Matthias Lehmann. Parallel. Oregon: Oni Press, 2023. 452
pages, $29.99 9781637151006. https://oni-press.myshopify.com/products/parallel
Translated
from German into English for the first time by Ivanka Hahnenberger, Matthias
Lehman's Parallel presents the story
of Karl Kling, a gay man living in 1980s Germany. He is struggling to reconnect
with his estranged daughter through a letter he wants to send to her. Lehmann
presents Karl's story in two timelines. One timeline is in the 1980s before the
Berlin Wall coming down and Germany’s reunification, shortly after Karl had
retired from his job. The second timeline is during 1950s postwar Germany,
after Karl has returned from his time in the German army. The story presents
Karl's struggle to conform to familial expectations and social conventions,
keeping his sexuality hidden from everyone close to him, and with reason.
Homosexuality was illegal until 1994.
The graphic novel opens with elderly
Karl and his friend Adam discussing his retirement, but Karl's demeanor does
not reflect any joy at facing his "hard-earned" reward. His mood
improves little at the celebration held in the local bar that evening. When
Adam talks of the beaches of Italy, and of the gorgeous women he could meet,
Karl does not say much. Later, when Adam inquires about Karl's estranged
daughter, Hella, Karl reveals he has not heard from her in eight years. In a
flashback, the reader sees that last fateful evening with Karl and Hella. She
is angry with him, she yells at him, and she leaves. The story snaps back to
the present, and Karl starts going through old photographs. His first memory
conjured by these windows in time is from when he served as a cook in the
German army in World War II. An innocent romantic encounter with his tent-mate
gives the reader the first glimpse at Karl hiding his homosexuality.
Karl's life in the 1950s is fraught
with bad decisions and tragedy along the way. After Karl kisses a man whom he
mistakes for his old tent mate in the restroom at a local bar, rumors start to
circulate. This information makes it to his father-in-law who happens to be a
prominent figure in the community. He issues a severe warning to Karl, who does
not heed it. Instead, he meets a man at the local swimming hole, which leads to
a sexual entanglement that costs him his marriage and his livelihood when his
father-in-law intervenes yet again, via a group of men who assault the two lovers.
When he leaves his first marriage, Karl finds friends and foes in his struggle
to come to terms with his identity while still attempting to maintain a
straight façade. Eventually, Karl marries a second time, which becomes a
relationship also fraught with tragedy. At one point, a clandestine lover loses
his housing, so Karl invites him to live with his family. Much to the surprise
of Karl, and the reader, this ends terribly, but not as might be expected.
Throughout this graphic novel, Lehmann
depicts Karl with all of his flaws. Despite how much he says he wants a
traditional family, Karl destroys them by hiding his extramarital relationships
the best that he can, while denying his identity out of necessity. He could not
live openly as he might have wanted because of the illegality and stigma of
being homosexual. As infuriating as Karl's actions are, it is a struggle to remain
angry with him. While his life story unfolds, the reader sees his second
marriage fall apart, more relationships fall apart, and betrayal after
betrayal. They are not all of Karl's doing, but come as the result of his
actions.
Lehmann's approach to themes of
loneliness, confusion, deception, and how the decisions of one man's lifetime
culminate in isolated introspection and coming to terms with his past both work
to provide the reader with a whole person. Karl is not perfect. The reader can despise
the character's actions in one panel, and have compassion and empathy for Karl in
the next. Lehmann's use of nonlinear storytelling helps tell the complicated
story of Karl's life, weaving back and forth between his past and present,
interspersed with the letter he is writing to his daughter. Karl's story hurts
and it is meaningful in that hurt. It is engaging in a way that makes the
reader feel like they are witnessing a very human character. Lehmann does not
sugarcoat anything here. The reader sees everything primarily from Karl's point
of view. At first, I wondered why Lehmann did not spend any time from Hella's
point of view, but this could be for various reasons, including that the story
is based on an actual relative of Lehmann's.
It is worth taking time reading
through Parallel, both to digest
Karl's whole story and to take in the artwork. While there are many secondary
characters, it is not hard to remember who they are and what their roles are in
Karl's life, both those he harms but also ones with whom he shares genuine
friendship. Lehmann's chosen palette for this graphic novel is black and white,
and he makes good use of light and shadow. The backgrounds are worth taking
extra time to peruse. Lehmann effectively matches the environment with the mood
of particular scenes well.
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