The history of Russian comics presented from popular prints to humorous magazines

On the first day of April, the Presidential Library features digital copies of humorous publications posted on the library's portal worldwide. 

Russian and Serbian philologist, literary critic, Doctor of Philological Sciences Irina Antanasevich talks about the history of Russian comics in her book “Russian Classics in Pictures” (2015).

For the reader, comics are a humorous story in pictures. However, Irina Antanasievich views comics as a form of art arguing that it is not just a “story in pictures” but a cultural phenomenon that has its own values and history: common for the whole world, national for each country.

The Presidential Library's collections contain the rare publication of 1870 “Popular Print Ancient Folk Pictures”. It is noteworthy that the author of this book is peasant Ivan Golyshev, a member of the Russian Geographical and Free Economic Societies, a corresponding member of the Moscow Archaeological Society and a full member of the Vladimir Provincial Statistical Committee.

Ivan Golyshev notes that the production of folk pictures, called popular prints, began in the second half of the 16th century under Tsar Ivan the Terrible.

The spread throughout Russia, sale and trade of popular popular prints was facilitated by ofeni - traveling traders. The women went to Moscow for popular prints, haberdashery and other goods. The author suggested that the name “popular pictures” comes from the fact that “ofeni distribute and deliver pictures for sale in popular boxes”.

Popular prints were dominated by religious subjects, episodes of military operations and exploits, and depicted heroes of fairy tales and jokes. Expressions that were forbidden to be used in print sometimes appeared as captions for funny pictures. This continued until the Governor General of Moscow, Count Arseny Zakrevsky, banned the printing of popular prints without censorship permission.

The combination of text and drawing began to develop into more complex forms. Irina Antanasievich in her book says that “at the moment when drawing plus text began to penetrate into mass use” the phenomenon of drawing entire plot stories arose. This type of visual literature, later called “comics,” was aimed “primarily at children and adolescents”. 

In the pre-revolutionary period, mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg, more than three hundred illustrated magazines for children and youth were published, in which funny pictures were always printed.

The Presidential Library's collections contain a selection of Russia’s first special children’s literary, artistic, humorous and sports magazine “Dobroye Utro” for 1909. The magazine was published in Moscow, it published stories, stories, fables, poems, funny stories, scenes and caricatures. The March issue of 1909 was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. On the occasion of the anniversary, the magazine published a biography of the writer and excerpts from his most famous works, illustrated with grotesque drawings and cartoons of Gogol’s characters.

The pre-revolutionary magazine "Udal", published in Moscow, was intended for an adult audience and was positioned as a “weekly cheerful folk magazine of merciless laughter”. Poems, riddles and anecdotes in it are illustrated with caricatures on the topic of the day. The Presidential Library's collections provide a selection of publications for 1907.

The political, social and satirical magazine “Humorous Almanac” was published in the same format in St. Petersburg. Issues for 1906–1907 are available in the Presidential Library's collections. It was published weekly under different titles. Each issue contained "16 pages in 32 columns and at least 15 drawings and cartoons". The main themes were “evil laughter, light political and social satire, provincial reviews”. According to the editors, famous comedians and artists took part in the publication of the magazine.

Famous writers also honed their pens in humorous magazines published after the October Revolution. In 1922, in Moscow, as a supplement to the Rabochaya Gazeta, the satirical magazine “Krokodil” began to be published on Sundays, the symbol of which was a red crocodile.

“Krokodil” became the most popular satirical publication in the USSR; the whole country read it. Satire manifested itself especially clearly during the Great Patriotic War. From its first days, the entire content of “Krokodil” was subordinated to one task - the fight against the enemy.

“Krokodil” celebrated the victory over fascism with caustic satire against the enemy, accompanied by cartoons. The cover of “Krokodil” in №25, 1945, is decorated with a satirical drawing by the famous cartoonist Boris Efimov. The Presidential Library's collections feature a selection of Krokodil magazines for different years. The portal also presents a virtual tour of the exhibition An Artist Against the Fuhrer: Fascism in the Caricatures of Boris Yefimov. Marking the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, which was opened in the Presidential Library in 2019.

“Stories in Pictures” which over time grew into professional humorous magazines, are truly a whole cultural phenomenon with its own unique history. They gave their readers the opportunity to smile, clearly explained the essence of things, and entire generations in Russia grew up on them.