Octobriana is a Russian

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

created by Petr Sadecký by modifying the work of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

artists Bohumil Konečný and

Zdeněk Burian Zdeněk Michael František Burian (11 February 1905 – 1 July 1981) was a Czech painter, book illustrator and palaeoartist. Burian's artwork played a central role in the development of palaeontological reconstruction and he is regarded as one ...

for an unpublished

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series Sadecký commissioned them to do, under the working title of Amazona. As a character embodying

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

ideals, Octobriana was said to be usable by anyone, rather than being

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

ed by an author or corporation. This has resulted in the character appearing in various artistic works since her first official published appearance in the political art book ''Octobriana and the Russian Underground'', by Petr Sadecký, published by

Tom Stacey Tom Stacey FRSL (11 January 1930 – 24 December 2022) was a British novelist, publisher, screenwriter, journalist and penologist. He was a prominent member of White's. Early life Stacey attended Wellesley House School (1938–1943), origina ...

in 1971. Petr Sadecký had created a fictitious real life origin for the character, which he presented as true.

''Octobriana and the Russian Underground''

In ''Octobriana and the Russian Underground'', Sadecký describes the PPP as a loose group of cells, not only in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, but throughout the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. This group, Sadecký wrote, started around 1957, after the

20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union () was held during the period 14–25 February 1956. It is known especially for First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's " Secret Speech", which denounced the personality cult and dictator ...

in 1956. At first they called themselves Progressivnaya Politika (Progressive Politics) and tried to go back to the pure principles of the

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

and their Scandinavian roots; the

Rus' people The Rus, also known as Russes, were a people in early medieval Eastern Europe. The scholarly consensus holds that they were originally Norsemen, mainly originating from present-day Sweden, who settled and ruled along the river-routes between t ...

. They were descendants of the

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

. Later, they put together

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

comics about the superheroine Octobriana, a character said to embody the principles of the Russian Revolution and battle against both Russian and American oppression. Sadecky provided a history for Octobriana where she is said to be thousands of years old and the child of a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

and a

Toltec The Toltec culture () was a Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula (Mesoamerican site), Tula, Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoam ...

princes, whose original name was Mahari (which means "divine maiden" in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

). She was given radiation treatments that made her immortal and reborn as a superhuman in a radioactive volcano. Her ethnicity has often shifted; the initial Amazona character seems to have been a confused mix of different indigenous backgrounds. In Sadecky's book, she was said to have

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

n features. Later portrayals have often ignored this and rendered her as white. Consistent features about her include an Amazonian physique (steely muscles, large breasts, shapely buttocks), long blonde hair tied back with a leopard's tail (which Octobriana tore out of the animal by its roots), a live snake coiled around her right wrist, low riding snakeskin pants, and either a white crop top or a black band that barely contains her breasts. Her most distinctive feature is a red five-pointed star apparently tattooed on her forehead. Sadecky portrayed her as a legendary figure who has been sighted throughout history; there are reports from Siberia, Spain in the time of the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition () was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile and lasted until 1834. It began toward the end of ...

, Chinese explorer

Zhang Qian Zhang Qian (; died c. 114 BC) was a Chinese diplomat, explorer, and politician who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the late 2nd century BC during the Western Han dynasty. He was one of the first official diploma ...

, and an unpublished book by left wing Moroccan politician

Mehdi Ben Barka Mehdi Ben Barka (; 1920 – disappeared 29 October 1965) was a Moroccan nationalist, Arab socialist, politician, revolutionary, anti-imperialist, head of the left-wing National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP) and secretary of the Tricontinenta ...

. She has been called The White She-Dragon, The Girl with the White Face Coming from the Sky, The Mother of the Seven Red Stars, Angelic Maiden who Turned into a Devil, the Avenger. It is said that she comes from an ancient civilization and was granted immortality by radiation treatments, then underwent an ordeal in a radioactive volcano which transformed her into a superhuman being. She pilots the Wonder Machine, which travels through time and space, crewed by Native Americans. Her weapons and equipment include a

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...

