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Post by Bonobo on Feb 2, 2009 22:42:33 GMT 1
In another thread we talked about Kloss, a Polish spy/agent planted in German intelligence force, Abwehr, during WW2. The serial based on the book has been a hit till our times, the comic story was created in 1970s. I have all episodes, about 20 of them. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapitan_KlossCaptain Kloss (Kapitan Kloss) is a fictional World War II secret agent appearing in the 18-episode 1967-1968 Polish television series Stawka wiêksza ni¿ ¿ycie (Direct Translation: More Than Life at Stake; DVD Movie Translation: Playing for High Stakes; Popular Translation: You Bet Your Life), following earlier live television theater plays. It was, and still is, widely popular in Poland.
He is actually a Pole, named Stanis³aw Kolicki, working for Soviet Intelligence, who impersonates a Nazi Abwehr officer, Hans Kloss, of whom he is a look-alike, in order to wreak havoc inside German intelligence services and armed forces. The switch is accomplished after the real Hans Kloss is arrested spying behind the Soviet front lines. Following appropriate preparation, the look-alike Kolicki is allowed to "escape" back through the front lines and return to Abwehr service. While there, he hurts the German efforts in all sorts of inventive ways. Throughout, he manages to make himself appear trustworthy and advance in the German ranks, while at the same time making the Germans suspect each other about being defectors, traitors or agents themselves, often resulting in their executions.
Kloss is played by Stanis³aw Mikulski, who became somewhat typecast following this role.
The various episodes of the series are unconnected, apart for advancing in time over the period of war; certain actors even return in different roles. The pilot (Wiem kim jesteœ - I know who you are) explains the basic premise.
A recurrent supporting character is Hermann Brunner, a Sicherheitsdienst officer, played by Emil Karewicz, whom the audience loved to hate, a bit like what happened with the J.R. Ewing character in the Dallas series, or Alfred Bester in Babylon 5. Although Brunner only appeared in 5 episodes out of 18, he usually stole the show. One of his "trademark" sayings was "I hate the view of a man being beaten... unless I am giving the beating myself".
During the series' first run a German magazine published a front page picture of Mikulski, in his Nazi outfit, with a subtitle it considered funny "this is the man Polish women are crazy about", the Polish public was not amused by such jokes.
Captain Kloss is generally thought to be a direct inspiration for the 1970 Soviet television series about Stirlitz. Of course, he is himself inspired by Konrad Wallenrod and James Bond, albeit much less directly.
Except for the pilot episode, the series does not reveal exactly which intelligence service Kloss is working for, as in the other episodes he receives his instructions from an unspecified Centrala or Central Control. Hence, the viewer is left to wonder whether it is the London-based Polish government in exile or some Soviet intelligence organisation, for example the GRU military intelligence. At the time the series was made, when Poland was still a Soviet satellite state, this deemphasizing of a possible Soviet connection made the character of Kloss more palatable to those Poles who resented Soviet domination, and hence preferred a fictional secret agent not associated with the disliked apparatus of Soviet Intelligence. Overall, the series was relatively free of communist propaganda, unlike some other series made at the time dealing with wartime events, and hence remains highly watchable today.
Although the settings are extremely precise, the series is pure entertainment and the main characters in it have no historical basis. His code name was J-23.polandsite.proboards104.com/index.cgi?board=polishfilms&action=display&thread=35&page=2#9757E.g., Treason   Last Chance  Cousin Edyta  Top Secret  Password  Meeting with Ingrid   Sentence  Courier from London  Iron Cross  Professor Riedel`s Secret   Siege   See a few pages from Meeting at the Castle          More pages at this site: stawka-wieksza-niz-zycie.blog.onet.pl/E.g., Action Oak Leafstawka-wieksza-niz-zycie.blog.onet.pl/Cz-17-Akcja-Lisc-Debu,2,ID210451489,n  |
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 3, 2009 11:32:01 GMT 1
Kajko i Kokosz is a copy of Asterix and Obelix comic stories. They are Slavonic knights who defend their town against evil Robber Knights (who resemble Teutonic knights). There are witches, magic, fights, dragons, monsters, princesses, Vikings etc etc. Full fantasy. And funnier than Asterix because there are many allusions to Polish socialist reality, e.g., the shortage of goods. The series started appearing in 1970s. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajko_i_Kokosz
Kajko i Kokosz (Kajko and Kokosz) is a notable comic book series by Janusz Christa, published in Poland between 1970's and 1980's. It is based around a story of two Slavic warriors named Kajko and Kokosz, loosely resembling both Asterix and Obelix, as well as two personalities from Christa's earlier series on Kajtek i Koko (set in contemporary and science-fiction background). The series included 20 volumes, as well as a number of shorter stories published in various magazines. In 2006 a short animated 3D movie was made.
