Enter at Your Own Risk - Schleimkeim Songcomic - Book

Comics about the legendary cult band of GDR punk

The song comic "Betreten auf eigene Gefahr" (Enter at Your Own Risk) commemorates the iconic GDR punk band Schleimkeim from Stotternheim, Thuringia. Eight artists have each transformed a Schleimkeim song into images that also depict GDR history and the punk subculture. In the East, punk was a highly political affair; bands were banned for allegedly anti-state content, and musicians were jailed for their lyrics. Punk was illegal in the GDR.

Some of the artists come from the GDR subculture and experienced the band before 1989, while others found their way to it later. They share their stories in the book. What unites them all is a love for chaos and mayhem. The hard sound of Schleimkeim resonated with them as they created the comics.

Editor Frank Willmann recounts the turbulent history of Schleimkeim and their charismatic frontman Dieter "Otze" Ehrlich – and how the first GDR punk record came about in an adventurous way.

An extraordinary piece of GDR history in comic form:

Dirk Mecklenbeck: "Bullenterror" (Cop Terror)

Karla Paloma: "Satan"

Marcus Gruber: "Mein Garten" (My Garden)

PM Hoffmann: "Der Diktator" (The Dictator)

Kerstin Gürke: "In der Kneipe Zur Trockenen Kehle" (At the Pub "The Dry Throat")

Lara Swiontek: "Bundesrepublik" (Federal Republic)

Ulla Loge: "Geldschein" (Banknote)

Auge Lorenz: "Minus Plus"