Broken Frontier

When your well goes dry and the cows stop giving milk and your wife seems to be not herself you  obviously have a problem with witches. But what to do about these malevolent mistresses of Satan? Fifteenth-century Inquisitor and witch expert Heinrich Kramer wrote the definitive book on the subject, the Malleus Maleficarum -- and, cartoonist  Mike Rosen and SLG Publishing are bringing this medieval Latin treatise to the public in a new, easy-to-consume graphic novel format!

Rosen, who spent several years of his childhood seeing artifacts of the age of Inquisition in Germany, has culled the Malleus of its ponderous verbiage and created a comic that preserves its best parts. "The Malleus itself is really a wonderfully insane book, chock full of bizarre anecdotes and wacky imagery that should make for a great read," said Rosen. "Unfortunately, the original authors didn't believe in the economy of words. I knew there was a lot of potential to turn this into something fun that you can enjoy even if you don't have a medieval studies PhD or the patience of a saint, since I think most of us enjoy reading about witchcraft and devils. And it seemed like a graphic novel was the best way to bring all these little beasties to life!"

Rosen has transformed the 15th-century bestseller into a rollicking and witty graphic novel. "I don't think anyone can complain if they get a chance to draw a witch using haunted eggs to turn sailors into donkeys or a possessed cow wearing underwear on its head," he said. "This is a dark chapter in history when you think about it, but I wanted to highlight the strangeness and absurdity of it all. I really hoped to make this thick treatise into something entertaining that might inspire people to learn a little more about this insane bit of our past."

Malleus Maleficarum is a 136-page black-and-white graphic novel, to be released in August 2011. Its ISBN is 978-1-59362-213-8 and it is priced at $10.95. It will be available at bookstores, comics stores, Amazon.com, and through the publisher's own website at www.slgcomic.com as well as digitally through Comixology, iVerse, Panelfly and again in ePub format from the publisher's own website.