From: 'Just a comic...'.
Zlatko Milenković is a Serbian comic artist, illustrator, editor and comics journalist. He has published his works in many domestic and foreign magazines, most notably his own comic book 'Samo Strip...' ('Just A Comic...'). He is also founder and driving force behind the comics information portal Strip Vesti since 1999.
Early life and career
Milenković was born in 1969 in Novi Sad in Former Yugoslavia (now the Serbian province of Vojvodina). He got his interest in comics through reading Italian comic books like Sergio Bonelli and Gallieno Ferri's 'Zagor' and 'Il Grande Blek' (by EsseGesse). Later on, he particularly enjoyed John Romita's 'Spider-Man' comics, Jean Giraud's 'Blueberry' and Hermann's 'Les Tours de Bois-Maury'. He got his education in graphic design at the Bogdan Suput Secondary School of Design in Šuput, and subsequently began publishing his comics in numerous Serbian and Yugoslavian magazines. Among the many titles that have published his artwork since the 1990s are Alef, Pisac, Šajkaške novine, Sexpress, Vesti, Dan, Ruske slovo, Stav, Nezavisni, ZinFan, MonopoList, Reflex and Bumerang. He also made appearances in publications from Macedonia (Zlatko Krstevski's 'Cool Strip Art Anthology'), Croatia (Moto Foto), Iceland (Blek) and Germany (Biker Szene magazine). His pin-ups have appeared in Jersey Devil (published by SJRP, USA), Totems (published by Carton Frolics, USA) and Akiko (USA).
'Biker Szene'.
Publisher and editor
Milenković is also active in the promotional and publishing part of the comic industry. In 1999 he launched his e-mail newsletter Strip Vesti ("Comics News"), which quickly evolved into Serbia's largest portals for comics news. It has been reporting comic book news consistently at www.stripvesti.com ever since. He has also published four issues of ZinFan TripS (2000-2001), a fanzine aimed at the promotion of local Novi Sad comic authors. Between 2001 and 2014 he was an editor of Stripoteka, one of the country's longest-running comic magazines (since 1973), published by Marketprint. Around that time he also launched the imprint Drugi Pogled ("Second Look"), which published all five issues of the comic 'La Bête Noire' (2002) by Darko Macan and Milan Jovanović, as well as one album of 'Stormy & Iceberg' (2002) by Bane Kerac and Sibin Slavković. He has been a regular participant and contributor to the Kragujevac Comic Con International Comics Conference since 2011.
'Sve je to ljudski (ili možda nije)'.
Personal comics work
Zlatko Milenković has been working as a freelance comic book artist, illustrator, letterer, designer, prepress technician and publisher since 2014. He has self-published a collection of short anti-war comics titled 'Sve je to ljudski (ili možda nije)' ("It's all human nature (or maybe not)", 1995), as well as a single issue of the noir comic 'Black & Angela' (2003). Since 2012 he self-publishes installments of his free-spirited "graphic novel" 'Samo Strip...' ("Just A Comic..."), which comes out on an irregular basis, as soon as the author has enough new material. The story is improvised along the way, introduces new characters whenever the author feels like it, and is full with meta-humor and graphical and narrative experimentations. "Deeply rooted in this fun adventure story is man's wish for freedom from the structual constraints of story telling", as the author puts it himself. "Samo Strip..." is also available electronically in English.
Recognition
Because of his work for Ruske Slovo and his collection of short comics, Literatorno Slovo awarded him the 1995 Miroslav Striber Award for achievements in the field of prose, poetry and art. He has also participated in several international exhibitions dedicated to Yugoslav comics art.
