Judenhass Preview

Judenhass Preview

Dave Sim has done a remarkable job with Judenhass.

A few weeks back when "Secret Project One" was unveiled to be a reflection on The Holocaust my initial reaction was to understand why he would be hesitant to release it as his first big project since Cerebus ended. After reading the materials posted online however I came to an opposite conclusion; Dave NEEDS to bring this project to the marketplace.

I was provided with a preview copy of Judenhass from Paige at Corner Comics in Kenmore, and upon a full review of the book I have to say that I think Judenhass will not only do well, but will actually become a very important work. It would not surprise me at all to see Judenhass take off and become a book that crosses over into mainstream media and goes into multiple printings.

The artwork is both beautifully powerful and difficult to look at all at once due to the content, yet I was still drawn to it and found myself flipping back and forth through it.

The historical quotes are powerful and from a clear cross section of European culture and history; which is clearly the point of the work. Despite the clear cultural acceptance of each quote at the time I also found the John Paul II Catholic apology and Harry Truman reflections to be signs of hope.

Dave does a very good job of explaining the purpose of the project up front, presenting the project, and then in following up the art with notes on research and his documentation. Judenhass is quickly going to be finding itself dissected in academia, it should stand up to academic scrutiny due to the above mentioned factors.

I don't like to just rave in reviews but Judenhass deserves very high praise for its artistic quality and intellectual honesty.