being pulled into the gyre. The initial ones here being the first countries
to be either overpowered, occupied or invaded by the Nazis; Austria,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, while the storm itself centres on Germany. The
names of the countries on the map should also warp into the vortex. The
foreboding storm that will cause chaos to reign over all of Europe and
have devastating effects for the rest of the world: ‘surely some revelation
is at hand, surely the second coming is at hand’. This image could also
have incorporated the vague formation of a swastika within the gathering
storm, but it may have been a little too heavy handed following so soon
after the SS officer regalia.
Pages 5 and 6 - Bedouin desert / Berlin Olympics.
The next pages are two examples of page bleeds. The idea was to again
creare a symmetry of sorts between images on both pages. For one the
falcon in the desert echoes the eagle on the staff of the statue from the
Brandenburg Gate while the face of the Olympian mirrors somewhat the
Bedouin in the dust cloud. The sun also reflects an Olympic ring. The
quote on Page 5 can be read as the Bedouin’s perspective, and so the
page shows his point of view, but added to that is his face forming from
the dust cloud. The Latin, ‘Spiritus Mundi’, line leads to the neo-classical
imagery of the Olympics poster. The use of the poster is to indicate
how the insubstantial facade of Nazism was presented as an ideology
of the common working man (the Olympics representing achievements
attainable for all; a world spirit), but yet held a shadowy sinister ideology
within, represented here by the dark gothic statue of the Brandenburg
Gate as a metaphor for the figurative Nazi war machine (body of a lion)
led by Hitler (head of a man).
Page 7. panels 1/2/3/4
The falcon is the most obvious recurring motif throughout the adaptation.
Its early appearance in the poem coupled with its likeness with the eagle
of Nazi iconography made it a solid enough choice as a visual guide to
take us through the story / stanzas. Page 7 panel 1 puts it very close to
the Nazi symbol and its location on the page here brings it into formation
with the bombers. The planes’ formation and the lucid ordered panel
structure are used as a way to display the systematic way in which the
Nazis attempted to consolidate their power. The final panel shows the
effect this has as it leaves the disorder and disarray in its wake, ‘indignant
desert birds’ being disturbed and breaking their own natural formation.
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