Polish comics are

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

s written and produced in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Very few of these comics have been published in languages other than

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

History

One of the first and most famous Polish comics was ''

Koziołek Matołek Koziołek Matołek ( Silly the Billy-Goat) is a fictional character created by Kornel Makuszyński (story) and Marian Walentynowicz (art) in one of the first and most famous Polish comics back in 1933. It became a cult classic, popular since it ...

'' (Matołek the Billy-Goat), created by

Kornel Makuszyński Kornel Makuszyński (; 8 January 1884 – 31 July 1953) was a Polish writer of children's literature, children's and Young adult literature, youth literature. Dorota Piasecka. ''Proza Kornela Makuszyńskiego dla młodego odbiorcy: zarys problematyk ...

(story) and Marian Walentynowicz (art) in 1933. It became a

cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

, still popular today, and is an important part of the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of Polish

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

. In the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

the term comic (''komiks'') was discouraged as a "demoralising Western influence," and the terms "graphic stories" (''historyjki obrazkowe'') or "color books" (''kolorowe zeszyty'') were preferred instead; they were actually illegal and forbidden from 1947 to 1957. In modern Poland those terms have largely been forgotten, and the formerly discouraged English

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

"comics" (Polish "komiks") is now the main term for the medium. One of the most notable series created in 1957 (and concluded in 2009) was ''

Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek ''Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek'' (eng. ''Tytus, Romek, and A'Tomek'') is the longest-published and one of the most popular Poland, Polish comic book, created by Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski (aka ''Papcio Chmiel'') in 1957 and concluded in 2009. It centers ...

'' (eng. ''Tytus, Romek, and A'Tomek''), which became the longest-published and one of the most popular Polish comic book series. Created by Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski (aka ''Papcio Chmiel''), it centers on Romek and A'Tomek, two

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

s, and Tytus de Zoo, a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

with the ability of human speech. Over the past few years, the market for comics in Poland has grown rapidly; there is an increasing number of Polish comic books and magazines. Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

has been introduced, and the first Polish manga-style publications have appeared. As throughout the world,

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

s have also become increasingly popular.

List of popular Polish comics

* ''Bradl'' * ''Brom'' * ''Czaki'' * ''Dollicious'' * ''Emilka Sza'' * ''

Funky Koval ''Funky Koval'' is a Polish science fiction/detective story/political fiction genre comic book series published in Poland from the 1980s, collected in four volumes. The story was written by and Maciej Parowski, with art drawn by Bogusław Polch. ...

'' * ''

Jeż Jerzy ''Jeż Jerzy'' (''George the Hedgehog'') is a popular Polish comic book title created by two young artists, (script) and (drawings). The comic strip first appeared as part of a children's magazine called ''Świerszczyk''. Originally, the stri ...

'' * ''Kajtek i Koko'' * '' Kajko i Kokosz'' * '' Kapitan Kloss'' * '' Kapitan Żbik'' * ''Komisarz Żbik'' * ''

'' * ''Likwidator'' * ''

Lil i Put Lil or LIL may refer to: Use as a short form of "little" Musicians *Lill Babs (1938–2018), Swedish musician * Lil B (born 1989), American rapper * Lil Baby (born 1994), American rapper * Lil Bibby (born 1994), American rapper * Lil Bitts (bo ...

'' * ''Mikropolis'' * ''Podróż smokiem Diplodokiem'' * ''Przygody Kleksa'' * ''Przygody Małpki Fiki-Miki'' * ''Podziemny front'' * ''Polscy Podróżnicy'' * ''Quo Vadis'' * ''Ratman'' * ''Rewolucje'' * ''Serce Mostu'' * ''

'' * ''W.E.'' * ''

Wiedźmin ''The Witcher'' (, ) is a series of 9 fantasy novels and 15 short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous witcher, Geralt of Rivia. Witchers are monster hunters given superhuman abilities for the ...

'' * ''Wilq - Superbohater'' * '' Osiedle Swoboda'' * ''Yoel'' * ''Życie Jezusa Chrystusa''

External links

History of comics in Poland

Polish'd Silence - Polish comics without words

{{Poland-stub