View source for The New Adventures of Hitler

{{short description|British comic book story}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2023}}
{{suppress categories|{{Infobox comics story arc <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
| title          = The New Adventures of Hitler
| image          = New Adventures of Hitler.jpg
| imagesize      = <!-- default 250 -->
| caption        = [[Adolf Hitler]] on the cover of ''[[Crisis (British comics)|Crisis]]'' #48, dated 7 July 1990; art by [[Steve Yeowell]].
| alt            = 
| publisher      = Complete Print International<br><small>1989</small><br>[[Fleetway Publications]]<br><small>1990</small><br>
| date           = 
| startmo        = July
| startyr        = 1989
| endmo          = July
| endyr          = 1990
|Politico=y
| titles         = ''Cut''<br>1989<br>''[[Crisis (British comics)|Crisis]]'' #46-49<br><small>9 June to 21 July 1990</small><br>
| notable = y
| main_char_team = 
| writers        = [[Grant Morrison]]
| artists        = [[Steve Yeowell]]
| pencillers     = 
| inkers         = 
| letterers      = Gordon Robson
| editors        = Alan Jackson<br>[[Steve MacManus]]
| colorists      = [[Nick Abadzis]]<br>[[Steve Whitaker]]
| CEheader       = 
| TPB            = 
| ISBN           = 
| TPB#           = 
| ISBN#          = 
| cat            = 
| cat+#          = 
| sortkey        = New Adventures of Hitler, The
| self-titled    = 
| nonUS          = y
}}}}
'''"The New Adventures of Hitler"''' is a [[Creator ownership in comics|creator-owned]] [[British comics|British comic]] story. It was initially partially published in the magazine ''Cut'' in 1989, and then in its entirety in the adult-orientated comic ''[[Crisis (British comics)|Crisis]]''. Written by [[Grant Morrison]] and drawn by [[Steve Yeowell]], the story is based on [[Bridget Dowling]]'s debated assertion that [[Adolf Hitler]] spent time in [[Liverpool]] shortly before the outbreak of [[World War I]]. "The New Adventures of Hitler" uses several [[anachronism]]s to comment on present-day politics at the time of publication, and caused some controversy in Britain.

==Creation==
[[Grant Morrison]] and [[Steve Yeowell]] had broken through to critical acclaim with the revisionist superhero story "[[Zenith (comics)|Zenith]]" in ''[[2000 AD (comics)|2000 AD]]'' in 1987, and Morrison rapidly became one of the best-known British comic writers - including being headhunted by [[DC Comics]]. However, the writer continued to concurrently work on smaller-scale comics projects, as well as [[Play (theatre)|play]]s. With the boom in adult interest in comics following the mainstream success of ''[[Watchmen]]'' and ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]'', many different publications began showing interest in the medium - including Complete Print International, a Scottish publisher putting together a new music and culture magazine called ''Cut''.<ref name=Medium/> Inspired by what they saw as the worrying parallels between 1930s [[Nazi Germany]] and the policies of the then-incumbent Conservative government under [[Margaret Thatcher]], Morrison and Yeowell devised "The New Adventures of Hitler" for serialisation in the magazine.<ref name=Speakeasy100>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Speakeasy (magazine)|Speakeasy]]|issue=100|date=July 1989|publisher=[[Acme Press]]|title=Newsdesk - Grant Morrison in Fascist Controversy}}</ref>
{{Blockquote
|text=What I had done is put [[Thatcherism|Thatcherite]] ideology into the mouth of Hitler, because some of the things I see happening around me I find disturbing. The things that Thatcher is doing and saying, destroying the unions, [[Section 28]] and the talked about camps for [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] sufferers, are all things that Hitler talked about in ''[[Mein Kampf]]''.
|author=[[Grant Morrison]] 
|title=quoted in "Newsdesk - Grant Morrison in Fascist Controversy"
|source=''[[Speakeasy (magazine)|Speakeasy]]'' #100 (July 1989)<ref name=Speakeasy100/>}}
The premise that [[Adolf Hitler]] visited [[Liverpool]] is not given credence by most mainstream historians. [[Bridget Dowling]]'s claims and unpublished autobiography ''My Brother-in-Law Adolf'', detailing his stay with Dowling and her then-husband [[Alois Hitler Jr|Alois Hitler]], as an invention to make money following the end of [[World War II]]. Nevertheless, the idea had led to the 1978 satirical novel ''[[Young Adolf]]'' by [[Beryl Bainbridge]] and [[John Antrobus]]' 1980 play ''Hitler in Liverpool''; Morrison was likewise uninterested in the historical veracity of the story, and used the idea to create a satirical story. As such, "The New Adventures of Hitler" featured numerous anachronistic devices - including appearances by [[John Lennon]] singing "[[Working Class Hero]]", [[Morrisey]] (then of [[The Smiths]]) singing "[[Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now]]" and a spectral vision of Thatcher herself.<ref name=Medium>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/meanwhile/the-story-that-inspired-grant-morrison-and-steve-yeowells-the-new-adventures-of-hitler-4181db633ba6|title=The story that inspired Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell’s ‘The New Adventures of Hitler’|first=Reed|last=Beebe|date=18 December 2020}}</ref> Morrison used socialist and Jewish friends as a sounding board for the script and to identify any potential issues. The story was set to be serialised in four-page black-and-white chapters in each issue of ''Cut'' for the magazine's first year.<ref name=Speakeasy100/>
 
