverent little boy who constantly gets one over on the adults.
• Der alte Sack (The old curmudgeon), a terminally ill old man in a wheel chair who makes sarcastic comments on what he sees.
• Adolf, die Nazisau (Adolf, the Nazi swine), an absurd interpretation of Adolf Hitler in today's world.
• Käpt'n Blaubär (Capt'n Bluebear), a sea-faring bear with blue fur, who spins ridiculous pirate yarns, all of which, he claims, are true.

In addition to these comics clearly intended for an adult audience, Moers also writes stories and books that he has been publishing since 1985. In 1988, his first "Käpt'n Blaubär" story was published, a character that has since been popular on TV, in books, and in audio cassettes. Starting in 1999 with The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, Moers has more recently become known for his novels, especially the Zamonia series.

Moers wrote both the script and the song lyrics for the movie Kleines Arschloch [de] (1997)[3] and the script for the movie Käpt'n Blaubär - Der Film (1999).[4]

Zamonia series

The first novel of the Zamonia series, Die 13½ Leben des Käpt’n Blaubär, was originally published in 1999. The Captain Bluebear appearing in this novel is very distinct from the one portrayed in a popular German children's series Sendung mit der Maus. There, Captain Bluebear appears as a grandfather, whereas he is still a youngster in the novel. The book is written for adolescents and adults rather than for children. It introduces the reader to the fictional world of Zamonia by providing, among other things, a detailed map and descriptions of its various inhabitants.

The second Zamonia novel is Ensel und Krete which has not been published in English. The title intentionally misspells Hansel and Gretel, and the plot bears only thin parallels to it.

After Ensel und Krete, the Zamonia series continued with Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures, The City of Dreaming Books, The Alchemaster's Apprentice, Prinzessin Insomnia & der alptraumfarbene Nachtmahr (literally, Princess Insomnia and the nightmare-coloured Nightmare), and The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books. All of these novels, except Captain Bluebear and Rumo, include prefaces that explains to the reader that the fictional character Hildegunst von Mythenmetz is the actual author and that Walter Moers only translated the books from the Zamonian language to German.

In the Zamonia series, each book contains detailed illustrations drawn by Moers; many portray creatures that Moers invented himself. Apart from these drawings, neologisms, anagrams and intertextuality play a key role in the style of Moers' novels.

Works available in English translation

• Little Asshole, 1991, Eichborn, ISBN 3-8218-2998-2
• The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, 2000 (UK) / 2005 (US)
• A Wild Ride Through the Night, 2004
• Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures : a novel in two books, 2004
• The City of Dreaming Books, 2006. ISBN 0-436-20609-9
• The Alchemaster's Apprentice, 2009 (English Edn). 978-1-846-55222-9
• The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books, 2012 (English Edn)

Works

Further reading

• Schneiderling, Vera (2018). Wer ist Walter Moers? (Who is Walter Moers?). ISBN 9783748199663.

References

External links

• Walter Moers in the German National Library catalogue

На других языках

[de] Walter Moers

[ru] Мёрс, Вальтер