Kaspar

by Diane Obomsawin

A sad and cautionary tale of mystery, fame, murder, and innocence


May 28, 1828, marked the beginning of the official life of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who appeared mysteriously in the streets of Nuremberg and died of knife wounds five years later under equally mysterious circumstances. “Europe’s child,” as pamphleteers referred to him, captured the imagination of salon society. Allegedly raised in a dark cellar and deprived of human contact until the age of sixteen, he became the proof of a concept for theories about natural man, original sin, and the civilizing mission of culture. Rightful heir to the throne of Baden or a fraud? Redeemer of man’s sins or “ambulatory automatist”? The curious circumstances and significance of his life have been disputed ever since.


In Kaspar, Quebec cartoonist Diane Obomsawin draws on Hauser’s own writings, and contemporary accounts, to tell the foundling’s strange story. Minimalist grayscale panels and the simplest of line work register the wonder and bewilderment of a trusting and sensitive soul emerging into a fickle society. Gentle and poetic, naïve and profound, Obomsawin’s first book to appear in English translation has a quiet and compelling charm.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Biography, Graphic Novels Comics, Historical, Womens, Bande Dessinée

82 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Born in Montreal in 1959, Diane Obomsawin spent the first twenty years of her life in France. After studying graphic design, she returned to Canada in 1983 and turned her attention to painting, comics, and animation. Here and There, her autobiographical film, garnered numerous prestigious distinctions. She has published a number of comics in French and one previous book with Drawn & Quarterly, Kaspar (2009).

//

Diane Obomsawin (aussi connue sous le pseudonyme d’Obom) est une cinéaste d’animation, illustratrice et auteure de bande dessinée québécoise.

D’origine abénaquise, Diane Obomsawin est née à Montréal en 1959. Elle passe ensuite vingt ans en France, où elle entreprend une carrière de graphiste. De retour au Québec en 1983, elle s’oriente vers l’illustration, la bande dessinée et la peinture, et étudie le cinéma d’animation à l’Université Concordia.

Elle est de la première vague de la bande dessinée underground au Québec, se retrouvant au sommaire du fanzine Iceberg, dans lequel elle signe sous le pseudonyme de Ringo la balafre et publie Les aventures de Rosebif. On remarque par la suite sa longue participation au magazine d’humour et de bande dessinée Croc, ainsi qu’à l’éphémère magazine Anormal.

À partir de 1997, sa carrière en bande dessinée est liée à l’éditeur de poésie L'Oie de Cravan, où elle publie notamment des récits de rêves (Plus tard, Pink mimi drink). En 2007 paraît Kaspar, une biographie de Kaspar Hauser, le célèbre « orphelin de l’Europe », dont le triste destin a aussi inspiré Paul Verlaine, Werner Herzog et Françoise Dolto. Cet album, qui demeure son plus connu à ce jour, a été traduit en anglais par l’éditeur Drawn & Quarterly.

En 2011, le microéditeur Colosse fait paraître un fac-similé d’À chier, un détournement parodique à tendance situationniste et oubapiste de la bande dessinée Archie de Dan DeCarlo.

Depuis 1992, elle se distingue également par une production de courts-métrages d’animation, réalisés à partir de 2000 pour le compte de l’Office national du film du Canada. Certains ont été primés, notamment Ici par ici, récit autobiographique sur son enfance déracinée. Ses œuvres ont été présentées dans de nombreux festivals d’animation au Canada et à l’étranger. En 2008, le Festival international du film sur l’art de Montréal (FIFA) présente sa première rétrospective. En 2012 sort Kaspar, une adaptation de sa bande dessinée homonyme.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kaspar tells the real story of Kaspar Hauser, a mysterious young man who appeared out of nowhere on the streets of Nuremburg, Germany in the early 19th century. He had no education, no family or friends, barely any language, and no idea how to behave in society. This was because he was completely kept away from human contact for his entire childhood by a mysterious man and then, just as mysteriously, taken away and abandoned in Nuremburg. His case caught the public's imagination and he was taken to various houses and treated well, introduced to society, given clothes, food, lodging, and education and eventually ending up staying with royalty until his mysterious death when he was murdered.