==Publishing history==

The strip was instantly controversial. One of ''Cut''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s columnists was singer [[Pat Kane]], then part of the group [[Hue and Cry (band)|Hue and Cry]], who were enjoying chart success at the time. Upon learning of the strip, he threatened to resign on the grounds that the strip was using [[Nazi]] iconography for shock value. Publisher Bill Sinclair attempted to quell Kane's concerns by showing him the initial chapter but the singer remained unmoved, feeling the downtrodden portrayal of Hitler risked attracting reader sympathy and trivialised his crimes.<ref name=Medium/> Contacted by comics magazine ''[[Speakeasy (magazine)|Speakeasy]]'' for comment, Morrison defended the work, attacked middle class liberals for "running away" from Hitler and personally excoriating Kane as an example of the latter - feeling "the things he has done have been indescribable".<ref name=Speakeasy100/>

The involvement of Kane saw the spat picked up on by the British [[Tabloid journalism|tabloid press]], with Morrison receiving phone calls from ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)#Hillsborough disaster and its aftermath|Sun]]'' reporters masquerading as staff of the ''Wakefield Inquirer''<ref name=JDM276/> and accused of being a [[Nazi]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barbelith.com/old/interviews/interview_1.shtml |title=Barbelith Interviews: An Interview with Grant Morrison |publisher=Barbelith.com |date=2002-09-02 |access-date=2010-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219204742/http://www.barbelith.com/old/interviews/interview_1.shtml |archive-date=2011-02-19 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The argument became ugly, with the magazine's editor Alan Jackson siding with Kane while ''Cut'' publisher Bill Sinclair backed Morrison, describing the comic as "a brilliant piece of work" and questioning those who felt it should be suppressed.<ref name=Speakeasy100/> The first chapter of the story was published in the first issue of ''Cut'' (dated July 1989) but the row refused to die down, culminating in Kane using his column in the third issue to directly attack the subject's unsuitability for the medium<ref name=CutScans/> before quitting the magazine along with Jackson.<ref name=JDM276/> The following issue Morrison was given the vacated page for an open letter to Kane, attacking his "fashionable socialist credentials" and signing off with the invitation to "Fuck off and die."<ref name=CutScans>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/a/deepspacetransmissions.com/site/news-1/thesavageswordofgrantmorrison-patkanevsthenewadventuresofhitler|title=The Savage Sword of Grant Morrison - Pat Kane vs. The New Adventures of Hitler - Deep Space Transmissions|website=sites.google.com}}</ref> However, it was to be the final issue of ''Cut'', which folded afterwards.<ref name=JDM276/><ref name=Medium/>

The travails of the strip had attracted sympathy from elsewhere in the industry, and Yeowell recalled the pair received several offers from publishers to continue publication.<ref name=JDM276/><ref name=Medium/> A first run agreed with [[Fleetway Publications]]' fortnightly adult-orientated anthology ''[[Crisis (British comics)|Crisis]]'' in 1990.<ref name=Speakeasy107>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Speakeasy (magazine)|Speakeasy]]|issue=107|date=March 1990|publisher=[[John Brown Publishing]]|title=Hitler Joins Crisis}}</ref> Ironically, during the initial controversy Morrison had stated the ambition for the story was "to write a political strip that didn't turn into a dour tract, without hitting them over the head with it, like ''Crisis'' does".<ref name=Speakeasy100/><ref name=JDM276/> For the run in ''Crisis'', the story was split into four 12-page chapters, appearing in #46 to #49 from 9 June to 21 July 1990. The strip was coloured by [[Nick Abadzis]] and [[Steve Whitaker]], who used a series of [[pseudonym]]s - The Spock Whitney Quintet; [[The Magic Roundabout|Brian, Dougall and Mr. Rusty]]; and [["Yo mama" joke|Your Mum]] - for the first trio of issues before being credited under their real names on the last part.<ref name=FleetwayCompanion>{{cite book |last=Holland |first=Steve |date=2002 |title=The Fleetway Companion |url= |location=[[Rotherham]] |publisher=CJ & Publication}}</ref> The publication in ''Crisis'' largely passed without comment.<ref name=JDM276>{{cite magazine |last=Berridge|first=Ed|date=14 October 2008|title=Four-Colour Classics: There's a Riot Goin' On - The Story of British Adult Comics Part Two|magazine=[[Judge Dredd Megazine]]|issue=275|publisher=[[Rebellion Developments]]}}</ref>

While Fleetway were interested in publishing a collected edition, ''Crisis'' editor [[Steve MacManus]] revealed the company had only paid for the first run British rights, and other publishers were also bidding for further rights.<ref name=Speakeasy107/> Morrison and Yeowell later considered setting up their own label to release some of their creator-owned work,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popimage.com/profile/morrison/012501_grant3.html |title=PopImage |publisher=PopImage |access-date=2010-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525231539/http://www.popimage.com/profile/morrison/012501_grant3.html|archive-date=2011-05-25}}</ref> while Yeowell noted several small publishers had approached him intermittently.<ref name=JDM276/> However, as of {{CURRENT YEAR}} no collected edition has been produced. 

==Plot summary==
In 1912, [[Adolf Hitler]] is staying with his brother Alois and sister-in-law Bridget, in their [[terraced house]] at 102 Upper Stanhope Street, [[Liverpool]]. Adolf - whose career as a painter met with critical scorn - is troubled by strange visions and unemployed, but remains convinced he will make his mark on the world and becomes obsessed with [[horoscope]]s and discovering the [[Holy Grail]]. Alois, an evangelical seller of [[safety razor]]s, is given to giving demagogic speeches on his plans to take over [[Europe]] with 'Hitler International' and an army of salesmen marching out of [[Germany]], criticising Adolf for his own lack of plans as he and his wife tire of the drifter. Adolf's visions intensify, and he undertakes a long discussion with [[John Bull]]. The latter feels the country has gone downhill since the death of [[Queen Victoria]] and needs "a mad vicious bitch in the driving seat."{{efn|The same frame features a photograph of [[Margaret Thatcher]] in the background<ref name=Medium/>}}

The following day Bull again appears to Adolf, convincing him humans need tyranny and that he should follow the example of the [[British Empire]] in this regard, causing Hitler to abandon any thoughts of resurrecting his art career. He has a heated argument with Alois, outlining his plans to seize control of a country by attacking [[Marxist]] trade unions, indulging the enterprising [[middle class]], outlawing [[freedom of the press]], criminalising amoral 'tendencies' and putting absolute power in the ruling body. Alois scoffs at Adolf's plans, believing "no-one in his right mind would ever fall for that". A reading with local [[astrologer]] Mrs. Prentice convinces Adolf his message isn't being taken seriously because of his [[walrus moustache]], so he shaves it into a [[Toothbrush moustache|toothbrush]] shape. After Christmas 1912, Alois announces he and Bridget will be leaving Liverpool in an attempt to get rid of Adolf. Bull leads Adolf to a fishmonger's, convincing him the Holy Grail is the establishment's fetid, overflowing toilet. While the proprietor ejects him, Adolf is convinced he has touched the Grail and is destined for greatness. On [[Saint George's Day]] 1913 he leaves Liverpool, Alois having arranged accommodation for him in [[Munich]] as Adolf attempts to avoid military service in [[Austria]]. Adolf's resolve to make his mark on the world has been restored, and he vows to return to England in triumph.<ref>{{cite comic|title=[[Crisis (British comics)|Crisis]]|publisher=[[Fleetway Publications]]|story=The New Adventures of Hitler|writer=[[Grant Morrison]]|artist=[[Steve Yeowell]]|issue=#46-49|date=9 June to 21 July 1990}}</ref>

==Reception==
In a 2020 overview of "The New Adventures of Hitler" for ''[[Medium (website)|Medium]]'', Reed Beebe felt that Morrison's pop-culture sensibilities lifted the story above others with the same theme.<ref name=Medium/>

==Notes==
{{noteslist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&Comic=Specials&choice=HITLER The New Adventures of Hitler] at 2000 AD online
*[https://suggestedformaturereaders.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/if-you-cant-take-a-joke-you-can-piss-off/ If You Can't Take a Joke, You Can Piss Off - Rereading The New Adventures of Hitler by Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell at ''Suggested for Mature Readers'']

{{Buster}}
{{Grant Morrison|New Adventures Of Hitler}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Adventures Of Hitler, The}}
[[Category:1989 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1990 comics endings]]
[[Category:Black comedy comics]]
[[Category:British comic strips]]
[[Category:Comics about Nazism]]
[[Category:Comics based on real people]]
[[Category:Comics by Grant Morrison]]
[[Category:Comics set in the 1910s]]
[[Category:Comics set in England]]
[[Category:Crisis comic strips]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler]]
[[Category:Satirical comics]]
[[Category:Surreal comedy comics]]