Hannes Nüsseler has long worked as a film and culture journalist in Basel—writing for outlets such as TagesWoche, bz Basel and Radio SRF—while building a parallel career as a comic author with graphic novels including Das Seidenband (The Silk Ribbon), Das Haus am Wald (The House by the Forest), and Die Hard. At the beginning of next year (22 February – 11 April 2027), the Cartoonmuseum Basel will exhibit original drawings from all three of these graphic novels, alongside recent and other published works by the artist. In this conversation he looks back on the paths that led him into both fields, the successes and challenges of each, and where he sees cultural journalism heading. (Interview in German, English subtitles available via YouTube settings).
Interview with Cultural Journalist and Comic Author Hannes Nüsseler. Basel (Switzerland), October 1, 2026.
Hannes Nüsseler is a Swiss journalist, film critic, illustrator and comic author from Basel. He was born in 1973, grew up in the Basel region (Matura in Muttenz), and studied American literature with history as a minor at the University of Basel, finishing with a Lizenziat in 1999. He still lives and works in Basel.
He is best known as a culture journalist. For years he has written film criticism and cultural pieces for outlets including the TagesWoche, bz Basel / Zeitung für die Region Basel, Radio SRF, and earlier the Basler Zeitung. His journalism often covers film, exhibitions, local Basel topics, and cultural commentary, sometimes in short “Randnotiz” columns.
As a comic author he debuted relatively late. His first graphic novel, Das Seidenband (Edition Moderne, 2012), is a historical thriller set against early Basel textile industry, smuggling, and social conflict around silk weaving. Influences include Hergé and Franquin; he has said Tintin taught him how to mislead readers and sustain tension. The book was taken to the Angoulême festival.
His second graphic novel, Das Haus am Wald (Edition Moderne, 2017), is a sparse, atmospheric psychological thriller. A young woman named Diana returns to her childhood house on the edge of a fictional Swiss village, Talberg. Family secrets, village gossip, dreams, and early-1990s news fragments (EWR vote, Balkan war) create a “Mittelland Gothic” mood. Reviews praised the reduced drawing style, few dialogues, cinematic framing, and Hitchcock/Lynch-like unease. Some pages have no text at all.
He also published the children’s picture book Max und die Geister (SJW, around the 550th anniversary of the Basel Herbstmesse), inspired by the old ghost train and bedtime stories for his son. Translations into English and Sursilvan have been listed.
Nüsseler’s comic style is described as precise, economical, and cinematic: clear lines, grainy raster effects, strong use of light and shadow, and film-like cuts. He typically pencils lightly, inks with various pens, then adds texture digitally. Journalism and comics remain parallel careers rather than a full-time comics path.
