In the years when the word comics was officially banned, the stories in pictures of Daga (Rainbow) magazine came close to the colorful stories of Pif magazine-the only foreign child magazine sold in Bulgaria. Today, some of the former artists, who stopped drawing comics for a quarter of a century, are trying to inculcate the Ninth Art in our modern life through new characters and plots.

Over 200 comics drawn by 80 artists in the recent years are currently on display at the Gallery of the Union of Bulgarian Artists in Sofia under the name Sofia Comics Expo 2017. This is the second national exhibition after the one held in 2013 when artists of different generations showed different styles in comics drawing. The Rainbow project which united the artists of the eponymous magazine and the Union of Bulgarian Artists are behind the two exhibitions.

“Once, there was only one comics magazine on the market-the French Pif magazine. It was very difficult to buy that magazine”, the artist from the legendary Daga (Rainbow) comics magazine Petar Stanimirov recalls. “And when in 1979 the first comics appeared in Rainbow magazine all children fell in love with them. That is why our magazine had one of the highest circulations. Children nowadays also like comics, because it covers both literature and animation and often presents popular characters from various movies or books.”

While in the years of socialism the Daga (Rainbow) magazine quickly shed patriotic topics imposed by the nomenclature and gave life to adventure stories, the present-day comics are usually custom ones and are supported by foundations which promote nationalist ideas through glorification of the past. One of them- Vazdigane (enthronement) even tried to give away 60,000 comics books about Khans to third-grade pupils and promised to give EUR 100 to every child named after Bulgarian Khan.

“We are not against the existence of historical comics, but it is important to find out how they are made and whether they serve any political interests. Daga (Rainbow) magazine also included historic comics named Elemag-the Warrior of Khan Tervel, which takes us to fictitious time, because we do not know in details our ancient history and this is an invented story with no claims to historical authenticity. However, we can now find comics baring names of Khans, but no one can guarantee that the stories about these rulers are true. In my view, only the names of the Khans are real in these comics. Apparently, someone propagates their ideas at the expense of the authors. ”

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find publishers for comic stories born spontaneously in the imagination of the true artists. Thus, the young Bulgarian artists are forced to draw comics for foreign script-writers and publishers, as well as for the European and the American gaming industry and the older ones subsist on other types of business. However, no matter what they do, they are united by the idea to revive the comics industry.

“Drawing comics is a solitary activity. A pre-written script is always preferable, but often artists themselves come up with ideas about the scenario. One must have some understanding of staging and cinematography, in order to draw comics. Being a good writer is not enough. You must have the skills of a producer as well. That is why I believe that drawing comics is not a job for everyone. Otherwise, drawing itself is an easy job for those with some experience in this field.”

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

Photos: Diana Tsankova