Gerda Jord. Karalius nakvos Merkinėje (The King Will Spend the Night in Merkinė), Vilnius: Aukso žuvys, 2025. – 456 p.

The King Will Spend the Night in Merkinė is a graphic novel focusing on a relatively little-known historical period. It reconstructs the portrait of Władysław Vasa, the ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), as well as his milieu and his ties with Lithuania. The book depicts important events of the seventeenth century: the great fire of Vilnius, the celebrations of Władysław Vasa’s arrival in Vilnius, the royal wedding, the premiere of the first opera, the transfer of the relics of St Casimir and the opening of the chapel dedicated to him, the activities of the Vilnius Academy, and others. Prominent personalities of the time become vivid and colourful comic characters who convey both their own stories and the history of Lithuania in a way far more engaging and lively than in history textbooks.

The central theme of the book is the secret love affair between the ruler and the non-noble merchant’s daughter Jadvyga Luškovska, which lasted for nearly fifteen years of Władysław Vasa’s reign. Merkinė was a special place of their meetings. It was also there that Władysław Vasa spent the final days of his life and died.

The illustrations in the book speak through colourful images: the drawings are coloured with watercolour and then combined digitally. When drawing the characters, the author took into account portraits painted by their contemporaries, although she did not copy them exactly. She also sought to depict the surroundings as authentically as possible – both the nature around Merkinė and the architecture of seventeenth-century Vilnius.

Gerda Jord (Gembickienė) (b. 1988) is one of the best-known Lithuanian creators of comics and graphic novels. She studied Lithuanian philology and later also studied animation and special pedagogy. She has published four books. She works with children with special needs, and has created an educational comic about autism, which can be read online. Gerda Jord’s works are characterised by humour and by her ability to connect both complex historical narratives and sensitive personal themes in the form of comics. In 2024, she received the Lithuanian Artists’ Association award for her contribution to visual art and the development of the comics culture.

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