Carlsen Verlag is a subsidiary of the homonymous Danish

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

which in turn belongs to the Swedish media company Bonnier. The branch was founded on 25 April 1953 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. The publisher's program focuses on books for children, i.e. ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students a ...

'', ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently—Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, an ...

'', ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. ...

'', ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this ...

'', and ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European com ...

''. By 2005 Carlsen Comics, the publisher's comic division, had grown to be one of the three biggest comic book publishers in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Carlsen is one of the ten biggest publishers of children's books.

History

Carlsen was founded on April 25, 1953, by Per Hjald Carlsen in

as a subsidiary of Danish company Illustrationsforlaget/PIB. At first, it published work about the bears Petzi and his friend, which were already successful in various German newspapers. The first Pixi-Bücher were released in 10 x 10 cm format in 1954. The publisher began its comic program with the first collection from

series. The program was expanded to include traditional Franco-Belgian series such as ''Alix,

Blake and Mortimer ''Blake and Mortimer'' is a Belgian comics series created by the writer and comics artist Edgar P. Jacobs. It was one of the first series to appear in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Tintin'' in 1946, and was subsequently published in book ...

, Valerian and Veronique, and

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and i ...

''. In the early 1980s, the program added

Spirou and Fantasio ''Spirou & Fantasio'' (french: Spirou et Fantasio, wa, Spirou eyet Fantasio) is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comics. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European humorous adven ...

and the adventures of office boys Gaston and Leonardo among others. A few collections were published under trade name ''Semic'' as discount kiosk merchandise. The production was discontinued; in 1989 more sets were published monthly by Carlsen. Under lecturer Eckart Sackmann the ''Edition ComicArt'' was founded in the early 1980s, a type of comic meant for mature readers. Sackmann's successor Andreas C. Knigge coined the Comic Program for many years and oversaw the expansion of this division. In 1987/88 the publisher attempted to establish their own magazine named ''Moxitto,'' but after six editions it was discontinued. The publisher left Reinbek in 1989 after 24 years, returning to Hamburg-Ottensen. Franco-Belgian comics were then published at the start of the 1990s as well as superhero comics from

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, le ...

form. Mainly independent extra editions, so-called one shots, were translated.

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

's work ''

The Dark Knight Returns ''The Dark Knight Returns'' (alternatively titled ''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'') is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, with color by Lynn Varley, and ...

''. received special attention. Carlsen took a shot at publishing booklets series like '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer,

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inc ...

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

und

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''. Knigge's successor was Joachim Kaps, whose time triggered a manga-boom with the publication of the Dragonball

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

s with Japanese reading format (right-to-left). In early 2002 Carlsen bought the name and d author rights of Kleinverlages B&L (the other series belonging to B&L Publishing went to *BSE Publishing*.) B&L continued to publish funny adult comics with Carlsen as its label and went on to add more series. In 2006 B&L expanded with ''Carlsen Cartoon and Humor'', publishing bestseller cartoons such as '' Nichtlustig'' by Joscha Sauer and ''Shit happens!'' by Ralph Ruthe. The biggest success for Carlsen came with the ''

'' book series by

Joanne K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote '' Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ...

. Before the release of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, the publisher acquired the license for all seven volumes. Therefore, the German title illustrations did not have to adjust to the standards of the rights-holder

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

. To this day Harry Potter volumes in German-speaking areas have sold 30 million copies. Currently, Carlsen is one of the big three German comic book publishers, and in the top 10 for children's book publications. The Danish Carlsen Verlag, from which the publisher had originally come, belonged to Bonnier earlier as well, and has gotten more income since becoming part of the Egmont Foundation in 2007. As a result, the name-sharing publishers in Denmark and Germany are no longer connected to each other as companies. In spring 2008, the joint-venture ''Chicken House Deutschland (Germany)'' was founded by Carlsen along with the British children's book publisher''

The Chicken House The Chicken House is a publishing company owned by Scholastic Corporation, specialising in children's fiction. Founded in 2000 by Barry Cunningham and Rachel Hickman as Chicken House Publishing, it was bought by Scholastic in 2005. It has intro ...

