Beginning in 2010, Dennis Wojda published a frame every day from his graphic-art project onto his blog. It took him 566 days to finish, and in November the resulting graphic novel will be published by Borderline Press and released in the U.K.
His great-grandfather was equerry to Czar Nicholas II - an officer of the royal household. His great-grandmother was a midwife with a knack for prophecy. His grandfather survived deportation to a German labour camp and the Warsaw Uprising, and his father was a jazz musician who improvised alongside Jimi Hendrix, though he had lost his hearing in a childhood accident.
Wojda decided to create a graphic novel about himself and his family in 366 days, publishing a daily frame on his blog since March 2012. However, the artist failed to maintain regularity and the project stretched out 200 days longer - after 566 days, the story was brought to an end. The publishing house W.A.B. released the print version of his book, 566 kadrów / 566 Frames in April 2013. As Wojda writes on his blog:
It was to be an experiment in stream of consciousness in slow motion [...] inspired by comic books to make anecdotes about my family as they remembered the stories. Some of these adventures really happened, others are invented. However, all the characters really lived or are living.
Reality and magic go hand in hand throughout the 566 drawings and they manage to showcase the great history that determined the fate of Wojda’s more recent ancestors. What is worth admiring as much as the illustration aesthetics commited to monochrome and cool colours, are the book’s heroes. In her review in the magazine Przekrój, Dominika Węcławek called it “a gallery of interesting characters made of flesh and blood about whom you could read twice as much.”
Dennis Wojda, 566 kadrów (566 Frames), WAB
Only months after the Polish premier of the graphic novel, 566 Frames is being published by Borderline Press in the U.K. This new publisher focuses on independent, innovative artistic projects involving comic prose. Its founder, Phill Hall, speaks enthusiastically about Wojda’s book:
566 Frames will be one of our very first publications. This wonderful story which is already recognised by Polish critics, is truly a flywheel for Borderline Press. I think it will be one of the best graphic novels in the 21st century!
Dennis Wojda was born in 1973 and considers himself an artist, writer and graphic designer. He grew up in Sweden, but has lived in Poland since beginning his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He has co-authored two works with illustrator Krzysztof Gawronkiewicz, Mikropolis. Przewodnik turystyczny / Micropolis. A Tourist Guide and Mikropolis. Moherowe sny / Micropolis. Mohair Dreams, and another with Krzysztof Ostrowski, Nadzwyczajni. Pantofel panny Hofmokl / Extraordinary. The Slipper of Lady Hofmokl. Wojda, together with Sebastian Skrobol, was awarded the first prize at the 2012 International Festival of Comics and Games in Łodz for the comic Ghost Kids: The Ribbon.
Sources: Borderline Press, Przekrój, blog autora
Author: JN, 13/08/2013
Translation: SMG 14/08/2013