Viola Drath in 2010

It’s not hard to see why the alleged murder of socialite and journalist Viola Herms Drath has captured Washingtonians’ imaginations over the last week and a half. She was 91, and the man police have charged with her homicide, her husband Albrecht Gero Muth, is 47. An unemployed German, Muth sometimes wore an eye patch to Washington social functions, walked around their Georgetown neighborhood in military dress, and claimed he was an Iraqi general. According to court documents, Drath was strangled and beaten on Aug. 12—and a neighbor may have overheard the act, which ended with “a faint cry followed by a ‘sinister’ laugh.” Allegedly, Muth forged inheritance papers, claiming $200,000 of her estate. That’s following more than 20 years of what Muth called in an email to the Washington Post a “marriage of convenience,” complete with his own allowance of $1,800 to $2,000 a month. At one point, Drath and Muth were estranged for years, when he left her for a man.

If this wasn’t so tragic and real, it’d read like the plot of an Agatha Christie novel, complete with a bizarre, delusional villain.

So it’s no surprise that the crime stories and obituaries have mostly blown through Drath’s artistic accomplishments in a sentence or two. She was best-known as a policy journalist: For nearly 27 years, Drath wrote for the German business newspaper Handelsblatt, analyzing U.S. foreign and security policy. In 1975, she wrote a book about the West German statesman Willy Brandt. She penned German-language textbooks, as well as political commentary pieces for the Washington Times.

But she also had an eclectic literary life, writing plays, criticism of books and poetry, investigations into Washington’s art world, and later in life, according to one of her friends, an unpublished account of her tumultuous relationship with Muth.

In her prose, you see a writer who could be irreverent, dryly humorous, and precise, but at other times dense and cerebral. In early pieces, she praised stark, austere prose, but later displayed a taste for visual art that was daring and experimental. As an arts writer in the ’70s and ’80s for the highbrow, now-defunct society magazine the Washington Dossier—edited by her friend Warren Adler’s son David—she wrote about powerful institutions and powerful art-world players, but also alternative arts operators. According to her family, she was friends with Norman Mailer. (While members of Drath’s family, including her two daughters, declined to comment for this article, a spokesperson sent a statement containing biographical facts.)

Warren Adler included Drath in the acknowledgements of his popular novel The War of the Roses. “What I liked about her was she was very worldly,” he says. “We become great friends because we instantly were interested in a lot of the same things. She was very literary. I discussed many books with her.”

Drath was both Viola Herms in Germany in 1920, and her first career was in the theater. She wrote her first play, a comedy called Leb Wohl, Isabell (or Farewell, Isabell), at age 18. The Municipal Theater in Straubling, Germany, staged it in 1946. According to a biography in one of her textbooks, she worked around this time as a dramaturg at a Berlin theater, and later as a writer for a film company. A second comedy, Kein Verlass auf eine Frau (“No Reliance Upon a Wife”), made it to the stage of Munich’s Junge Bühne theater in 1948. But by then, Drath had left Germany with her new husband, U.S. Army Col. Francis S. Drath. According to Drath’s family, she was the colonel’s interpreter following World War II, when he was the military governor of Bavaria. You can still find a scant few copies of her plays in national libraries in France and Germany, according to online databases, but they seem to have mostly fallen into obscurity.

In the late ’40s, Drath moved with her husband to his home state of Nebraska, where she earned a master’s degree in philosophy and Germanic literature from the University of Nebraska. In 1960 and 1961 she contributed essays and criticism to the school’s prominent literary journal, Prairie Schooner, which also published her husband’s fiction. Here, Drath’s prose is efficient and incisive, almost slavishly Strunk. She praised the unshowy anomie of Bertolt Brecht in a 1960 review of a collection of his poems.

The poetic tension Brecht creates with the confrontation of brutal reality and his materialistic idealism makes for highly sophisticated, bitter satire....The coolness and the aloofness in treatment of his subjects, the method of alienation, do not allow one to lose oneself in compassion and emotional involvement but shock one into thought, if not action. This process is aided by blunt yet sensitive language of utmost clarity, a language so strong and vital, entirely lacking the ambiguity of symbols, indirectness of metaphors, or artiness, that it forges the intrinsic and extrinsic elements of Brechtian poetry into a whole of compelling primitive force.

Drath’s textbooks, for younger readers, have a much lighter tone. Her foreword to the 1961 volume Typisch Deutsch?, for which she penned short stories and plays for teaching German language and culture, is loose and playful:

This is a lighthearted and humourous book about the Germans for those who do not take themselves and others too seriously....Polemic hairsplitters who maintain that there is nothing typically German, nor typically American for that matter, will be happy to sense general agreement with their general contention. Yet, there are a few things about the Germans, their peculiar sense of dignity, the Wanderlust, their love of footnotes (shared only in degree by Americans) and their passion for hard work and fresh air, which strike one as “typical”. This may never pass for the definitive analysis of the German soul, but it might provide some insight into German life.

Drath wrote four other textbooks, and in the late ’60s, when she and her husband moved to Washington, gained notice for her policy writing in Handelsblatt and elsewhere. Her Willy Brandt book was panned by the New York Times—prompting a letter to the editor in which she defended her examination of the chancellor’s womanizing and alleged ties to the C.I.A.—and praised by Henry Kissinger.

From the late ’70s to 1983, her pieces for the Washington Dossier, which focused on political gossip, lifestyle advice, and culture, explored a diverse cross-section of the city’s fine-art world. She wrote stories on the intersections of art and power: A cover looked at former U.S. Sen. Hugh Scott’s vast collection of Chinese art; one of her regular Art & Artists columns pondered corporate art collections; another saw connections between a show of Latino art and D.C.’s diplomatic world. (“Castro’s Cuba has also expressed an interest in this exhibition through the Embassy of the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic in Washington!”) But she also kept an eye on lower-to-the-ground venues. A 1980 piece on a show at the forward-thinking Washington Project for the Arts balanced art criticism with a look into the economic drivers of the art scene. The former mode could be clunky:

Given the properties of impermanence, like Ed Mayer’s phantasmal labyrinth of stacked wood lath or Thomas Watcke’s environment of precariously structured two-by-fours, the ambiguous constructivist vocabulary, probing the relationship between time and space, mass and gravity, force and constraint, took on—not unlike the leaning Tower of Pisa—unexpected disquieting emotional overtones.

While Drath had Old World style—a Washington Post article last week cited her “bygone European look”—she at least didn’t have a stiff interpretation of what art is or how to enjoy it.

At the time she was covering the city’s arts scene, she wasn’t yet known as a socialite, says Warren Adler, although she would later become a regular of Washington foreign-policy circles. “Occasionally we had dinner but she wasn’t particularly social,” he says. “That must have come later when she married this guy. I think I met him once. I couldn’t understand why she married such a young man.”

To Drath’s acquaintances, the relationship never made sense—although, according to Warren Adler’s wife, Sonny, Drath might have shed light on it in a book she allegedly wrote about her years with Muth, penned during their estrangement. (The Drath family’s representative wouldn’t confirm or deny the book’s existence.) According to Sonny Adler, the manuscript was even edited. “[I]t wasn’t going to be published, it was just something interesting.”

Photo courtesy the family of Viola Drath.

Good morning, everyone. Autumn just stepped in for a visit. Strange, isn't it? Today's forecast calls for a partly sunny day with a high of 70. I swear, it was sweltering just last week—not sure how I feel about all of this.

In case you missed it, the Dance Party is returning to the District, maybe with strippers! If crayons are more your thing, take a listen to The Five One's Caribbean themed single, "Mandatory." The members call themselves Red, Blue, Green, and Gold, and dress the part. I used to know a set of guys who called themselves the Colorheads. They also dressed and dyed their hair their respective colors–strange.

In other news, two local screenwriters make the cut for the D.C. Shorts Film Festival with screenplays dealing with break-ups and prison, TBD reports. Ever nostalgia for the days before Twitter and texting became our sole ways of communicating with other humans? We Love DC chronicles last week's Mod Madness at the Textile Museum. If the rockstar lifestyle is more your bit, Brandon Bloch over at ReadysetDC photographs the Rockstar Diaries in Eastern Market.

The woes over at the Washington Times might still be salvageable, or not. Rev. Sun Myung Moon might be buying the publication back from his son, who has been threatening to shut the paper down, reports WaPo. A Dan Snyder buyout would've been more entertaining.

If you're still perplexed by Lost–dead? not dead?–Matthew Fox discusses the after-life, or whatever, in a New York Times interview.

All right, everyone. Don't forget, Rock the Bells is this weekend and Takers opens in theaters! T.I., Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen–what more could a girl ask for? Enjoy the lovely weather today, and keep your swag on.

Photo by woodleywonderworks. Creative Commons Attribution License.

Jason's Werewolves of Montpellier (Fantagraphics, $12.99) is an odd little book. The Norwegian cartoonist specializes in anthropomorphic characters who act human, just like the Disney Ducks did in their best comics. Sven, an unemployed artist and cat burglar, breaks into apartments at night while wearing a werewolf mask. His life becomes more complicated when he falls in love with his lesbian neighbor while real werewolves start pursuing him over the rooftops. Jason's art is always simple and elegant, his stories are cool and laid back, and this is a fun anti-horror novel.

Girl Genius 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm by Phil and Kaja Foglio (Airship Entertainment, $22.99) is the latest collection of the Hugo-award winning Web comic. This steam-punk story follows Agatha, heir to her parents' mad-scientist abilities,  as she tries to repair their damaged sentient castle. At the same time, she's in love with Europe's dictator's son, and ill with Hogfarb's Resplendent Immolation, and under attack by a false heir... the Foglio's have their tongues firmly in cheeks, but the story is goofy and a lot of fun. I've been following this since the beginning, which was half  a decade ago and am still enjoying it immensely.

Ed Briant was signing his novel Choppy Socky Blues (Flux Books, $9.95) at the American Library Association's convention recently and I struck up a conversation. I was thrilled to discover he's the cartoonist behind the Web comic Tales from the Slush Pile, a strip about the trials of children's book illustrators. British-born Briant's also one of those, as well as a teacher at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Briant says his story of Jason Smallfield, a young English boy who's still struggling with his parent's divorce, was originally meant to be a graphic novel. The story's aimed at young adults, and deals with Jason resuming his karate practice with his estranged stuntman father so he can impress  a girl. I was on a weekend reading roll, and enjoyed this book, too, although it's probably more for children.

Karl Kesel's Captain America: The 1940's Newspaper Strip No. 1 (Marvel, $3.99) may confuse some longtime comic strip readers because Captain America didn't have a newspaper strip. This is actually a collection of a Web comic that was recently running as part of their fee-charging digital download site. Kesel does a good job mimicking a 1940s adventure strip, including using larger "Sunday" pages to move the story along. The story itself is about an American think-tank laboratory attempting to recreate the experiment that produced Cap, while suffering under apparent Nazi sabotage and its own goofy inventors. The three-issue miniseries is worth picking up, although it will probably be collected as a trade paperback for those who prefer a meatier story.

D.C. newspapers have devoted less space to comics in recent years.

Ladies and gentleman,

As we take stock of this great nation of ours, it is evident that one group is suffering—a surprising group given its mission. Cartoonists are under siege in this great capital of ours.

If we examine who was appearing in our newspapers in May 2007, the last date we have statistics for, we find a relatively thriving local market. A look at January 2010 shows a much-diminished field.

Using an unscientific scale of one point per cartoonist and one per syndicated page of comics, let's take a look at both dates.

