title: Cartoons and AIDS: safer sex, HIV, and AIDS in Ralf König's comics.
abstract: Ralf König is the best-selling author of comic book novels, and his stories of gay men coming to terms with contemporary society have resonated with hundreds of thousands of German readers and film-goers. König's characters, like the author himself, have great difficulty adhering to the demand that condoms be used. The article describes how König develops this theme through a variety of works from 1985 through 1999, and analyzes the intertwined relationships among the author, his characters, and the society that is both portrayed in his works and that reads his works.
authors.affiliation: Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, Central Michigan University, 1200 S. Franklin Street, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA. jones1jw@cmich.edu
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology; D002359:Cartoons as Topic / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D021841:Safe Sex / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology