The first speech balloon

Historians have found examples of comic-like paintings dating back to cave art, but sequential stories as a means of mass communication did not exist before the invention of the printing press. The history of modern comics, created in the form that we know today, was basically initiated in the nineteenth century. Among the cartoons which were published (mostly) on the pages of satirical or humour magazines in France, Germany, Great-Britain and other countries, there were also some that evolved into sequential picture stories. Comments and dialogues were usually written underneath the drawings, with only occasional appearances of one of the prime characteristics of modern comics – speech balloons.

In nineteenth century Serbia after its liberation of the centuries long Ottoman domination, it was understood that the development of printing technology would affect the very modernization of the country. Some of the newly established publications began to publish modern cartoons.

The father of cartooning in Serbia was a painter: Dimitrije Avramović (1815 - 1855). His political cartoons emerged in a time when “Serbian people even have begun to use drawings in order to protect their national and political rights”. Cartoons by Avramović were made into separate sheets of lithographic prints and distributed among the Serbian population of Vojvodina (then Austro-Hungarian territory). These prints were often in the form of strips, quite similar to comics, and were in fine calligraphic lettering, that sometimes included extensive comments and dialogues. The first cartoon that came into focus of the wider public was a piece by Avramović, filled with patriotic pathos, in which he laughed at pro-Hungarian politician Sava Vuković, who was presented – together with the Hungarian authorities – confiscating Serbian newspapers (Novine srbske), during the Hungarian national revolution. Published in the mid-nineteenth century, this cartoon is also interesting because it features an early version of the ‘speech balloon’, formed as a stream of words that comes out of the speakers’ mouth.

From Mickey Mouse to Mika Miš

Comics were introduced to Yugoslav newspapers firstly through children’s’ supplements. The first daily newspaper to have a special page dedicated to young readers was Politika , in 1930. This supplement came out every Thursday, until the present day. This was preceded by publishing a ‘Children’s Page’, completely written and illustrated by Brana Cvetković, in 1929, inside the February 21 issue of Politika.

With his versed proto-comics and illustrations, Cvetković marked the first decade of publishing of the ‘Politika za decu’ (Politika for Children) supplement. In the 31st issue of the supplement, published on August 14th 1930, there appeared a strip titled ‘Drski obijač i hrabri Perica’ (Ruthless Robber Meets the Brave Perica), which, for the first time in Serbian comic history, included a speech balloon. Soon afterwards, other daily newspapers started to publish similar supplements which included comics.

The big majority of the comics which appeared in Yugoslavia at this time still originated from overseas. Once comics found their way to Serbian daily newspapers, the editors preferred to reprint foreign comics, which were cheaper to buy, and generally considered more attractive. After huge success on the big screen, Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse in 1930 made his appearance in comics too. In Europe, and Yugoslavia too, the adventures of this character were not only translated, but also rendered by local artists, who would often use the archaic form of proto-comics. This is the case in the first Yugoslav Mickey Mouse stories in the illustrated children’s’ magazine Veseli četvrtak. In other words: we are speaking here about a ‘Yugoslav’ Mickey Mouse, experiencing ‘Yugoslav’ adventures.

The first issue of Veseli četvrtak came out in January 1932, and it devoted considerable space to comics (notwithstanding their debut one and a half year before that, here still with no speech balloons). Along with Mickey Mouse, it featured characters such as the Katzenjammer Kids (known in Serbia as Bim and Bum), Felix the Cat (at first named Macan Marko), and the hero of Swedish comics Adamson (čika Toša). The magazine was short-lived; it folded in September 1933, but during its two years of publishing it led the way for the later comic magazines.

In 1935 Politika published a page titled ‘Mikijeva savest’ (The Conscience of Mickey) featuring Disney’s Mickey Mouse, one month later followed by the first serialised daily adventures of this comic figure. From that time, Disney characters became a trademark of Politika. Soon, Mickey Mouse was called “Miki Maus” in Serbian, while Donald Duck was named “Paja Patak”.

At that time, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and other Disney characters were at the peak of their popularity. This is why their names, especially Mickey’s, became part of the titles of a number of comic magazines in Serbia (Mikijeve novine, Mika Miš, Mikijevo carstvo and Paja Patak).

Surprised by the popularity of the new medium, publishers started thinking of other ways to include comics in their editions. And so in the spring of 1935, the first two specialized comic magazines appeared – Strip and Crtani film . These were the years of economic boom in Yugoslavia, which was reflected in an increase of printing and publishing activity. In the time immediately after the end of the First World War, there were only two printing facilities in Belgrade, but by the end of the 1930’s Belgrade was the greatest printing and publishing center of Serbia and Yugoslavia.

Lees het volledige artikel in Donau 2009/03
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Het volledige artikel is te lezen in Donau 2009/03.