Obomsawin (a new name in comics) draws this very simply and reminded me of the work of Lewis Trondheim. Hauser's life is engrossing and Obomsawin uses Hauser's own words to describe his upbringing in the darkness, and his time amongst German society. Also included are some of Hauser's poetry and she also mentions the various conspiracy theories surrounding Hauser's life, amongst them that he was heir to the German throne.

Drawn & Quarterly really are the best comics publishers out there at the moment. I recommend anyone getting into indie comics to see their catalogue as it contains some of the best comics artists working today.

In all, a fantastic read of a fascinating subject. Obomsawin presents it well, tells it with grace, and you leave the book satisfied and edified. The mystery of Kaspar Hauser lives on.

[Raina · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a creepy story! So, it's the early 1800s. This midteenage kid walks into a town in eastern Europe. According to what they eventually found out, he was kept in a room that was 4x6, didn't stand up, had one toy horse, and had food delivered while he was sleeping, so he didn't know there were other people. As soon as he emerged, he was a celebrity (such as they were at that time). He was seduced by an aristocat, wrote his memoirs, painted watercolors... Pretty wacky life.

So this gn is an account, apparently as factual as we have, of his life. The VERY basic drawing style makes me really want a pix of the real live kid, but is probably as accurate as we have as to the facts. Creepy, but fascinating story. Feed to Boy from the Basement fans. Doesn't have the suspense in the storytelling itself, but fascinating from the psychological standpoint.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels, but sometimes they really do it for me. Long fascinated by the story of Kaspar Hauser (perhaps because so many of my own characters are naive/childlike/"idiots"), I was predisposed to like Diane Obomsawin's Kaspar.

Fantastic simple drawings, beautiful flourishes, a coherent narrative, truly moving. It's a nice addition to the Kaspar-in-art collection: Jakob Wassermann's novel Casper Hauser, Peter Handke's play Kaspar, Hugo Ball's poem "kasper is dead" (I might have that title wrong), Werner Herzog's film The Strange Enigma of Kaspar Hauser.

Wiki seems strongly to favour the theory that Kaspar was a fraud, a swindler. I will naively cling to the narrative of Kaspar as a "wolf child."

[Destiny Dawn Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I think that what I liked best in this was the way that Obomsawin captured Kasper's expressions--her style is so minimalist, and yet she conveys such a range of emotion by adjusting a single stroke or line.

This is a beautiful little volume that examines the life of a historical oddity--and imagines the situation from his perspective. While reading it, I found myself musing over experience, identity, and happiness.

[Inna Komarovsky-Rana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a graphic novel based on a true story about a man who was raised without having seen anything of the world and other people. When he's set free, people are intrigued by him or charmed or afraid, sometimes threatened. His point of view is very innocent and open.

I liked this and how it was told. The style was modest and earnest, not dramatic but also not too hipster-clumsy. Some parts of the story didn't have distinct purposes for the plot but communicated Kaspar's way of seeing the world and people's ways of seeing him. It has a nice feeling to it because it is less focused on facts and more about allowing people to imagine the sense of being so new to the world.

[Mick · Rating 4 out of 5]

KASPAR c’est l’histoire tragique de Kaspar Hanser, cloîtré dans une cave de sa naissance en 1812 jusqu’à son abandon en 1928. Il a alors 17 ans et n’a jamais vu l’extérieur ni bénéficié du moindre contact social. Sa vie s’achève brutalement cinq ans plus tard, en 1933, d’un coup de poignard porté par un inconnu.

Lorsqu’il est trouvé dans les rues de Nuremberg, il sait tout juste marcher et à peine parler. Il connaît le mot « cheval » et répète mécaniquement une phrase apprise par cœur. Il griffonne son nom mais n’en comprend pas le concept et sait encore moins le prononcer.

