Komiks: Comic Art in Russia (Studies in Popular Culture)

José Alaniz explores the problematic publication history of komiks --an art form much-maligned as ''bourgeois'' mass diversion before, during, and after the collapse of the USSR--with an emphasis on the last twenty years. Using archival research, interviews with major artists and publishers, and close readings of several works, Komiks: Comic Art in Russia provides heretofore unavailable access to the country's rich--but unknown--comics heritage. The study examines the dizzying experimental comics of the late Czarist and early revolutionary era, caricature from the satirical journal Krokodil , and the postwar series Petia Ryzhik (the ''Russian Tintin''). Detailed case studies include the Perestroika-era KOM studio, the first devoted to comics in the Soviet Union; post-Soviet comics in contemporary art; autobiography and the work of Nikolai Maslov; and women's comics by such artists as Lena Uzhinova, Namida, and Re-I. Alaniz examines such issues as anti-Americanism, censorship, the rise of consumerism, globalization (e.g., in Russian manga), the impact of the internet, and the hard-won establishment of a comics subculture in Russia. Komiks have often borne the brunt of ideological change--thriving in summers of relative freedom, freezing in hard winters of official disdain. This volume covers the art form's origins in religious icon-making and book illustration, and later the immensely popular lubok or woodblock print. Alaniz reveals comics' vilification and marginalization under the Communists, the art form's economic struggles, and its eventual internet ''migration'' in the post-Soviet era. This book shows that Russian comics, as with the people who made them, never had a ''normal life.'' José Alaniz explores the problematic publication history of komiks--an art form much-maligned as "bourgeois" mass diversion before, during, and after the collapse of the USSR--with an emphasis on the last twenty years. Using archival research, interviews with major artists and publishers, and close readings of several works, Komiks: Comic Art in Russia provides heretofore unavailable access to the country's rich--but unknown--comics heritage. The study examines the dizzying experimental comics of the late Czarist and early revolutionary era, caricature from the satirical journal Krokodil, and the postwar series Petia Ryzhik (the "Russian Tintin"). Detailed case studies include the Perestroika-era KOM studio, the first devoted to comics in the Soviet Union; post-Soviet comics in contemporary art; autobiography and the work of Nikolai Maslov; and women's comics by such artists as Lena Uzhinova, Namida, and Re-I. Alaniz examines such issues as anti-Americanism, censorship, the rise of consumerism, globalization (e.g., in Russian manga), the impact of the internet, and the hard-won establishment of a comics subculture in Russia

Komiks have often borne the brunt of ideological change--thriving in summers of relative freedom, freezing in hard winters of official disdain. This volume covers the art form's origins in religious icon-making and book illustration, and later the immensely popular lubok or woodblock print. Alaniz reveals comics' vilification and marginalization under the Communists, the art form's economic struggles, and its eventual internet "migration" in the post-Soviet era. This book shows that Russian comics, as with the people who made them, never had a "normal life." Jose Alaniz explores the problematic publication history of "komiks"--an art form much-maligned as "bourgeois" mass diversion before, during, and after the collapse of the USSR--with an emphasis on the last twenty years. Using archival research, interviews with major artists and publishers, and close readings of several works, "Komiks: Comic Art in Russia" provides heretofore unavailable access to the country's rich--but unknown--comics heritage. The study examines the dizzying experimental comics of the late Czarist and early revolutionary era, caricature from the satirical journal "Krokodil," and the postwar series "Petia Ryzhik" (the "Russian Tintin"). Detailed case studies include the Perestroika-era KOM studio, the first devoted to comics in the Soviet Union; post-Soviet comics in contemporary art; autobiography and the work of Nikolai Maslov; and women's comics by such artists as Lena Uzhinova, Namida, and Re-I. Alaniz examines such issues as anti-Americanism, censorship, the rise of consumerism, globalization (e.g., in Russian manga), the impact of the internet, and the hard-won establishment of a comics subculture in Russia. " Komiks" have often borne the brunt of ideological change--thriving in summers of relative freedom, freezing in hard winters of official disdain. This volume covers the art form's origins in religious icon-making and book illustration, and later the immensely popular "lubok" or woodblock print. Alaniz reveals comics' vilification and marginalization under the Communists, the art form's economic struggles, and its eventual internet "migration" in the post-Soviet era. This book shows that Russian comics, as with the people who made them, never had a "normal life." Introduction : Komiks Agonistes -- Part I. Historical Background : Lubok And The Prerevolutionary Era -- Comics During The Soviet Era -- The Rebirth Of The Russian Comics -- Russian Comics' Second Wave -- Part Ii. Close Readings : Artkomiks In The Museum -- New Komiks For The New Russians -- Autobiography In Post-soviet Russian Comics: The Case Of Nikolai Maslov -- I Want: Women In Post-soviet Russian Comics -- Conclusion: Impolitic Thoughts. José Alaniz. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Content: Introduction : Komiks agonistes -- Part I. Historical background : Lubok and the prerevolutionary era -- Comics during the Soviet era -- The rebirth of the Russian comics -- Russian comics' second wave -- Part II. Close readings : ArtKomiks in the museum -- New komiks for the new Russians -- Autobiography in post-Soviet Russian comics: the case of Nikolai Maslov -- "I want": women in post-Soviet Russian comics -- Conclusion: Impolitic thoughts. Drawing on archival research, interviews with major artists and publishers, and close readings of numerous seminal works, this book presents an intelligent and groundbreaking exploration of Russia's rich, but until now overlooked and misunderstood comics heritage.