Mosaik

''Mosaik'' is a German comic book magazine. First published in December 1955, it is the longest-running German (and European) monthly comic book and the only one originating in East Germany that still exists. ''Mosaik'' also appeared in other countries and other languages. In its English-language edition it was published under the title ''Mosaic''.

''Mosaik'' was created by illustrator and caricaturist Hannes Hegen. From 1955 to 1975, the protagonists of ''Mosaik'' were Dig, Dag and Digedag, known together as the Digedags. They were replaced in 1976 by Abrax, Brabax and Califax, known together as the Abrafaxe, who are still the main characters today.

More than 200 million issues have been sold from 1955 until today. At the height of its popularity, prior to German reunification, ''Mosaik'' had a print run of almost a million copies per month. After reunification, the print run has varied from more than 100,000 in the early 1990s to about 80,000 in 2007.

Digedags years

The East German publisher Verlag Neues Leben, in East Berlin, had wanted to counter Western comics and magazines with a magazine of their own when Hannes Hegen approached them with his ideas for ''Mosaik'' and the Digedags. Reaching an agreement with Neues Leben, Hegen created the first issue of ''Mosaik'' for publishing in December 1955. ''Mosaik'' was published quarterly until July 1957, when it switched to a monthly schedule that has continued uninterrupted to this day. To support the schedule, the publisher hired additional artists, colorists and writers to support Hegen – a team which became known as the ''Mosaik-Kollektiv'' (''Mosaik Collective''). Only Hegen was credited on the cover, however.

Abrafaxe years

In 1975, Hegen left the publisher over a disagreement and took the rights to the Digedags characters with him. The Mosaik-Kollektiv, not wanting to end publication of ''Mosaik'', together created new characters to replace the Digedags. The final versions of the Abrafaxe were created by writer Lothar Dräger and artist Lona Rietschel. During the half-year period of creating the new characters and stories, reprints of old Digedags stories were run in ''Mosaik'', until the new characters premiered in January 1976.

English-language editions

The English editions of ''Mosaik'' have mostly appeared mostly under the name ''Mosaic''. Of Hannes Hegen's ''Mosaik'', issue 105, ''Die Seeräuberburg'', was issued in a limited run in 1965 in English as ''The Pirates Castle''. According to a former staff member at the publishing house, this was intended as a promotional issue for the United States market. An agreement had been reached to publish the comic books in the US; however, because of the US policy of economic embargo policy against Eastern European states in the Cold War, the contract could not be fulfilled.

Ten anthology volumes of Hegen's ''Mosaik'' were published in English for the international market under the name Mosaic Comic Books:

# ''The Digedags in America''
# ''The Digedags on the Mississippi''
# ''The Digedags and the Indians''
# ''The Digedags in the Rocky Mountains''
# ''The Digedags in New Orleans''
# ''The Digedags on the Missouri''
# ''The Digedags and the Golden Treasure''
# ''The Digedags in Panama''
# ''The Digedags and the Pirate Island''
# ''The Digedags in New York''

In the mid-1980s, 42 ''Mosaic'' books were published in English in the GDR for India. There is also a promotional flyer for these issues, which states that the ''Mosaic'' with the Abrafaxe is published in English and Arabic in addition to German, advertises for subscriptions, and includes an order form.

Other known foreign-language publications

Reissues of ''Mosaik'' magazines and books have appeared in many different countries, almost always in the respective national language.

*Albania
** ''Mozaik'' comic magazine (1971)
*Belgium and Netherlands (''Mosaik'' in Dutch language)
** ''Mosaic'' book – ''Dig en Dag op Stap'' (1972 – 1978?)
** ''Mosaic'' anthology – ''Dig en Dag op Stap'' (1978)
** ''Mosaic''-Books
** Een Stripboek – ''Dikkerdaks In America''
** Een Stripboek – ''Dikkerdaks Aan Mississippi''
*China
** ''Mosaik'' books (2000–present)
** ''Mosaik'' Albums
** ''Mosaik'' Onepager
*Croatia
** ''Mozaik'' books 1– (2004–present, bimonthly)
*Czechoslovakia
** Newspaper Reprints ''Comic magazine of the Czechoslovak Communist Youth Organization'' ''Pionýr'' with Rytíř Runkl – ''Ritter Runkel'' (1968)
*Czech Republic
** ''Albums'' (2003–present)
** Congo – Abrafaxové v Africe
** Small detectives
** Onepager
** Mateřídouška (Onepager – from # 9 / 2005)
*Finland
** ''Mosaiikki'' – ''Mosaik'' comic magazine (1962–1967)
** ''Mosaic-Books''
** Mosaiikki (1980–7 Books)
*France
** Hollywood Pursuit 2 (1998)
*Greece
** Mosaic books and ''Mosaik'' comic magazine (2001–present)
*Hungary
** ''Mozaik'' comic magazine 1971 – 1976 Digedags, 1976–1990 and 2001–present Abrafaxe
** Mosaic-Books:
** Digedagék Amerikában (1987)
** Detektív Palánták: Forró nyomon a három manó (2001)
** Na még egyszer Robin! (2002)
** Kongó (2003)
** Vitorlát fel, Robin! (2006)
** ''Mozaik'' books of Abrafaxe and Digedags (2006–present): reprints of previously published books in anthologies
*India
** ''Mosaic'' – 1–42 in English (1986)
*Indonesia
** Abrafaxe issues
** ''Mosaik'' Abrafaxe – 1–6 (2001–2002)
** Albums – ''Among black flag'' (2002) – The Abrafaxe – Harta karun
*Korea
** ''Mosaic'' books – 1 – (2003–present)
*Lebanon
** ''Mosaik'' – released in Arabic (1984)
*Romania
** ''Mozaic'' comic magazine 1–3 (2005–2006)
*Russia
** ''Mosaika'' – comic magazine No. 1–14 (1993–1994) in Russian
** ''New Life'' (Journal of the German-speaking population of Russia) – ''The journey of Abrafaxe to Goslar'' (in German)
*Slovenia
** Onepager (2003–present)
** Hepko ( Slovene edition)
** Happy (English edition)
*Spain
** Various ''Mosaik'' albums in Spanish and Catalan (2004–present)
*Turkey
** Abrafaxe issues
** Bacaxizlar 1 – (2001/ # 1–8)
*Yugoslavia
** ''Mozaik'' – in *Serbo-Croatian (1971)
*Vietnam
** ''Mosaik'' comic magazine - 1-8 (2005–present)

References

Sources

* Matthias Friske. ''Die Geschichte des MOSAIK von Hannes Hegen: eine Comic-Legende in der DDR''. Berlin: Lukas, 2008. .
* Mark Lehmstedt: ''Die geheime Geschichte der Digedags. Die Publikations- und Zensurgeschichte des Mosaik von Hannes Hegen'', Leipzig 2010, Lehmstedt Verlag, .
*

External links

Official Abrafaxe Homepage

Official Digedags Homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosaik
1955 comics debuts
1955 establishments in East Germany
Adventure comics
Comics magazines published in Germany
German comic strips
Humor comics
Magazines established in 1955
Monthly magazines published in Germany
German-language magazines
Quarterly magazines published in Germany