,'' belonging to US-based

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

. In 2011 Carlsen took over the Oetinger Publishing Group of

Xenos Publishing Society __NOTOC__ Xenos may refer to: * Xenos (Greek), a Greek word meaning "stranger" or "alien" * Xenos (insect), a genus of insects in the order Strepsiptera * Xenos (graphics chip), a custom graphics processing unit (GPU) designed by ATI, used in the ...

and affiliated with its label Nelson Verlag (Publisher). In 2012, Carlsen absorbed *Terzio*, which also owns the famous "Ritter Rost" stories. Musical books about other themes appear in this program sector alongside many other successful musical books with the rusty heroes of the play room. In spring 2013, Carlsen began two labels, in which exclusive digital books were published: tearjerkers and compelling youth & young adult fantasy from popular genres such as paranormal romance, coming-of-age, and New Adult. Instant Books, which would end up being discontinued again, were for fast and easy reading before all the adult readers with a passion for 'Thrill' and 'Romance'. In the first year, only select print titles were accepted regularly in the Carlsen Verlag Pocketbook Program, appearing between all novels of the label as well as printed issues through the

Print-on-Demand Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents, packaging or materials) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. While oth ...

program. In spring 2014, Carlsen launched the new label ''King's Children Publishing (Königskinder Verlag),'' publishing books for children up to 12 years, young adult books and crossover titles. Barbara König took over the leadership of the sub-publisher, who had taken responsibility of the narratival hard cover program in children's and young adult literature. The program started with the novel ''Anders'' by

Andreas Steinhöfel Andreas Steinhöfel (; born 14 January 1962) is a German author for children and young adult books, and a translator. Biography Andreas Steinhöfel grew up with two brothers in the Middle Hesse small town Biedenkopf, and did his A Levels the ...

. Books from the program were critically acclaimed and received four nominaitons for the

Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only ...

. At the end of September 2017, Carlsen Verlag announced that they were discontinuing the *Königskinder* due to the sales figures; after that 42 titels were released in Spring 2018. Also in spring 2014, Carlsen launched the new adventure series LeYo! and with the LeYo! books came the greenlight for the first multimedia library for children. Carlsen Verlag absorbed Lappan Publishing in January 2015, which had previously belonged to Salzer Holding GmbH. The comics section is still being worked on by Oldenburg. The publisher was awarded with the Virenschleuder-Preis at the 2016 Frankfurt Bookfair. Starting from October 2016 there was another digital label by the name Dark Diamonds in the New Adult Fantasy sector. An older target group was addressed with the release of Dark Diamonds for the fantasy and romance genres. By that time both labels combined and ran under the printing brand. In 2021, Carlsen founded the label Hayabusa, focusing on the

Boys Love ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the '' wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created ...

genre as well as queer stories, with young women as the target group.

Other Carlsen publications

*'' BANZAI!'' *'' Daisuki'' *'' Petzi'' *'' Sky Doll'' * Chibi Manga series with short comics from German artists in manga style *

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...

*German-made comic Jamiri *

Yoko Tsuno ''Yoko Tsuno'' is a comics album series created by the Belgian writer Roger Leloup published by Dupuis in '' Spirou'' magazine since its debut in 1970. Through thirty volumes, the series tell the adventures of Yoko Tsuno, a female electrical e ...

* Elfquest *Die Chroniken des Schwarzen Mondes (

Black Moon Chronicles The ''Black Moon Chronicles'' (french: Chroniques de la Lune Noire) is an epic dark fantasy French comic series. Publication history Written by François Marcela-Froideval, the ''Black Moon Chronicles'' is an epic story offset by liberal doses ...

) *Clever & Smart (

Mort & Phil ''Mort & Phil'' ( es, Mortadelo y Filemón) is a Spanish comic series, published in more than a dozen languages. It appeared for the first time in 1958 in the children's comic-book magazine drawn by Francisco Ibáñez. The series features Mor ...

) *Picture book series Pixi Books *Picture book series Wonder Books *Child- and youth book series My Girlfriend Conni *

*Die Schule der magischen Tiere (The School of Magical Animals) *

Percy Jackson Perseus "Percy" Jackson is a fictional character, the title character and narrator of Rick Riordan's '' Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. He is also one of seven main protagonists of the sequel series '' The Heroes of Olympus'', appeari ...

