Saarland comic artist Bernd Kissel is the focus of an exhibition at the German Newspaper Museum in Wadgassen. A large selection of his original drawings is on display—from early works to the well-known comics about Marc-Uwe Kling's kangaroo.

The German Newspaper Museum is dedicating an extensive exhibition to comic artist Bernd Kissel, providing an insight into the artist's diverse visual world. Numerous original drawings from different creative phases will be on display. The exhibition is being organized in cooperation with the municipality of Wadgassen and in close collaboration with the artist himself.

Bernd Kissel was born in Saarbrücken in 1978 and grew up in Berus in Saarland, near the French border. After graduating from Max Planck Gymnasium in Saarlouis, he trained as an animator at the Lycée Technique des Arts et Métiers in Luxembourg. He then worked for several years for the animation studio 252, where he designed backgrounds for various animated series.

Self-portrait by Bernd Kissel © Bernd Kissel

His career as a comic artist began in 2007. The Saarbrücker Zeitung newspaper first published the comic series "Saar Legends" and later the "Saarland Album." These works paved the way for Kissel to collaborate with Carlsen Verlag, where he created the volume "Münchhausen – Die Wahrheit übers Lügen" (Münchhausen – The Truth About Lying), among other works. He finally gained widespread recognition through his collaboration with Marc-Uwe Kling: Kissel provided the drawings for the kangaroo comics, which were first published in Zeit Online. Further joint projects followed, including "Der Spurenfinder" (The Trace Finder) and the comic "Elon & Jeff on Mars."

The exhibition is complemented by a comic workshop where visitors can get creative themselves. There, they can develop their own characters and try their hand at drawing comics—an offering that has already proved very popular in previous exhibitions at the museum.
May 17, 2026, to January 3, 2027