Il devient vite le centre d’intérêt de toute l’Europe. Son cas est unique. On l’éduque. Kaspar apprend rapidement à s’exprimer. Il partage son expérience, se passionne pour le dessin, la musique et l’écriture.

Kaspar est un bambin dans un corps d’adulte qui découvre émerveillé ses aptitudes et le monde qui l'entoure. Ses sens sont à peine développés. Il subit la lumière trop vive. Couleurs, odeurs et bruits le rendent malade. Son expérience est nulle, sa pensée symbolique vierge, sa logique immature. Il bute sur la notion de temps, d’espace et de perspective, découvre son reflet dans le miroir et s’émerveille à l’apparition de ses premiers rêves.

L’hommage de Obom est touchant. Elle offre une voix à un être innocent qui découvre le monde et par elle, propose au lecteur un regard non blasé sur la beauté de notre quotidien.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narrative about and from the POV of a French man who was deprived of all human contact until late in his teenage years. Obomsawin based much of the script on Kaspar Hauser's actual writings, as well as those of the doctors and friends who integrated him into society. Very interesting and tragic.
The art is very minimal.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diane Obomsawin’s Kaspar is a brisk yet poignant consideration of the brief known life of Kaspar Hauser. To allow for full contemplation of Hauser’s mystery, Obomsawin uses documented witness testimony as well as Hauser’s own diaries. Obomsawin’s austere style complements Hauser’s tale, transcending historic biography.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew little about Kaspar Hauser prior to reading this graphic biography, and now I know a little more - but definitely want to investigate further. The art here is incredibly charming and very well suited to Hauser's story.

[Sara Houle · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai trouvé la traduction anglaise de cette BD dans une librairie de livres usagés, et comme j'en avais entendu parler deux jours auparavant, je l'ai achetée. J'ai adoré! Trop difficile à décrire, mais c'est excellent!

[Sinta · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly aesthetic graphic novel with some moments of beauty. A slightly intriguing premise, but the mystery and the full philosophical and ontological implications were not explored. Left me with a feeling of unsatisfaction.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this with no background knowledge was delightful.

[Miriam Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super weird. Why did she write this?

[Mariana Orantes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un día en la calle apareció un hombre con una carta. Al parecer había vivido en cautiverio y alejado de todo contacto humano durante 17 años, apenas si sabía escribir su nombre y pronunciar unas cuantas palabras y frases hechas. Nadie sabe de dónde vino. Éste cómic habla sobre la vida de Kaspar Hauser y es *hermoso* tanto como inquietante. Me gustó mucho el tono y el dibujo es tan simple que resulta efectivo. Me hubiera gustado que la historia se desarrollara más, pero igual es una necedad mía solo porque me intriga muchísimo la figura de Kaspar Hauser. Una de las cosas que más me gustó fue el apéndice final donde la autora se dibuja a sí misma y habla sobre las fuentes que usó para el cómic, eso me gustó porque se pueden buscar esos libros y ahondar más en la historia de este hombre. Otra cosa que me gustó fue que pusiera los poemas y los sueños de Kaspar Hauser, así como una de sus acuarelas (el hombre tenía talento) y sobretodo la dimensión tan humana de disfrutar la vida, de ver la belleza de la vida, de apreciar hasta las más pequeñas cosas que nosotros damos por sentado. En verdad lo recomiendo.

[Malbadeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The drawings and 1st person narrative worked great in conveying the vagueness and inconsistency Kaspar inspired with his self proclaimed "wild child" persona.

I'm not sure if under different circumstance this book would have had the same effect it did last night but regardless, it was unsettling. I came home to an empty house and had a stare down with a coyote in my yard before I could get out of my car. I started reading the book shortly after which I'm sure created a certain tone in and of itself. When I finished the book (a very short read), I wasn't at all tired and laid in bed thinking of 3 major points in Kaspar's story. At 3:00 a.m. I woke up, sure that someone was trying to get into my house (something I RARELY do) and found Obomsawin's drawing of Kaspar laying next to me which didn't help me shake an eeriness that kept me awake with a spinning mind for too long.

