1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Comic Con in Germany: A brief history of comics

Annabelle Steffes / kbmJune 27, 2016

The first German Comic Con event in Stuttgart drew 50,000 fans, while a Frankfurt museum is showing the pioneers of the genre. With Germany in comic fever, we look at where they came from in the first place.

https://p.dw.com/p/1JEIH
DC Comics Batman, Superman Robin comics cover from the 1940s, Copyright: Getty Images/Hulton Archives
Image: Getty Images/Hulton Archives

Comic conventions have a long history in the US, with the largest and most popular of them - Comic Con - taking place every year in July in San Diego. The fair doesn't only cater to comic nerds, but has become a mainstream event that stars from film, TV, and the gaming scene as well.

In Stuttgart in southern Germany, the first-ever German edition of Comic Con took place from June 25-26. Some 250 well-known illustrators were on hand, along with hundreds of costumed cosplayers.

In the meantime, the Schirn Museum in Frankfurt is delving into the history of comics and featuring works by the experimental and progressive founders of the genre, many of whom were based in the US.

Click through the gallery above for a brief look at how comics got started on both sides of the Atlantic, and how they became so popular.