Nicolas Mahler
Thumb • Illustration — Nicolas Mahler 2024
Nicolas Mahler
C.Stadler/Bwag · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Nicolas Mahler
- Born
- 1969
- Birthplace
- Vienna, Austria
- Occupation
- Cartoonist
- Awards
- * Max & Moritz Prize
- Nationality
- Austria
- Fields
- painting · illustration · poetry · comic
- Languages
- German
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Thumb • Illustration — Nicolas Mahler 2024
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Nicolas Mahler was a comics artist, comics writer and draftsperson, among other activities, of Austrian nationality. The comics artist was born in Vienna.
Nicolas Mahler worked in Vienna. Activity centred on comic, illustration and painting. Languages used include German.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Nicolas Mahler. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q94228 · wikipedia · Nicolas Mahler
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Nicolas Mahler • Born — 1969 • Birthplace — Vienna, Austria • Occupation — Cartoonist • Notable Works — Flaschko, Kratochvil • Awards — * Max & Moritz Prize • Preis der Literaturhäuser Nicolas Mahler (born 1969) is an Austrian cartoonist and illustrator. Die Zeit, NZZ am Sonntag, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and Titanic print his comics. He is known for his comics Flaschko and Kratochvil and for his literary adaptations in comic form. His comics have been adapted into films and theatre plays. He was awarded the Max & Moritz Prize and the Preis der Literaturhäuser.
Life and career
Life and career
Mahler was born in Vienna. He is an autodidact, and started working as an illustrator soon after leaving school. Mahler draws for Austrian, German and Swiss newspapers, magazines and anthologies. He has published over twenty books, including in France and Canada. His Flaschko-comics were adapted as animated films and screened at various short film festivals in Europe. His comic Kratochvil was performed as a puppet play in Switzerland, Austria and France. In 2003, together with Rudi Klein and Heinz Wolf (cartoonist), he founded the Kabinett für Wort und Bild in Vienna Museumsquartier. Mahler produced several literary adaptations in comic form, including Alte Meister (after Thomas Bernhard's novel), Alice in Sussex (based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) and Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (after Robert Musil's novel) as well as adaptations in 2020 of James Joyce's Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. In addition to his fictional stories, Mahler published Kunsttheorie versus Frau Goldgruber (Art Theory vs. Mrs. Goldgruber), Die Zumutungen der Moderne (The Impositions of Modernity), Pornographie und Selbstmord (Pornography and suicide), as well as Franz Kafkas Nonstop Lachmaschine (Franz Kafka's Nonstop Laughing Machine), as autobiographical comics in which he processes his sometimes absurd experiences in everyday life and in the comic scene. Mahler has been known to German readers through his publications in the satirical magazine Titanic. From 2014 to 2016, he also published in the monthly magazine Chrismon. Mahler lives in Vienna. He is married and has a son.
Style
Style
Mahler's style is characterised by an extremely reduced stroke with which he captures cranky characters. The award citation for the Max & Moritz Prize states: • Die Figuren von Nicolas Mahler haben keine Augen, keine Ohren, keine Münder – aber sie haben zweifellos Charakter. Stets gelingt es Mahler, mit minimalistischen Zeichnungen und maximalem Humor seine wenigen Striche auf den Punkt zu bringen. Dabei pendelt er virtuos zwischen banal, absurd und kafkaesk. • (Nicolas Mahler's figures have no eyes, no ears, no mouths – but they undoubtedly have character. Mahler always succeeds in getting to the heart of his few strokes with minimalist drawings and maximal humour. In doing so, he virtuously oscillates between banal, absurd and kafkaesque.)
Comics
Comics
• TNT: Eine Boxerstory.. • Lone racer. 1999, (French first edition L'Association; In English at Top Shelf 2006; in German at Reprodukt 2012). • Lame ryder. 2001,. • Das Raupenbuch. Edition 52, 2002, 20 pages,. • leicht beschädigte tiere. 2002,. • Kunsttheorie versus Frau Goldgruber. 2003,. • Kratochvil. Edition Selene, Wien 2004,. • Die Zumutungen der Moderne. Reprodukt, Berlin 2007. • Van Helsing macht blau. 2008, (German version of Van Helsing's Night Off.). • Längen und Kürzen. Luftschacht, Vienna 2009. • SPAM. Reprodukt, Berlin 2009. • Engelmann: Der gefallene Engel. Carlsen Verlag, Hamburg 2010. • Pornografie und Selbstmord. Reprodukt, Berlin 2010. • Franz Kafkas nonstop Lachmaschine. Reprodukt, Berlin 2014. • Partyspaß mit Kant. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2015.. • Das kleine Einschlafbuch für Große. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2016.. • Die Goldgruber-Chroniken. Reprodukt, Berlin 2017. • Das Ritual. Reprodukt, Berlin 2018,. • Der Fremde. Carlsen, Hamburg 2018. • Das kleine Überlebens-ABC. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2018.. • Thomas Bernhard. Die unkorrekte Biografie. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2021,. • Schwarze Spiegel. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2021,. • Nachtgestalten (with Jaroslav Rudiš) Luchterhand, Munich 2021,.