*did I mention the book was on the floor when I went to bed but was on my bed when I woke at 3:00?...not really but wouldn't that make a much better story than my tale of chicken-shitness?

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and charming comic about the strange but true events in the life of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who became a sensation in early 19th-century Germany when he arrived in Nuremberg in his mid-teens lacking personal history, documentation, language, and even the most rudimentary understanding of social interaction and human culture. The author drew on the many pamphlets and treatises written about Kaspar as well as his own writings to tell the story of his mysterious life and death. Her simplistic, childlike drawings are a perfect match for Kaspar's awkward and oddly sweet voice.

[Firda Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is based on the true story of Kaspar Hauser, a man who in the early 1800 was kept in a dark room with a wooden horse and delivered food while he was sleeping until he was about 17 when the person who kept him taught him to read and write and set him free. The lack of social interaction and life experience in his formative year obviously made him a strange person. His mind was a blank canvas. His discoveries of things we've taken for granted like the moon and the clouds make this book an interesting read.

[Edwin Arnaudin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A breeze and pleasantly quirky, but the illustrations are almost too simple and few of the episodes – if they may be called that – are developed to a meaningful degree.

The selection from the author's On Loving Women, which the library is in the process of acquiring, that was in Best American Comics 2015 was what prompted me to seek out this earlier work. Ironically, that sample feels more like a complete, standalone work while the entirety of Kaspar reads like a snapshot from a larger comic.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a peculiar piece of work. The story of a boy that was raised in a room - without any interaction with people and then brought out to be a curiosity for the world. The artwork is stark which oddly matches the ambience of the piece. I didn't expect to enjoy it...I just grabbed it on my way past the shelves to entertain myself during a break but the story'll capture your imagination for sure. And, yeah, it is non-fiction. How's that?

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strangely engaging graphic novel. I like Obomsawin's art quite a bit (her selection was one of my favorites in Best American Comics 2015), but stories like this one remind me that I am not actually all that curious about oddities in history and unsolved mysteries. There's enough emotional exploration in this to make it work for me, though, and I'd like to read more of Obomsawin's work.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very spare narrative and illustration style lend themselves well to this tragic story; I get a strong sense of a stunted intellect, finally allowed to flourish. I believe I read about this case as an entry in some "greatest mysteries" anthology; this comic is a more personal account of human resilience.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pleasure of one-sitting reads. And of limiting the palette to a wooden horse, one red ribbon, and a blue one. (My favorite panels are the early ones, that animate Kaspar's bare world so poignantly.)

[Dane Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The drawings are hideous but they completely work for the fascinating story. I had never heard of this person, apparently real, but the story is so crazy and compelling that it just doesn't matter what the drawings look like. I can never say this. I only wish it was fifteen times as long.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for more detail here, but it's very sparse. He's alone, then there's the man in black, then he's discovered, and then he's shuttled from place to place. Coupled with the simple drawings, the story is much more straightforward than I expected.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit that until the end of the book, I wasn't aware I was reading about a real person. The story of Kaspar Hauser, the feral child who turned up on the streets of Bavaria, is really strange and haunting. I loved the simplicity of the art in this book; it made it even more heartbreaking.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one gets three stars because of the lovely juxtaposition of simple, cartoon-ish line drawings and the semi-serious story, which is a favorite conceit of mine. It felt like bits and pieces with not enough connective tissue for me to love it.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on the true story of the mystery surrounding Kaspar Hauser, this minimalist graphic novel is short and I wanted more. The clean lines are simple but compelling - easy smooth transitions from panel to panel. A nice graphic novel to kill 30 minutes.

[Zen Cho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this. The sparse style and the simplicity of the art really worked with the subject matter. Must watch Werner Herzog film.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simplistic drawing style. Well executed narrative of Kaspar Hauser.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is incredibly intriguing but the illustrations are atrocious. I suppose there's a reason for the art style--an attempt to communicate the simplicity of Kaspar's world.