The series was largely popular in Poland and has been re-edited several times. It was also the basis of several computer games. Recently several volumes were translated into other languages, including a semi-official language of Poland, Cassubian, and a Polish dialect of Silesian as well as dialect used by highlanders from Podhale.
Main characters in the series include castellan Mirmi³, hypochondriac ruler of the village of Mirmi³owo, where Kajko and Kokosz serve as the warriors; Lubawa, dominating wife of Mirmi³; small dragon Miluœ; benevolent witch Jaga; her husband, the good bandit £amignat (Bonebreaker), and the antagonists of the series: military knight order of Zbójcerze (Banditknights), based on the Teutonic Knights, led by Hegemon, with his second in command, Hitler-like Kapral (Corporal) and Schweik-like Oferma (Loser).
The stories are written in tongue-in-cheek manner and contain light satirical elements, usually puns concerning reality of living in Communist-ruled Poland with characters sometimes mentioning labour unions, bureaucracy, commodity shortages and similar themes.           After the author died, some guys try to continue the series  www.swiatmlodych.republika.pl/teksty/turniej.html |
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 11, 2009 22:08:01 GMT 1
Communist deficit also afflicted comic book industry. Firstly, I was seldom able to buy comic books in regular shops. They were sold out after an hour or so. Printed copies never sufficed to satisfy the hungry market - there was not enough paper. I had to buy them at higher prices at flea and book markets. In a few cases, I admit it shamefully, I stole a comic from my cousins or friends. Well, it wasn`t really stealing - just borrowing, with intention never to give back. If anyone ever wondered why generally young Poles despised communism, you now know the answer. Why me? I COULDN`T BUY MY FAV COMICS!!! F...K communism! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Secondly, comic authors often chose an amazing palette of colours for their books. Reason: paint was deficit too. Sometimes they only used black and white. Or, half pages in a comic were coloured, half black and white. Or suddenly, the characters became purple ;D ;D ;D with orange sky in the background! I don`t think the colours used in Janosik were deliberately planned and chosen by the artist. He used colours which were available at the time. I can be wrong.... ;D ;D ;D ;D Janosik, published in 1973, together with the appearance of the TV series. Made by J. Skarżyński.   Film polandsite.proboards104.com/index.cgi?board=polishfilms&action=display&thread=35&page=3#10127 |
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tomek
Nursery kid
Posts: 256 
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Post by tomek on Feb 15, 2009 15:40:32 GMT 1
Very strange colors in Janosik. Violet horsies, green bear. Suprise of course.
Why I can not see the words speech by heroes?
But this music imn the film is nice. I like it. I watched a some parts of it. But it is good film for children, INHO. Janosik is Robin Hood, looking similar to Men in tights comedy.
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 15, 2009 21:31:14 GMT 1
Very strange colors in Janosik. Violet horsies, green bear. Suprise of course. Why I can not see the words speech by heroes? I think it is the price you pay for getting to know the complete comic book online. If you want to read the contents, buy it. I also liked the music when I was a kid. I watched the series in the 70s, and we used to recreate the film in our games. Everybody wanted to be Janosik. Our parents were anxious as there had been an incident that playing kids went too far and they hanged their friend on a hook, imitating real Janosik`s execution. |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 3, 2009 20:27:05 GMT 1
One of my fav comic stories is Tytus - about an ape who wants to be a human. The process of instilling humanity into Tytus occupies most of books in the series. Paradoxically, Tytus is often more human than people around. His adventures are crazily funny and the author has really amazing ideas, e.g. travelling by the weirdest craft. Look below. I loved these stories and today I read them to my kids. I have all books. As a boy I didn`t have half of them, they were so popular so hard to obtain. 30 books were published - each deals with a different leading theme. The last one is about Tytus in Warsaw Uprising. Covers: www.relax.nast.pl/galeria/In space  In the army  Olympic games                Pages from some books available here: tytus.wp.pl/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tytus,_Romek_i_A%27Tomek
Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek ( eng. Tytus, Romek And A'Tomek) is the longest-published and one of the most popular Polish comic book series, created by Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski (aka Papcio Chmiel) in 1957 and concluded in 2009. It centers around Romek and A'Tomek, two boy scouts, and Tytus de Zoo, a chimpanzee with the ability of human speech. Many adventures in Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek have speculative or Science Fiction elements, some are outright parodies of the established norm. Some books (mostly the late ones) also contain political themes and satire. After 31 volumes and around 10 special issues of the series, Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski announced in May 2009 that Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek will no longer be published.
