'Tales from the Antichrist' #5 (2015).
Vladimir Kuzmanov is a Serbian comic artist, working under pen names "Kay" or "Boris Kay". After drawing for magazines and comic books in his home country of Serbia, he moved to the USA, where he has drawn indie comic book series like 'Complex' (Alterna Comics, 2012-2015) and 'The Rise of the Antichrist' (Ether Comics, 2015-2016), as well as the graphic novel 'Gray Cells' (Markosia, 2021).
'Paket', a short story published on MojStrip.com.
Early life and career
Vladimir Kuzmanov was born in 1977 in the city of Zrenjanin in northern Serbia (then still Yugoslavia). He studied English Language and Literature in Belgrade, when he published his early comics in local magazines and fanzines like Patagonia, Grafička zavera, Striper and Placebo, as well as the Slovenian alternative comics magazine Stripburger/Stripburek. In 2005, Kuzmanov won the Best Artwork Award at the International Comics Festival in Belgrade.
Cover art for 'Zabava za Celu Porodicu' issues #9 and #23.
Family Fun
In 2007, Kuzmanov moved to the USA but kept drawing for Serbia's only monthly comic book title at the time: 'Zabava za Celu Porodicu' ("Family Fun"), written by Vladimir Tadic and published by Labirint. A mix of horror and humor, the series featured the Smith family, consisting of John, Jacky, Jenny and Jeffrey, who, armed with chain saws, keep the age-old family tradition alive of hunting monsters. In alternation with Mladen Oljača, Kuzmanov was the main artist of the series, which also featured contributions from additional creators like Denis Dupanović, Mikica Ivanović, Bane Kerac, Vladan Nikolić, Peka Ivanović, Robert Solanovic, Mihajlo Dimitrievski-TheMičo and Darko Macan.
'Complex' #3 (2012).
American comic books
In the USA, Vladimir Kuzmanov has assumed the pen name Boris Kay - often shortened to simply "Kay" - and worked for several indie publishing imprints. At Alterna Comics, he created eight issues of 'Complex' (2012-2015) with writer Michael Malkin, about a mysterious town called Towne, where scientists use the local population as guinea pigs. With writer Joseph Bradord, he then made the three-issue series 'Angeli Arbitrium' at TikiGod Comics (2015), about a man on the run, who finds himself in a small town that is saturated with evil. Kay then joined Ether Comics, creating nine issues of 'The Rise of the Antichrist' (2015-2016) with writer Betvin Géant. The series featured a patient in a psychiatric hospital, who is suffering from religious mania and an identity crisis.
'Gray Cells' (2021).
Under his own name, Kuzmanov created the sci-fi thriller 'The Cold Wave: The Handler' (2017) with writer Quinton Miles for Minotaur Books, telling the story of an alien race that is embedded on Earth to obtain data on how people act in various societal situations. Through Markosia Enterprises, Kay and writer Lawrence Goodman released the supernatural/neo-noir graphic novel 'Gray Cells' (2021), set in a fictional, rife with crime, inequality and corruption, where people are troubled by a distrust of authority, competing versions of reality and losing the sense of what is true and what is a lie.
The Phantom
Since 2023, Boris Kay has also been drawing comic stories and covers with Lee Falk's 'The Phantom' for the Australian publisher Frew Publications. Together with writer Jason Franks, he for instance created the two-part story 'The Pinstripe Wizards', published in issues #1956 and #1957.
Cover art for 'The Phantom' issue #1976 (Australia), drawn by Boris Kay with coloring by fellow Zrenjanin artist Vladimir Popov.