Serbian comics
Serbian comics are comics produced in Serbia. Comics are called stripovi in Serbian and come in all shapes and sizes, merging influences from American comics to bandes dessinées.
Comics started developing in Serbia in the late 19th century, mostly in humor and children's magazines. From the 1920s to the end of the 1980s, Serbian comics were part of the larger Yugoslav comics scene; a large number of titles was published from 1932 to 1991, mainly in Serbo-Croatian language. After the breakup of Yugoslavia and the crisis in the 1990s, Serbian comics have experienced a revival.
History
"The Golden Age" (1932–1941)
In 1932 Veseli četvrtak, an illustrated magazine for children, appeared in Belgrade; an unusually large amount of space was allotted to cartoons. The magazine featured foreign works such as The Katzenjammer Kids and Felix the Cat, but also Doživljaji Mike Miša, a Mickey Mouse pastiche by Serbian authors. Other weeklies and dailies such as Vreme and Pravda followed suit. In 1934, one whole page of Politika newspaper was devoted to Secret Agent X-9. In addition to adventure comics, Walt Disney's cartoon animals were also popular at the time, especially Mickey Mouse, whose name would be used in the titles of a number of Yugoslav comic publications: Mika Miš, Mikijeve novine, Mikijevo carstvo. An editor named Dušan Timotijević named the new art form "strip", after English "comic strip".In 1934, the first two specialized comic magazines appeared - Strip and Crtani film. Their appearance and content were influenced by the Italian magazines Topolino, L'Audace and L'Avventuroso, as well as French magazines Le Journal de Mickey and Hop-là!. Russian immigrant Nikola Navojev debuted in the pages of Strip with his works. Although he died at the age of 27, Navojev was a prolific author who created a number of characters for Strip, of which jungle girl Tarcaneta is best-known today. In 1935, inspired by the adventures of Alex Raymond's X-9, Vlastimir Belkić created the first original character in Serbian comics named Hari Vils. Similarly, other two Russian immigrants, artist Đorđe Lobačev and writer Vadim Kurganski, began working on their first comic, called Krvavo nasledstvo, serialized in the illustrated periodical Panorama. Not only was it the first successful modern comic produced in Serbia, but also the first title set in Yugoslavia.
Most of the Golden Age artists were Russian immigrants, collectively known as the Belgrade Circle and gathered at first around the Mika Miš magazine. Soon enough it was transformed into a real comic magazine, reprinting foreign classics like Prince Valiant, Phantom and Flash Gordon, but also publishing comics by the local authors. Mika Miš lasted from 1936 to 1941, when it ended with issue 505. Its domination would not be questioned until 1939 and the emergence of Mikijevo carstvo and Politikin Zabavnik. The key figures behind all three publications were editors Aleksandar J. Ivković and Milutin Ignjačević. From 1935 to 1941 about twenty comic magazines were launched in Serbia, published weekly and bi-weekly, mostly in black-and-white. They were sold throughout Yugoslavia. In order to boost sales in the western parts of Yugoslavia, some publications were printed not only in the Serbian Cyrillic but also Latin alphabet. Comics were distributed through convenience stores, newsstands and newsboys, with an average print run of 10,000 - 30,000 copies.
The notable works were inspired by cultural classics and Serbian folklore. The shortlist includes Ivan Šenšin's Hrabri vojnik Švejk and Zvonar Bogorodičine crkve, Sergej Solovjev's Carev štitonoša, Robin Hud and Ajvanho, Lobačev's Master Death, Baron Minhauzen and Biberče, Konstantin Kuznjecov's Grofica Margo and Bajka o caru Saltanu. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Sebastijan Lechner also wrote his own scripts, such as Džarto. Similarly, Navojev teamed up with comics writer Branko Vidić to create Zigomar. Some of the titles were reprinted in French and Turkish magazines, while Zigomar was also published in Bulgaria, Italy, Brazil, Argentina and more recently in Australia.
Other creators of "the first generation" included Vsevold Guljevič, Aleksije Ranhner, Đorđe Janković, Moma Marković, Marijan Ebner, Vojin Đorđević, Nikola Tiščenko, Dragan Savić and Đorđe Mali. Lobačev's brother-in-law Valerian Apuhtin became the first professional letterer in Serbia. Another young artist at the time, Živorad Mitrović would revisit this period in his 1982 film Savamala.
The Golden Age of Serbian comics ended with the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941. After World War II some authors were executed as collaborators by the new communist regime or forced to emigrate because of their work in collaborationist newspapers or on propaganda posters. The 2018 documentary film The Final Adventure of Kaktus Kid explores one such fate, that of the less known artist Veljko Kockar.
1945–1990
After World War II, the communist government considered comics a decadent product of the West, therefore worthless and even harmful for children. In 1946 state-owned daily newspaper Borba criticized comics as "black market ersatz goods". For years to come, comics would be discouraged or outright banned. New magazines like Tri ugursuza and Vrabac were short-lived, although comic strips and cartoons survived in the humor magazines Jež and Mali Jež, where Milorad Dobrić and Dejan Nastić published in the 1960s. Jež would also become the home of Dara Nijagara, a rare female protagonist created by cartoonist Desa Glišić after Marilyn Monroe.The outlook changed after the Tito-Stalin Split in 1948. In 1951 Walt Disney's comics returned to Serbia's newspapers. In 1952 Politikin Zabavnik was revived, boasting a circulation of 450,000 in the 1970s. Lobačev was welcomed back to the pages of Zabavnik in 1965. However, it would publish few local comics until Lazo Sredanović's Dikan in 1969.