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, a

kris The kris or is a Javanese culture, Javanese asymmetrical dagger with a distinctive blade-patterning achieved through alternating laminations of iron and nickelous iron (''pamor''). The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade, although ma ...

knife, and a shark-tooth necklace which can detect radiation. One story was "The Living Sphinx of the

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

Radioactive Volcano 1934", in which she swims into a radioactive

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

and kills a giant

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

with her kris. Afterwards, she brings the tribesmen of the

Koryaks Koryaks () are an Indigenous people#North Asia, Indigenous people of the Russian Far East who live immediately north of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Kamchatka Krai and inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea. The cultural borders of the Koryaks i ...

home with a giant flying ball. Another story was titled "Octobriana and the Atomic Suns".

The Octobriana hoax

The supposed origin of the character was in actuality Sadecký's own creation. Petr Sadecký, while still in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, enlisted the help of two Czech artists, Bohumil Konečný and

, in creating a comic centering on the character of "Amazona." Sadecký told the two that he had a buyer interested in the comic, and they worked together on writing and illustrating the Amazona comic. However, Sadecký betrayed his friends by stealing all the artwork and escaping to the West. When there was no publisher interest after a number of years, Sadecký changed the Amazona strips into a political statement, by adding a red star to the character's forehead, creating an elaborate back story, and renaming her as "Octobriana: the spirit of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

". When news reached Konečný, he was shocked that his work had been misused without his consent, and eventually managed to confront Sadecký at the office of the German publishing house that Sadecký was employed by. Under the threat of legal action, some of the stolen artwork was returned, but Sadecký went to the UK shortly afterwards with pages and cover art that he had stolen, finding a sympathetic publisher for his fictional Octobriana story in Tom Stacey, who was unaware of the previous controversy. Major inconsistencies in the story Sadecký presented in the published ''Octobriana and the Russian Underground'' book, and a panel in his book where Octobriana is referred to as "Amazona" (p. 83), lend credence to this story. In addition, Burian and Konečný sued Sadecký in a West German court, winning the case but never recovering all their stolen artwork. As Octobriana is still widely believed to be the product of dissident cells within the U.S.S.R., she is not copyrighted, and has appeared in a variety of artistic incarnations.

Other appearances

Comics

Appearances in other comics include: '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' by

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequels '' Heart of Empire'' and '' The Legend of Luther Arkwright'', as well as the ''Gra ...

. Octobriana featured in 'The Firefrost Principle', issue 3 of the Valkyrie Press series, as well as on the cover. Talbot was said to have included Octobriana after first reading about her in a ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' article in 1971, publicising the release of the ''Octobriana and the Russian Underground'' book in the UK. ''Cherry's Jubilee'' #2, an erotic comic by Larry Welz published by Tundra Publishing in 1992, starring Cherry Poptart. Cherry and her friend Ellie Dee meet, befriend, and get into an orgy with Octobriana. The comic included a two-page text recapping Sadecky's book. ''Octobriana ja helvetin X piiri'' (Octobriana and the Tenth Circle of Hell) by creators Reima Makinen, Petri Tolppanen and Timo Niemi, published in Finland during 1997. The ''Octobriana''

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

from Revolution Comics is the first time Octobriana appeared in a solo comic book series, which ran for six issues (an issue 0 preceded the main 5 issue series) and was published in the UK and USA between 1996 and 1997. It featured two strips, one written by Stu Taylor and illustrated by Blake O'Farrell with Octobriana and members of the PPP (including Petr Sadecky) set in a 1960s Soviet Union. The second strip - Return of Octobriana - was written by John A. Short and featured a different artist for each of its five chapters, and was set in a contemporary 1990s Russia. ''Octobriana Filling in the Blanks'' - mini-series from Artful Salamander in 1997/8 2 issue comic series written by Stu Taylor and illustrated by Dave Roberts and Mark Woolley. "I Fell In Love With A Russian Devil-Woman" - short story in ''Romantic Tails'' anthology issue 1 from Head Press in July 1998. Written by Stu Taylor and illustrated by Dave Roberts and Mark Woolley. ''

Nikolai Dante ''Nikolai Dante'' is a comic book series published in the weekly British science fiction anthology '' 2000 AD'' from March 1997 until July 2012. History ''Nikolai Dante'' was created by writer Robbie Morrison and artist Simon Fraser. The lea ...

