Around the world in eighty comics: Croatia

Like the pink elephant in the room the fact of Croatian born comic artist Dunja Jankovic's gender really shouldn't really be up for discussion. We like to think we no longer live in the boys club world of underground comix's which the Wimmens Comix movement fought back against. This movement was refreshing because it fought back against the ridiculous notion of a 'feminine' style of art, by producing ugly explicit and overtly sexual and violent art,(*1) much in the same vein as the male underground artists, except this time around the males became the victims, or worse still, they had their male virility and power deconstructed, it was a kind of empowerment through ridicule (Take for example the famous cover of female produced comic Wet Satin where a handsome Marlon Brando type walks down the street and the female on the page is too engrossed in her book (A streetcar named desire) to notice him).

But surely things are different now? Female cartoonists are not nearly as rare as they were back then. The category 'female cartoonist' is a bit of a problematic one in itself, as this kind of lumping together of all women artists/writers etc could be seen to imply that the very fact of their biology has a profound effect on the type of art they are able to produce. I would only argue that women's marginalised position culturally, much like other marginalised groups, has had an impact on the art they make, but it doesn't have to be the be all and end all. I am interested in comics by females that transcend gender as a subject, and to a certain extent this is what Jankovic's work does.

Jankovic tells me that her reasons for creating comics are purely an ego thing, she enjoys doing it, although she wishes she could somehow make a living out of it. Her work doesn't seem to posses an agenda, and although I think an agenda in a lot of cases is a good thing, its possible a stronger statement could be made by not feeling the need to make a statement. Political comics, although important, are often in danger of preaching to the converted. Her stories seem to be about childhood, memories, dreams, and other states of consciousness, as well as more mundane things such as shopping bags, The childhood theme shows itself through an obsession with the sea adventures, sea-creatures, and diving which could be construed by some close minded people as part of a slightly unorthodox tom-boyish upbringing.

Visually, her comics are stunning, some of them in an abstract stream-of-consciousness vein (sometimes wordless) that would sit comfortably in Andrei Molotiu's Abstract Comics anthology. The artist she has a closest affinity with in my eyes is German artist Anke Feutchenburger whose visual abstractions are similar to those of Jankovic and whose representations of the female body, and maternity cause her to be labelled as a feminist artist quite often. Which is probably the reason I went on a bit of a self-conscious apologetic rant at the beginning of this post about categorisation and feminist comics. Jankovic is unafraid to use any and all techniques and styles to create her work, which creates a visual melting pot often within the space of a single strip. She employs collage, charcoal, watercolour, pen and ink, and photographs Unlike Feutchenburger however, her comics are bold, colourful, and a bit more cartoon-ish in some ways, and posses a more whimsical, innocent humour about her.

She was also another artist was brought to my attention through the fantastic portal of comic unknowns that is Komikaze (who she became involved with while studying art in Belgrade) although she is now living in Portland, Oregan, in the USA and has been picked up by Sparkplug comics. Check out her website here and her blog here.


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(*1) I'm thinking here of the violent fantasies of Julie Doucet's comics (along with the cluttered frames and mock cute anthropomorphic beer bottles) and the angry erratic line of Roberta Gregory(*2), along with the unconventional casting of a less than perfect female lead in Pudge: Girl Blimp by Lee Marrs

(*2) Although though the very words irratic and cluttered could be seen as negative against women

Around the world in eighty comics: Serbia

Born in 1963 Serbian underground comic artist Danilo Milosev (a.k.a 'Wostok') comes across as much more experimental both visually and narratively than his perhaps better known contemporary Aleksandar Zograf (the author of Regards from Serbia, a picture postcard/diary/personal reportage of the war in Serbia). Visually he never stays in one place for long, skipping between crude primitive scrawls (which he classes as 'constructive dilentasism'), garish colours and surreal yet cute imagery, noir/50's horror leanings, and a use of collage that reminds me of The Situationist Internationals hijacking of popular comic books for political means.

I first came across Milosev via Facebook when I received a group invitation from the Croatian comics publication Komikaze Comics where he has had a lot of his work published, and who have also done work based on his comic scripts.

His involvement with the Serbian scene is pretty well established and he is a regular contributor and editor of the exceptional comic magazine 'Pantagonija' and has produced up to 460 issues of his own personal zine 'Krpelj' ('The Tick') which features work from other comic artists as well as collages, (anti)literary works, photographs, and illustrations.
He also has a close creative relationship with writer and fellow townsman Nabor Devolac who writes the stories behind a lot of his comics. These collaborations are amongst my favourite of Wostok's comics that I have seen, especially the cartoonist jam session he did that resulted in 'The man from the well' which can be seen in its entirety on Milosev's Facebook profile. He has even been featured in famous critic and theoretician Ranko Munitic's new book 'The Ninth Artform, Comics'

Being a bit of an armchair activist I often take the romanticised view that countries/cultures that are 'impoverished' or have been oppressed in some way, produce better, more meaningful and therefore political valid) art (*1), and it seems to me that you can't escape the political in Wostok's work (even when the content of the story isn't overtly political). His bio gives as the general theme of his comics as "a subversive take on the suffocation of mans creativity by authority, mass media and political manipulation".His drawings posses an almost juvenile anarchistic energy which reminds me slightly of Peter Kuper's stencil work, only a little less obvious and a little less restrained (Peter Kuper's political slogans/editorial work can be the equivalent of Banksy in terms of the obviousness of the message they put across, and Milosev seems a little less afraid to show something that might turn your stomach to think about). Wostock presents a twisted world of mass media icons (mainly Disney characters and comic book heroes) acting in ways outside of their usual comfort zone, or as being past their prime or uncomfortably grotesque (in his strip 'Balkan express' we meet Popeye, Tarzan, and Spiderman, all missing vital limbs). However it is the recurring appearance of certain characters of his own creation that dig at the depths of the Serbian national character that are in my opinion, more interesting and unique.

Of course the question of what difference these drawings could possibly make politically springs to mind, and as always there is a danger of preaching to the converted because despite the power of 'silly little cartoons' to cause outrage, police action, even death (I'll come to this later on in the blog), I'm not sure a cartoon has ever changed policy or caused a massive shift in the political consciousness (please someone tell me if I'm wrong).

As well as comics Milosev also makes films and music and writes scripts for other comic artists.


Thanks to Wostok for making his bio avalible in English for me and or giving me permission to publish his work, you can find his Facebook profile here
If Wostok is anything to go by I look forward to discovering other interesting Serbian comic artists in the future.
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(*1) although having said this, my experience with art made under harsh political conditions has generally confirmed this view-take for example the animation of Russian greats Fyodor Khitruk and Andrey Khrzhanovskiy which are not only stunning pieces of art, but subtle political fables about bureaucracy and the suffocating presence of the state.