A German comic book reimagines the past of a leader still mysterious to most, writes DEREK SCALLY.
SHE HAS already been an opera heroine and a Barbie doll. Now Angela Merkel is a comic book star, in the new graphic novel biography Miss Tschörmänie.
The droopy-eyed, jowled caricature by cartoonist Heiko Sakurai is, at first glance, hardly a flattering portrayal of Germany’s most popular politician.
Set off by the spare, wry texts of author Miriam Hollstein, the book gets to the heart of the woman still a mystery to most Germans, even after four years in power.
The story is told as a flashback between two of Merkel’s most prominent political victims: former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Bavarian politician Edmund Stoiber, whose failed bid to unseat Schröder in 2002 cleared the way for Angela Merkel three years later.
“How can it be that she has managed to get so far?” complains Stoiber.
Cue flashback to 1954, and a dozy-eyed baby named Angela Kasner is carried across the border from West Germany to East.
There her father Horst, a Lutheran pastor, preaches to the communists and watches his infant daughter’s development with amusement and concern.
“She moves so little,” he remarks. “And seems quite happy that way,” concludes his wife Herlinde.
Angela’s childhood adventures provide plenty of playful digs at a woman later known for her pragmatic political style.
“Don’t ride that bike, Angela,” scolds her mother, “you can’t tell left from right!”
At school, young Angela is mocked as someone who doesn’t do anything until she has to, a characteristic that will stand to her in her later political life.
Once in power, the book recalls the whispers behind her back about her “typical woman” political style, not to mention her appearance.
“Really Frau Merkel,” sighs hairdresser Udo Walz as he yanks at her tresses, “a peach-coloured outfit on a red carpet just doesn’t work.”
What is almost as surprising as her four, mistake-free years in power is the realisation that, apart from newspaper cartoons, this book is one of the first amusing attempts to poke fun at the politician.
With the general election looming in September, the cartoon chancellor offers challengers and would-be politicians everywhere some tips for securing power:
1. Improve your image through foreign policy
2. Find nice words for anything you can’t change
3. Hide behind the small print
4. Steal your opponent’s ideas
5. Use all big events for your own ends