Biserzla (Plavi Vjesnik, 1961)
Andrija Maurović is considered the father of Croatian and Yugoslav comics. Born in Muo near Kotor, Austria-Hungary (now Montenegro), he spent his childhood in Cracow, Poland and Dubrovnik. He broke off his studies at the Academy of Arts in Zagreb during the first year to become an independent illustrator for books, weekly and daily newspapers. For several years, he made caricatures for the satirical magazine Koprive, and he also produced artwork for Jutarnji list, Novosti, Zenski Svijet and Kulisa. He also made illustrations based on literary works and often worked in cooperation with prominent writers like Franjo Fuis.
Maurovic created his first comic in May 1935, 'Vjerenica Maca' ('Bride of the Sword'), which was published in Novesti, a Zagreb newspaper. That same year Maurovic co-launched Oko, the first Yugoslav comic magazine. Until 1968, he created nearly 150 stories for the magazine, including 'Stari Macak', 'Podzemma Carica' and 'Ljubavnica's Marsa'.
On 6 January 2004 he was voted to the 73th place in the election 'Najveći Hrvat' ('The Greatest Croatian').
Ivo i barba Niko (1963-1964)
Inspired by big literary works, Maurovic adapted several works by Jack London, Max Brand , Tolstoy, Henryk Sienkiewicz and H.G. Wells to comics. Among his own creations were 'Dan', 'Old Tom-cat' and 'Radoslav', all of which are now a part of the Sudac Collection. He was specialized in historical comics, for which he didn't use any documentation, just his large imagination.
Biser Zla (1960)