File:Dikan strip junak.jpg|thumb|right|Dikan by Lazo Sredanović was commissioned by Politikin Zabavnik and modeled after Asterix.
Although back in the 1950s comic magazines like Robinzon and Veseli zabavnik were still censored, even the Yugoslav People's Army started publishing some. Zdravko Sulić began his career in such a publication, but most of his works would be published in the magazine Kekec. It was launched by Borba in 1957, featuring French comics such as Lucky Luke, Smurfs and Chlorophylle, as well as domestic titles, including the works of "the second generation" of creators, like Aleksandar Hecl of Vinetu fame. The first four-color publication, Kekec reached the print run of 300,000 copies. It lasted for 1,532 issues and ended in 1990.
1957 also saw teachers from the small town of Gornji Milanovac launch student newspaper Dečje novine, which grew into a major publisher. Their most successful characters were Mirko and Slavko, heroes of the eponymous comic book. In the 1960s the adventures of the two Partisans peaked at 200,000 copies per issue. To date, it is the only Yugoslav comic adapted into a live action movie. The title was serialized in the Nikad robom comic book series, which also printed works by Petar Radičević, Radivoj Bogičević, Božidar Veselinović and Živorad Atanacković, all inspired by the history of the South Slavs. The same publisher launched a number of other magazines, including Zenit and Biblioteka Lale and Eks almanah.
File:Cover to YU strip issue 31, featuring Kobra, art by Branislav Kerac.jpg|left|thumb|YU strip magazine cover, featuring Kobra by Branislav Kerac, a comic which merged influences from action movies to bandes dessinées.
Starting as an Eks spin-off in 1977, the YU strip magazine turned to be the seminal publication for Serbian authors. Teamed up with writer Svetozar Obradović, Branislav Kerac had already debuted with Lieutenant Tara in the Zlatni kliker magazine. The duo went on to create Kobra, the most popular Yugoslav comic of the 1980s. Kerac's super-heroine Cat Claw reached even greater success abroad. A number of local creators published their early stories in YU strip before they went on to work for foreign publishers. The magazine lasted for 85 issues and ended in 1987.
By the late 1970s, the scene rebounded after the blow it had suffered from the 1972 tax law which targeted not only the yellow press but also comics. From 1971 to 1981, 11,611 issues of comics and pulp novels were printed in Yugoslavia, a total of 717 million copies in the country of 22 million people.
Meanwhile, the student press welcomed comics studies and alternative comics of "the third generation", inspired by Métal hurlant. The Pegaz magazine was another publication that nurtured comics theory; it was also where the award-winning Svemironi strip by Lazar Stanojević premiered in 1975.
In addition, comic groups like Belgrade Circle 2 and Bauhaus 7 appeared, comic album was introduced as a new format, and the first animated short based on a comic was filmed. The mass media embraced comics insomuch that the national television produced an educational series on the medium.
Another new trend was the emergence of comic publishers in Novi Sad. Published by Forum, in 1969 Panorama was transformed into Stripoteka, which reached issue 1000 in 2004 and lasted until 2019. Since 1953 daily Dnevnik carried American as well as local authors, such as Ozren Bačić. In 1968 Dnevnik launched Zlatna serija and Lunov magnus strip, featuring Italian comic books such as Tex and Zagor. In the 1980s Kerac spearheaded teams of writers and artists working on licensed Tarzan and Blek comics for those two publishers. The list included artists Branko Plavšić, Goran Đukić, Miodrag Ivanović, Pavel Koza, Marinko Lebović, Petar Meseldžija, Milan Miletić, Sibin Slavković and Dragan Stokić Rajački. The Ninja and Lun kralj ponoći comics were similarly manufactured, but were based on the Yugoslav pulp novels of the same names. A frequent contributor was Miodrag Milanović, a prolific author who also co-created series such as Izvidnik Rod, Larami, Franjo Kluz, El Vertigo and Barba Plima.
Until 1991 Serbian comics were part of Yugoslav comics. Distributed via newsstands, most comics were sold throughout Yugoslavia, written by and large in the common Shtokavian dialect and often printed in the Latin alphabet. Publications from other republics, especially Croatia, from Plavi Vjesnik to Alan Ford, had a great influence on creators and readers in Serbia. A play titled Alan Ford written by Mirjana Lazić and directed by Kokan Mladenović was staged at Teatar T in Belgrade in 1994 and Radio Belgrade produced a radio drama based on the play in 2002. Also, authors worked for publishers outside Serbia, e.g. artists Dušan Reljić, Bojan Đukić, Ratomir Petrović, Zdravko Zupan, Nikola Maslovara, Zoran Kovačević and Askanio Popović, as well as writer Lazar Odanović collaborated on the licensed Tom and Jerry comics for Vjesnik. Finally, artists exhibited at the joint Yugoslav Comics Festival in Vinkovci and exhibits such as "Comics in Yugoslavia 1866 – 1986" in Paris.
The local comic book industry collapsed with the breakup of Yugoslavia.