Flaschko
Flaschko
• Flaschko, der Mann in der Heizdecke. Dämon Damenlikör. 2002,. • Flaschko, der Mann in der Heizdecke. Die Staublunge. 2007,. • Flaschko, der Mann in der Heizdecke. Die Müllsekte. 2009,.
Literary adaptations
Literary adaptations
• Alte Meister. Comedy by Thomas Bernhard, Andreas Platthaus (ed.): Suhrkamp, Berlin 2011,. • Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften. Graphic novel after Robert Musil. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2013,. • Alice in Sussex. Suhrkamp 2013,. • Previously as: Alice in Sussex. in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, since 6 November 2012. • Lulu und das schwarze Quadrat. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2014.. • Comic adaptation after Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2017,. • Nicolas Mahler, James Joyce: Ulysses. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2020,. • Nicolas Mahler, James Joyce: Finnegans Wake (series mini kuš! Nr. 92). Grafiskie stāsti, Riga 2020,
Scenarios
Scenarios
• Molch. Luftschacht, Wien 2008 (Illustrator: Heinz Wolf).
Identity
Identity
Nicolas Mahler is recorded with the occupation comics artist. Recorded as comics artist, painter, illustrator, poet and comics writer.

Jury member Nicolas Mahler at the film festival Vienna Independent Shorts 2014 at Stadtkino at Vienna Künstlerhaus (Vienna, Austria).
Manfred Werner - Tsui · Manfred Werner/Tsui - CC by-sa 3.0

Filmmaker Mark Gerstorfer (Erlösung) at the film festival Vienna Independent Shorts 2014 at Stadtkino at Vienna Künstlerhaus (Vienna, Austria).
Manfred Werner - Tsui · Manfred Werner/Tsui - CC by-sa 3.0
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1969
Nicolas Mahler was born on 1 January 1969.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Nicolas Mahler was born at Vienna.
Birthplace
Vienna.
Birth place
Illustrations
Illustrations
• Die kleine Unbildung. Liessmann für Analphabeten (with Konrad Paul Liessmann). Zsolnay, Vienna 2018,.
Poetry (with illustrations)
Poetry (with illustrations)
• Gedichte. With an afterword by Raimund Fellinger (Insel-Bücherei. 1385). Insel Verlag, Berlin 2013,. • Dachbodenfund. Gedichte. Luftschacht Verlag, Vienna 2015,. • In der Isolierzelle. Gedichte. Luftschacht Verlag, Vienna 2017,. • Solar Plexy. Gedichte. Luftschacht Verlag, Vienna 2018.
Cartoon collections
• Das Unbehagen. Humor-Zeichnungen. Edition Moderne, Zürich 2005,. • Die Herrenwitz-Variationen. Edition Moderne, Zürich 2008, • Was fehlt uns denn?. Edition Moderne, Zürich 2011,. • Mein Therapeut ist ein Psycho. Edition Moderne, Zürich 2013,. • Die Smalltalkhölle. Edition Moderne, Zürich 2014,. • Der Urknall. Edition Moderne, Zürich 2015,. • In Zukunft werden wir alle alt aussehen. Edition Moderne, Zürich 2017,. • Wir müssen reden. Edition Moderne, Zürich 2019,.
Awards
• 1999: ICOM Independent Comic Preis – Special prize (Flaschko – Der Mann in der Heizdecke and TNT: Eine Boxerstory) • 2006: Max & Moritz Prize for the best comic in German (Das Unbehagen) • 2007: Deutscher Karikaturenpreis, "Geflügelter Bleistift" in Silver • 2008: Max & Moritz Prize for the best comic-strip (Flaschko – Der Mann in der Heizdecke) • 2010: Max & Moritz Prize for the best comic-artist in German • 2013: Sepp-Schellhorn-Stipendium (scholarship) in Goldegg • 2015: Preis der Literaturhäuser • 2019: Sondermann Award
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Suhrkamp Verlag. Nicolas Mahler.
- 2.Selg, Anette. Graphic Novels – Barock opulente Literaturbearbeitungen. Deutschlandfunk Kultur. 19 June 2014.
