Das Licht, das Schatten leert

A baby is stillborn and its parents' world falls apart. How does one come to terms with something so incomprehensible? A baby's body is carefully taken from refrigeration in the pathology lab, wheeled in a cot through the halls of a hospital, past young parents who avert their eyes, to the crying parents who take it in their arms. Tina Brenneisen delineates the theme on the first three pages. Her quick and sketchy lines bring heavy and depressing scenes to life. Sometimes her alter ego dissolves to such an extent that she no longer understands herself. The topic of stillbirth is treated as a process in which previously existing conflicts are pried open. The protagonist, for example, has always been plagued with guilt. This is heavy fare. But Tina Brenneisen repeatedly faces the abyss that she depicts with liberating comics. “Das Licht das Schatten leert” turns a taboo topic into a powerful comic novel.