Comic series overview

Carlsen Verlag Comic Publications Carlsen is a Danish- Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Carl". The form Karlsen is cognate. The parallel Swedish forms are Carlsson and Karlsson. Notable people with the surname include: * Agnete Carlsen (born 1971), Norwegian footb ...

Out-of-print

* Batem, Verhoest und Cambier: ''Alles über das Marsupilami (All About Marsupilami),'' Carlsen 1993. * Horst Schröder: ''Bilderwelten und Weltbilder''. ''SF Comics in den USA, Deutschland, England und Frankreich. (Imagery and Worldviews. SF Comics in the USA, Germany, England and France.)'', Carlsen 1982. * Andreas Knigge (Hrsg.): ''Comic Jahrbuch 1990 (Comic Yearbook 1990),'' Carlsen 1990 * Andreas Knigge (Hrsg.): ''Comic Jahrbuch 1991 (Comic Yearbook 1991),'' Carlsen 1991 * Scott McCloud: ''Comics richtig lesen,'' Carlsen 1994. * Hugo Pratt: ''Corto Maltese - Aus dem Leben eines Abenteuers (Corto Maltese - From the Life of an Adventurer),'' Carlsen 1992. * Horst Schröder: ''Die ersten Comics - Zeitungscomics in den USA von der Jahrhundertwende bis zu den 30er Jahren (Newspaper Comics in the USA from the 1900s to the 1930s),'' Carlsen 1981. * Jean Annestay: ''Die Geheimnisse des Incal (The Secrets of Incal),'' Carlsen 1991. * Numa Sadoul: ''Das groβe André Franquin-Buch (The Great André Franquin-Buch),'' Carlsen 1989. * Andreas Knigge (Hrsg.): ''Das groβe Hal Foster-Buch (The Great --),'' Carlsen 1992. * Numa Sadoul: ''Das groβe Moebius-Buch (The Great Moebius-Buch),'' Carlsen 1992 * BenoÎt Peeters: ''Hergé - Ein Leben für die Comics (Hergé - A Life for the Comics),'' Carlsen 1983. * Bill Blackbeard (Hrsg.): ''100 Jahre Comicstrips,'' 2 Bände (''100 Years of Comicstrips,'' 2 Volumes), Carlsen 1995.

Publisher offices

In 2021 Verlag applied to convert rooms of a former turning plant into the Verlag campus in Hamburg-Ottensen.

Allegations of Racism

In 2020 Carlsen Verlag published the children's book ''Ein Corona-Regenbogen fuer Anna und Moritz (A Corona Rainbow for Anna and Moritz)''. In the book the grade-schooler brings up the topic of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, saying: "The virus comes from China and it has spread around the entire world." At the start of March 2021, the Chinese consulate general in Hamburg issued a warning on its website to Chinese people living in Germany about an "inappropriate depiction" in a kids' book and about "provocations, discrimination and hate". As a result, Verlag was confronted with massive allegations of racism through e-mails and *

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

*. *Amazon* also featured negative reviews of books with racist allegations. On March 5, 2021, Carlsen Verlag apologized for (how readers' feelings were hurt by the phrasing), stopping the sales of the books with immediate effects. The incident was reported internationally.

Sources

* Tilman Spreckelsen: Harte Zeiten fürs Kinderbuch: Tiefes Wasser. www.faz.net, September 30, 2017, Accessed on September 30, 2017. * Carlsen schließt 2018 Imprint. Die letzten Königskinder kommen im Frühjahr. boersenblatt.net, September 29, 2017, Accessed on September 30, 2017. * Verlage: Carlsen übernimmt die Marke Xenos. In: boersenblatt.net, 16. März 201 * Meyhöfer, Dirk: ''Carlsen Campus in Bahrenfeld: Das Buch in der Basilika''. In: ''Architektur in Hamburg: Jahrbuch 2021/22''. Junius Verlag, Hamburg 2021, ISBN 978-3-96060-535-5, S. 130–135
Geman Children's Book pulled over 'China virus' claim
, The Times, March 9, 2021

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Comic book publishing companies of Germany Companies based in Hamburg Manga distributors Manhwa distributors Mass media in Hamburg