MAY 2007

Washington Post (15 points)

• Tom Toles: editorial cartoonist (semi-daily)
• Richard Thompson: Richard’s Poor Almanac (Saturdays); Cul de Sac strip (Sunday’s Magazine), illustrations for Joel Achenbach’s "Rough Draft" column (Sunday’s Magazine) (three points)
• Rob Shepperson, Tim Grajek: illustrations for Sunday's Business section (.5 points)
• Nick Galifianakis: cartoons for Carolyn Hax's "Tell Me About It" advice column
• Bob Staake: cartoons for "Style Invitational" contest (Sunday Saturday)
• Patrick M. Reynolds: Flashback comic strip; unique Washington version (Sunday comics)
• Eric Shansby: illustrations for Gene Weingarten’s "Below the Beltway" column (Sunday’s Magazine)
• Christopher Gash, Christoph Niemann: spot illos, especially on Sunday
• Michael Cavna: editorial cartoons in Arts section, extremely irregularly (.5 points)
• Julie Zhu: Montgomery Blair High School student cartoonist for "Extra Credit" column in local Extra sections
• Saturday box of syndicated editorial cartoons
• Turkish cartoonist Selcuk Demirel illustrations in Book World, semi-regularly
• Two pages of syndicated comic strips
• Two Sunday sections of comic strips

Washington Times (four points)

• Bill Garner: editorial cartoonist
• Joseph Szadkowski: "Zadzooks" column on comic books (Saturday)
• Large array of editorial cartoons and illustrations every day
• One page of syndicated comic strips

Washington Examiner (daily, except Sundays) (one point; had already dropped three pages of comic strips by this date)

• Nate Beeler: editorial cartoonist (semi-daily); alternates with syndicated cartoonists.

Washington City Paper (Friday-only paper) (seven points)

• Shawn Belschwender: "News of the Weird" column illustrator, unique to WCP
• Ben Claasen III: Dirtfarm comic strip, unique to WCP; advertising illustrations
• Joe Sayers: thingpart comic strip
• Slug Signorino: "The Straight Dope" syndicated column illustrator
• Robert Ullman: "Savage Love" column illustrator, unique to WCP
• Max Kornell, Josh Neufeld: article illustrations
• Syndicated comic strips: The City by Derf, Red Meat by Max Cannon, Ernie Pook’s Comeek by Lynda Barry, and Lulu Eightball by Emily Flake. (Ted Rall was dropped earlier in 2007)

Express (two points)

• Eric Reece: illustration for Baggage Check advice column (Tuesday)
• Six syndicated comic strips

Washington Blade (two points—one for editorial and one for strips)

• No regular cartoonist. Runs one syndicated editorial cartoon and six syndicated strips— Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel, Jane’s World by Paige Braddock (2002 strips), Chelsea Boys by Glen Hanson and Allan Neuwirth, Troy by Michael Derry, Kyle’s Bed & Breakfast by Greg Fox, and Adam & Andy by James Asal.

The Hill (one point)

• Chris Weyant: editorial cartoonist for Weyant’s World.

The Politico (two points—they run cartoons on the front page)

• Matt Wuerker: editorial cartoons, column-heading caricatures, maps.

The Onion (national, not local content) (2 points)

• Sean Kelly: fictional editorial cartoonist; actually by Ward Sutton;
• Syndicated strips: Postage Stamp Funnies by Shannon Wheeler, The Leftersons by Colin T. Hayes, Wondermark by David Malki, The Spats, Cathy by Cathy Guisewhite (in Spanish) and Red Meat by Max Cannon

Total: 35 points

**

JANUARY 2010

Washington Post (12.66 points)

• Ann Telnaes: animated editorial cartoons on Web site) (one point)
• Tom Toles: editorial cartoonist (semi-daily) (one point)
• Richard Thompson: Richard’s Poor Almanac (Saturdays); "Cul de Sac" strip (Sunday’s Style section, only in color sometimes) (down to 1.5 points from three—we've not seen RPA this year)
• Rob Shepperson, Tim Grajek: Gone? (zero points)
• Nick Galifianakis: cartoons for Carolyn Hax's "Tell Me About It" advice column (one point)
• Bob Staake: cartoons for "Style Invitational" contest (Sunday Saturday) (one point)
• Patrick M. Reynolds: Flashback comic strip; unique Washington version (Sunday comics) (one point)
• Eric Shansby: illustrations for Gene Weingarten’s "Below the Beltway" column (Sunday Magazine) (one point)
• Christopher Gash, Christopher Niemann: spot illos especially on Sunday (one point)
• Michael Cavna: blogging at "Comics Riffs" (one point)
• Julie Zhu: Montgomery Blair High School student cartoonist for "Extra Credit" column in local Extra sections (one point)
• Saturday box of syndicated editorial cartoons (one point)
• Cartoonists in Book World: section dropped (zero points)
• Two pages of syndicated comic strips, drastically reduced in size (.66 points)
• One Sunday sections of comic strips (.5 points)