- 3."Preis der Literaturhäuser" für Nicolas Mahler. Literaturhaus Hamburg. 3 March 2015.
- 4.Das Unbehagen (Nicolas Mahler) – comics & more. modern-graphics.de/.
- 5.Herrenwitze. kultur-online. 22 February 2009.
- 6.Flaschko – Der Mann in der Heizdecke. oe1.orf.at. 19 August 2021.
- 7.Theater. mahlermuseum.
- 8.Wenk, Erik. Germanisten aus der Hölle. Der Tagesspiegel. 1 July 2014.
- 9.Bücher, Trickfilme, Puppentheater "Minimahlist", aber zu produktiv für einen Verlag allein. Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 21 October 2007.
- 10.Seesslen, Georg. Anmerkungen zu Nicolas Mahler. Das Magazin für Comickultur. 16 November 2018.
- 11.Reiterer, Martin. Nicolas Mahler – "Tragödie ist mir zu fad". Zeitgenossen – Wiener Zeitung Online. 5 September 2014.
- 12.Nicolas Mahler, Comicautor. rbbKultur. 22 April 2021.
- 13.HOJLO, Frédéric. Nicolas Mahler, la ligne minimaliste. ActuaBD.
- 14.Mahler. chrismon.
- 15.Brake, Michael. Die Metaebene lacht herzlichst. Die Zeit.
- 16.Hö, Von Stefan. Die Große Seelenwanderung. Nicolas Mahler zeichnet den „Ulysses“ neu : literaturkritik.de. 22 August 2007.
- 17.Deckert, Sarah-Maria. Wo das weiße Kaninchen im Pfeffer liegt. Der Tagesspiegel. 2 April 2013.
- 18.Max und Moritz-Preis beim 12. Internationalen Comic-Salon in Erlangen verliehen. BuchMarkt. 17 June 2006.
- 19.Der Interessenverband Comic e.V. ICOM.
- 20.Stadt Erlangen: Comic Salon. Max und Moritz-Preis seit 1984.
- 21.Die Gewinner des Deutschen Karikaturenpreises stehen fest. Gruner + Jahr.
- 22.Österreichische Zeichner räumen Preise ab. Der Standard. 6 June 2010.
- 23.Sepp-Schellhorn-Stipendium für Nicolas Mahler. Suhrkamp Verlag.
- 24.Netzwerk der Literaturhäuser. Preis der Literaturhäuser 2015: Nicolas Mahler erhält den Preis der Literaturhäuser.
- 25.Sondermann-Preis für Nicolas Mahler. Der Tagesspiegel.
- 26.Cartoons von Nicolas Mahler im MuseumsQuartier Wien. MuseumsQuartier Wien.
- 27.Nicolas Mahler on l'Association
- 28."Längen und Kürzen" – Bilder & Fotos. Die Welt. 2 October 2015.
- 29.Die bizarre Welt des Nicolas Mahler. Goethe Institut. 23 June 2021.
- 30.Innerhofer, Judith E. Das wahre Grauen. Die Zeit.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 7
- Robin-M. Aust: »es ist ja auch eine Methode, alles zur Karikatur zu machen.« Nicolas Mahlers Literatur-Comics Alte Meister und Alice in Sussex nach Thomas Bernhard und H.C. Artmann, Würzburg 2016.
- Robin-M. Aust: Grenzfälle und das Fallen von Grenzen. Poetologische Reflexionen in Nicolas Mahlers Formexperimenten. In CLOSURE #5.5.
- Daniela Kaufmann: Das kleine Schwarze. Wedekind, Mahler und die nackte Ikone einer Zeit. In CLOSURE #5.5.
- Sunghwa Kim: "Alles nichts als Karikatur". Nicolas Mahlers Bernhard-Adaption Alte Meister und die Anti-Mimesis-Kunst. In CLOSURE #5.5.
- Kalina Kupczynska: "It's a beautiful story. You made me a very happy man". Über Melancholie in Comics von Nicolas Mahler. In CLOSURE #5.5.
- : Ernst Jandl and Nicolas Mahler: Variationen über 'das Gedicht'. In CLOSURE #5.5.
- Guttner, Angela. Der Comic muss sich nicht in die Hochkultur einschleimen. Der Tagesspiegel. 11 August 2019.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Comics and comic art
9,920 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Nicola ScottArtist
- Nicola StreetenArtist
- Nicolae Petrescu-GăinăArtist
- Nicolas de CrécyArtist
- Nicolas NemiriArtist
- Nicole BélangerArtist
- Nicole ClavelouxArtist
- Nicole HollanderArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Nicolas Mahler?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.