Bulgarian comics overview

History of Bulgarian comics

Now that Bulgarian contemporary art is well on its way to being integrated into world culture, Bulgarian comics should be granted their rightful place among Bulgarian art, culture and library collections.

Regretfully, due to a variety of reasons, comics have been cursed as an artform in Bulgaria for many years now. After a period of very fruitful development during the 1980s, Bulgarian comics plunged deep into the underground and virtually disappeared from kiosks and bookshops. Right now, if you look for an definition of "comics" in any Bulgarian dictionary (or any Bulgarian equivalent of the word), you won't be able to find one, not even in specialized references. Only the "Dictionary of Foreign Words in Bulgarian Language" gives a vague explanation of what comic art is, but the definition is so ignorant and ridiculous that it's not worth quoting. Nevertheless, the history of comics in Bulgaria is very interesting.

Prior to World War II the Bulgarian scene had several monthly magazines for kids and also a specialized newspaper, Vessela Drujina, which occasionally featured comics.

On 6th of June 1940 the first issue of Chuden Sviat was published in Sofia, an all-comics color newspaper edited by Nikola Kotov, who was greatly influenced by Walt Disney comics. The contributors were some of the best Bulgarian writers of children's literature at that time: Orlin Vasilev, St. C. Daskalov, Angel Karaliichev, Georgi Raichev and others. Some of the artists were Evgeni Yordanov, Hristo Kardjilov and Petar Stanimirov. The main influences that were visible in the Bulgarian comics from that period came from the West, especially from heroes very popular at the time like Tarzan, Gangsters and Pirates. Another serious influence was the Italian newspaper Topolino. The most successful comics were the ones featuring scenes and fairy tales from Bulgarian folklore, or well-known classic novels and stories like 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson, which was adapted for comics by L. Zidarov.

The most fruitful period for Bulgarian comics started in the late 1970s and lasted throughout the 1980s. During that time, Bulgarian readers enjoyed two periodical, all-comic publications - Daga ("Rainbow") and Chuden Sviat, and also sporadic inserts in the newspaper Septemvriiche, the tribune of the Bulgarian Communist Youth Organization. One of the main authors in Daga magazine was the most successful Bulgarian comics artist Rumen Petkov, creator of the heroes 'Choko and Boko' and author of the first Bulgarian full-length animated movie 'The Treasure Planet'. Later Rumen Petkov built a successful career in the West and became one of the creators of such famous Cartoon Network features like 'Johnny Bravo' and 'Dexter's Laboratory'.

During its twelve years of existence, Daga magazine provided a lot of opportunities for many talented Bulgarian artists like: Venelin Varbanov (creator of series 'Hari' and 'Velikite geografski otkritia'), Evgeni Yordanov ('Dobromir', 'Tomek'), Valentin Angelov ('Parvobitni nebivalici') and Nikolaj Kirov ('V sveta na jivotnite'). The art director and godfather of Daga was Georgi Gadelev.

When the democratic changes in Bulgaria began in the early 1990s, Bulgarian comics disappeared from the bookshops and disapperared into the underground. The lack of translated publications during the Iron Curtain years and the fact that the Bulgarian audience was totally unfamiliar with the world's comic classics caused an overwhelming supply of translated comics like those featuring Mickey Mouse and Asterix. What remains unexplained is why the Bulgarian comics disappeared so quickly and whether there are any chances for their revival, otherwise the new generation of artists will inevitably be forced to seek opportunities in Western countries. For the last few years only a handful of artists published their works in Bulgaria - mainly in lifestyle magazines like Egoist, Metropolis and Kamikadze. Among the new names are: Koko Sarkisian, Yordan Brankovski and Titis.

(overview courtesy of Vladimir Nedialkov)

In November 2003, comics magazine Daga was relaunched, providing a platform for a whole new generation of Bulgarian comic artists.

Bulgarian underground comix

The absence of any mainstream publications, does not mean that Bulgarian comic artists ceased their productivity. The underground scene, although disorganized and lacking proper magazines, still shows what great diversity of voices express themselves in the comics medium in Bulgaria.

A few names of artists from the underground scene in Bulgaria are Stanislav Ilev, Sergey Nikolov, Hayrula, Anelia Nikolova, Antiohov, Ivan Kiryakov, and Svetlin Velinov. Themes of their comics are various, from political to parodies on superheroes.

Bulgarian underground artists can now be found online on the site comix.cult.bg (in Bulgarian).

Bulgarian comic artists
in the Comiclopedia:

• Grigor Boiadjiev
• Yordan Brankovski
• Boris Dimovski
• Nikolai Dodov
• Donio Donev
• Penko Gelev
• Sotir Gelev
• Hristo Jablianov
• Georgiev Konstantin
• Ivailo Ivanchev
• Hristo Kardjilov
• Vladimir Nedialkov
• Rumen Petkov
• Ilia Sarailiev
• Stoyan Shindarov
• Petar Stanimirov
• Dimitar Stoianov
• Elena Stoilova
• Plamen Tafradjiski
• Venelin Varbanov
• Evgeni Yordanov

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This page is not yet complete. Please email us if you know about Bulgarian (or other) comic artists, history, publications or any other comments.

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