'': "The Octobriana Seduction", written by

Robbie Morrison Robbie Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer known for his work in the weekly anthology '' 2000 AD'', where he co-created the long-running serial '' Nikolai Dante'' with artist Simon Fraser. Career Morrison began his career in '' 2000 ADs ...

, drawn by Andy Clarke and published in '' 2000 AD'' in 1998. ''Armageddon Patrol: The Shot'' - one-shot from Alchemy Texts in 1998 by John A. Short. Octobriana clashes with the Armageddon Patrol's Maiden America during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. The ''Octobriana Special'' from Alchemy Texts in 2001 - a one-shot comic (with features) written by John A. Short. Including a continuation of Short's Return of Octobriana storyline from the Revolution Comics mini-series with ''Commie Zombie Dictator from Hell'' drawn by Shaun Bryan. She also made an appearance in the Dutch comic strip series '' Agent 327'' by

Martin Lodewijk Martinus Spyridon Johannes Lodewijk (born 30 April 1939) is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist, and advertising illustrator. Martin Lodewijk was born in Rotterdam. He dropped out of high school in 1957, and started drawing cartoons, notably of ...

in the album ''"Cacoïne and Commando's"'' (2000), where a character that resembles Octobriana is introduced. In the comic strip the character is called ''"Novembriana"'', but a reference is made to the

album in which she first appeared. In 2010, the comic book company Poseur Ink announced a new title based on Octobriana, written by Steve Orlando and illustrated by Chaz Truog (

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

). In early 2010 the company started a Kickstarter fundraiser to start early pre-orders for the upcoming project. The noted underground/erotic cartoonist John Linton Roberson is co-starring Octobriana, along with a number of other public domain comics characters including Projunior, in his most recent ''VLADRUSHKA'' series in 2012, and has announced she will be revealed to be the title character's long-lost sister. ''The New Amazons Preview Special'' from Kult Creations in September 2013 written by John A. Short and illustrated by Gabrielle Noble, depicting the New Amazons clash with

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. Short later wrote a book on the history of Octobriana, ''Octobriana: The Underground History'', which also contains a new Octobriana story drawn by Noble. On May 9, 2020,

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

-winning cartoonist and graphic designer Jim Rugg launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new Octobriana comic, ''Octobriana 1976''. ''Octobriana With Love'', an all-new, full colour, comic book celebrating the 50 year anniversary of Octobriana, was announced by Dead Good Comics on 13 January 2021. A Kickstarter campaign followed during April / May 2021. Edited by Stu Taylor and published in November 2021, creators for the graphic novel anthology included Stephanie Phillips, Marc Laming, Simon Fraser, Andrea Towers, Stephen Byrne, Andy Belanger, Joyce Chin, Michael Cho, Nicole Goux, Juni Ba and Marguerite Sauvage. In 2023, the 264 pages long graphic novel ''Octobriana'' was published by the Czech publishing hous
Labyrint
The authors, Marek Berger and Ondřej Kavalír, explore the origin story of Octobriana as well as ideological, genre and gender stereotypes of the era when the character was created.

David Bowie

*A film to star

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 18 June or 18 November 1939 or 1941 or 1946 or 1950) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and went on ...

and to be produced by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

was announced in 1974 but was never made. David Bowie allegedly had also written music for the movie. *David Bowie included ''Octobriana and the Russian Underground'' in his Top 100 books list published in October 2013

In other media

Other appearances include: *As a

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...

's arm *The short Finnish film ''Octobriana and the Finger of Lenin'' (2003) starring Noora Piili. *Recruited to a superhero team on episode 66 of the tabletop RPG podcast Tales of Nowhere. She subsequently appears in 67 and 68. *The cover of ''Octobriana and the Russian Underground'' appeared as a poster during the second episode of British comedy horror web series '' Truth Seekers'', created by

Nick Frost Nicholas John Frost (born 28 March 1972) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has appeared in the '' Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy of films, consisting of '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), and '' The World's ...

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. He and Wright co-wrote the ...

, James Serafinowicz and Nat Saunders. The series was released on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on October 30, 2020.

Awards

* 1997: Won " Best New Comic (British)" National Comics Award, from the 1996 mini-series from Revolution Comics1997 National Comics Awards
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