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A graphic novel dramatizes a true story of a corrupt ruler, a courageous resister, a daring alpine escape, a refugee love story, a reckless return, a jealous traitor, and a martyr burned alive at the stake.
King Ferdinand, who will later become Holy Roman Emperor, orders the eradication of all heretics in Tyrol, and especially their leader, Jakob Hutter. Like other Anabaptists, Hutter has rejected armed revolt and embraced nonviolence. What if instead of overthrowing oppressive rulers, he asks, we create a peaceful and just alternative society ourselves?
Driven into hiding and eventually forced to flee through the mountains into Moravia, Hutter realizes his dream and finds love. But persecution follows him. Despite death warrants, he and his pregnant wife, Katharina, return to Tyrol to support the underground movement there. They are betrayed by a friend turned informant and captured along with their baby. Jakob is burned at the stake in the town square of Innsbruck. Katharina escapes but soon meets a similar fate.
Their story comes to life in this graphic novel, the second in a series that dramatically recreates a little-known chapter in the history of the Reformation. These radicals, labeled Anabaptists by their enemies, were ready to die for their vision. They were executed by thousands – by water, by fire, and by sword – in both Catholic and Protestant lands. This action-packed account of young people daring to standing up for their convictions will appeal to today’s nonconformists.
Jason Landsel, Sankha Banerjee and Richard Mommsen deserve to be commemorated for their honorable contribution to the collection of literary works on Jakob Hutter. This bittersweet but beautiful story brings to life the sacrifice this Anabaptist leader made in order to sow the seeds of a pure church for many generations to come.
I appreciate the artistic detail, the use of muted colors, and the willingness to let images rather than words tell the story at points, giving the reader a chance to imagine and reflect. … I wonder if many of us realize that we have martyrs in our spiritual lineage. And I wonder if we reckon with the possibility that some of the radical values we embrace, at least in theory, might require us to follow Jakob and Katharina, and the One they loved.