Washington Times (one point)

• Joseph Szadkowski: "Zadzooks" column on comic books.

Washington Examiner (daily, except Saturdays) (one point)

• Nate Beeler: editorial cartoonist (semi-daily); alternates with syndicated cartoonists

Washington City Paper (Friday-only paper) (3.5 points)

• Slug Signorino – "The Straight Dope" column illustrator
• Ben Claasen III – "Dirtfarm" comic strip, unique to WCP; advertising illustrations
• Occasional illustrators such as Robert Ullman for articles
• Rhode’s comics articles (one point)

Express (1.33 points)

• Ben Claasen III: illustration for "Baggage Check" advice column (Tuesday)
• Two syndicated comic strips (Pearls Before Swine, Pooch Cafe).

Washington Blade (zero points): out of business

The Hill (one point)

• Chris Weyant: editorial cartoonist for Weyant’s World.

The Politico (two points— they still run him on the front page)

• Matt Wuerker: editorial cartoons, column-heading caricatures, maps.

The Onion (national, not local content) (.166 points)

• "Sean Kelly” editorial cartoonist (missing for all of January 2010);
• Syndicated strips: Red Meat by Max Cannon (loss of five other strips).

Total: 22.656 points

We are only 65 percent as good as 2007. In just two short years, we have lost an astounding 35 percent of our weekly comics content. While we have gained the regular cartoons of Ms. Telnaes and the blog of Mr. Cavna, that has not been enough to offset the drastic losses we have suffered. This cannot stand, and this shall not stand. I am immediately proposing a Works Progress Administration-type stimulus package to keep our nation's cartoonists dutifully employed in keeping our citizens entertained. Thank you and good night.

Above: Photoshop wizardry by William Atwood Mitchell

- Before the Washington Times said it will kill its Sunday edition, the paper announced the end of its Sunday comics page, ComicsDC and the Daily Cartoonist both note. Says a Daily Cartoonist commenter: "Having first scrapped the intentionally humorous part of their Sunday coverage, they’re now dropping the unintentionally funny stuff, too."

- D.C.-based lo-fi label Underwater Peoples is dropping its free winter compilation on Christmas Day. Check out the label's Sawyer Carter Jacobs making the announcement—from Vietnam:

- Regulators approved the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger in the U.K., while the U.S. Department of Justice should finish its review of the proposal soon. (Meanwhile, opponents of the merger launched this Web site last week.)

- Lists! The year's biggest art auctions! Actual sales figures of albums on Pitchfork's Best of 2009 list! The most memorable critical dustups! (This last one via Roger Ebert's Twitter, which has become as essential as his wonderful blog.)

- On song covers.

- John Lennon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is missing. Hardly as bad as stealing the Auschwitz sign, but still...

- Venomous turkeys! Possibly related: Half of Sweden watches a Donald Duck special every Christmas Eve.

That's all! Have a good day! Follow me on Twitter!

What readers got the first time around was a polite, unprovocative column about what it was like to watch TV during the election season, with a big plug for the band Hem. Any button-pushing was reserved for a bit toward the end: ""It brings me directly to what Barack Obama said at his Democratic Convention acceptance speech in Denver. We are our brother's keeper, our sister's keeper. We have a responsibility to watch out for one another, to do the right thing. Our better selves will seek out these opportunities because our present circumstances demand it."

Pretty safe. But Carpenter's column would still have to get a lot worse to compete with Stephen King's ruminations on pop culture.