An Up-date on From Russia (Formerly the CCCP) With Love...well, comics from Russia!

As an up-date to this article I have to report that I have failed miserably to get a hold of any Russian or Ukrainian Small Press or more professionally produced comic books.

There are a lot of links that take you to sites no longer existing or which have not been up-dated for years.  So it is very hard to judge what might be getting produced today.  I do know Russia is producing some interesting horror and sci fi movies -thanks to You Tube!- but comics.....?

I then found an American blog -bookwars.ca and a piece on the 2016 Boomfest titled: 

I went to a Russian Comic Festival and Lived to Tell the Tale: Thoughts and Memories from Boomfest.

There is no name to the piece and I was not that impressed. The post starts off praising the lavish building the event was held but then complains about narrow corridors and ,ooh, how absolutely horrid "...nearly immovable heavy wooden doors are especially noteworthy for their horribleness, but all of it looked so good that I was ready to forgive all the venue’s faults in an instant"  Hope the toilet paper was not too rough on your arse.

Seriously, look into European architecture -it wasn't really built for Americans who can drive their cadillac from room-to-room and  gently blow on doors to open them.  I was non-the-wiser after reading this piece which came across more like a whiny-piece, though the writer did note the "...event felt very balanced gender-wise".  Ahem.  To think that in the 1980s I used to get criticism for "female creator bias" (oh...was I an "SJW"? :-0 )  There was a nice anecdote in the piece:

"...Mawil, a German comic creator. Mawil had been signing books and selling some merch after his panel, when he asked one of his readers how much the price of his patches were, if converted to Euros. The reader said the 170 ruble price tag roughly translated into 2 euros. Mawil then asked how much a bottle of beer normally costs in Russia, once again, in euros. After hearing that you can buy one for a euro, Mawil promptly grabbed the price tag off of his patches, scratched out the 170 and wrote 85."

Go Germany!

That was it.  The last main article about Russian comics was 2010 and that was mainly to push a book on "discovering" Russian comics as the country became more open.  Absolutely nothing new.

Ukraine...Well, at the start of 2013 I read:

"It is, perhaps, a telling point that it was considered as a children's book. Comics culture in Ukraine, then, is at a very unsophisticated level. Stories told with pictures and words cannot be approached seriously and are therefore good only for children."

And that was after 2012 when I read:

"Unfortunately there are still no periodicals in Ukraine, but change may be around the corner. Fans of comic books still remember the once popular K9 magazine, which was published monthly until 2009, and widely available. Now the first issue of Ukrainian manga stories Hakken Seimei was published, but only 300 copies were printed with the authors funds.

Some people believe that paying for pictures is silly, even though the work is hard."

That's a quote from an item I covered in an old post you can find here: http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/comics-from-ukraine-up-dated.html

And that is where it all stopped.  I know that CBO gets large numbers of readers from both Ukraine and Russia but are there no comic or Small Press publishers out there?  

Is it too expensive or are there other problems? 

Just what amateur or professional comics can you buy in Ukraine or Russia?

If anyone can tell me just get in touch -thanks!

Terry

hoopercomicsuk@yahoo.com

Now then, after my posting of the Russian Tarzan comics on CBO http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/or-tarzan-russian-comic-series.html I did promise to show a few more of my Russian collection.

Well, it seems a lot were pilfered -and in this case I know by whom.  However I do have a few left but not all conform to "comics" as I'll explain.  And I do apologise for not being able to name all of these -my notes were in one of the pilfered books and trying to translate the titles now...well, they don't make sense.  So, if any of our Russian visitors can help please do!

The first book is a childrens illustrated history. Its from 1990 and below is the cover. There were 16 pages comprising of an illustration, rather crude, with text opposite as you'll see.

 

 

This next one, again, no translation of the publication but I always joked that it was the "Western decadence invasion" issue.

Pretty straight forward cover.  Not much to grab you?

 The above -"Fantasy"  is quite charming and something of a style you might find in Western comics though I cannot find a credit.

Below: A text feature and on the same page a three panel humorous Tarzan strip. Tarzan sure got around in Russia.  I think the text item is looking at an East German childrens film -East Germany was the main source of comics back then -how many got translated into Russian I've no idea. East German tv series such as "Tales From Europe" were sold everywhere -including the UK.

  

Below, well, the title says it all: "What Are Comics?"  You might think the more hip Marvel Comics characters would have been in the illo!  I did once have a translation of this and, yes, it really is telling readers what comics are and a little history.  Oh those innocent days.

 

 Yes. Bugs Bunny -a two page article looking at the character in his 50th year -my A3 scanner died so I could not show the entire centre spread.

 

 Another side-tier cartoon strip and....CHUCK gaddam NORRIS??!!  Seriously? I guess he was more known for his martial arts back them.  For some reason I find this funny.  But Mikhael Gorbachev had been pressing for reforms so the West was gradually creeping in (where was I during the attempted coup in August 1991...I...was...NOT...in Russia!!).

 This back page strip in interesting. Basically, one balloon is saying "West" and pulling in that direction while the other shouts "East" and pulls that way...the end result for our furry friend is plain to see.  This really was an historic issue because of the situation at the time and that comics, Bugs Bunny and even Chuck Norris were being introduced to youngsters.

Again, my thanks -THANKS- to Wladimir Malyschew who sent me these.

Unlike the November 1990 issue, above, the December issue was back to text features and a few illustrations.....

 

 Yes, our furry friend survived on and was the back cover comic strip. I'd really like to find out far more about this character, strip and creator.

 

Again, lost the title to this October, 1990 children's magazine  which is mainly stories will illustrations as you'll see below the cover.

  

 Now I have mentioned Murzilka before and here is no.3 from 1988 which flies the CCCP symbol proudly up on its cover (top left).  I have seen these advertised on ebay as "Russian Comics" and not cheaply either.  In fact, these were mainly story and educationally based with only two pages of comic strip as shown following this cover.

 The same characters from above feature in the 1990 issue no.10...anyone notice that a certain symbol is now missing?  As far as I am aware Murzilka remained in this format but if anyone can tell me more I am interested.

But, if you think about buying from an ebay seller, ask for confirmation it HAS comic strips because none of those I contacted will respond to my emails!!

 

As I think I've written before, I did one interview about comics for Russia but I also created a lot of characters -and drew many of them.  Were they ever published? Well, not legally that I know of since the publisher who was also a printer had his workshop blown up by a rocket-propelled grenade...

Yes, folks, comics can be fun but it can also be darn-tooting dangerous at times.  RPG....I once got a really -REALLY- bad paper-cut while putting together some comics.

Enjoy!