[edit] Main characters
* Tytus de Zoo – a chimpanzee and the main hero of the series. Although Tytus speaks and thinks like a human being, his animal heritage clearly shines through - he is presented as wanting to attain humanity, but falls short as a result of his own distinct nature. In the first story drawn by Chmielewski for the "Świat Młodych" (The World of Youth) magazine Romek and A’Tomek find Tytus in a rocket (which at the time was part of the communist Anti-American propaganda as Tytus told he was abused by the scientist who worked there). In the book version however Tytus came to life from a blot of ink the creator Papcio Chmiel accidentally drop on the floor (this unusual origin fits the bizarre and surrealistic nature of the books). Tytus however many times mentioned (as well as visited) his "homeland" Trapezfik.
* Romek – a tall, blond and skinny boy scout. He often teases Tytus with rag comments and is pessimistic about Tytus's attempts to attain humanity.
* A'Tomek – the leader of the trio. A short, fat boy in glasses. He is very intelligent, mature and often the most honorable and well-mannered one. The name is alliterative, with A'Tomek's name suggesting atomic energy.
* Professor T’Alent – a helpful scientist and one of few recurring characters in the series beside the main trio. He builds various inventions, often flying machines that help the boys during their adventures. He has many mice, which are often seen playing in his hair.
* Papcio Chmiel – the creator of the series often appeared in the books portraying himself as a father figure to the boys and Tytus and often shown to have God-like powers (he has been shown making paintings come to life or appearing out from nowhere in the middle of the story and intervening in the adventures).
* Szympansia – Tytus's wife (a chimpanzee as well) brought to life from a painting by Papcio Chmiel. She appeared only in four stories.
[edit] In other media
* In 1989 and 1990 two episodes of an animated series were made for Polish public broadcaster TVP but they aired ony once. Jerzy Chmielewski disliked this series because of very poor animation and showing character in very unsympathetic way.
* A Polish band "Blenders" made a music video about Tytus, Romek and A’Tomek and used the original animated footage of the characters in it.
* In 2002 premiered an animated movie entitled Tytus, Romek i A’tomek wśród złodziei marzeń (Tytus, Romek And A’Tomek Vs. The Thieves of Dreams). The film features one of the most acclaimed Polish actors Marek Kondrat as the voice of Tytus. The movie wasn’t based on any of the comic books and it had an original plot. Critical response was generally negative. Many fans criticized the movie for lacking the humour and the spirit of the original material. Colonel Sanders makes a cameo in this movie as KFC was one of main sponsors of the production.
* A Tytus Romek i A’tomek computer game was made in 2006.
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 3, 2009 20:34:16 GMT 1
Cult cold cuts from Tytus comics: And one of my favorites episodes, from 1970s - Tytus jumps into a western movie and becomes a cowboy, then a businessman. tytus.wp.pl/# |
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uncltim
Just born
I oppose most nonsense.
Posts: 71
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Post by uncltim on Jun 3, 2009 21:29:55 GMT 1
Wow Bo! I like you more every day! Anyone who can appreciate the fine artistry and cultural relevance of the lowly comic book is alright by me. I was always able to find wonderful distraction and learned many important morals as a young man reading about the exploits of my drawn super-heroes. to this very day I have a large suitcase of old comix that I treasure beyond measure. A childhood friend of mine who I shared this passion with grew up to be a illustrated of a pretty famous comic book named MAD magazine. We wasted many a classroom hour drawing cartoon representations of the world and classmates around us. I was pretty good at it but Tom was truly gifted. He has a website: www.tomrichmond.com/It will take some effort but I am excited to translate the comix you've posted. -Tim |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 3, 2009 21:56:16 GMT 1
Wow Bo! I like you more every day! Anyone who can appreciate the fine artistry and cultural relevance of the lowly comic book is alright by me. Yes, we are not ashamed to openly admit we appreciate comics despite their lowliness. So did I. I always read a lot of books but also needed some additional impulse to my imagination - I got it from comics. I don`t keep my comics in a suitcase. They are on the shelf to read!!! I know this line from a few magazines I possess. Nice, very elaborate. www.tomrichmond.com/mad_art/Stuporman_big.jpgUnfortunately, I am not talented in drawing. I can only draw machines: aircraft dropping bombs, tanks firing etc. Oops, it will be a stunt surpassing all heroic acts of your favourite comic book characters!!! They will be Mickey Little compared to you!!  |
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Post by locopolaco on Jun 6, 2009 18:31:08 GMT 1
oh man, you made my day again Bonobo.. haven't seen tytus in ages.. used to have all the books through xviii or so.. even had one or two signed by the author.. tytus.wp.pl/ |
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 17, 2009 16:40:46 GMT 1
oh man, you made my day again Bonobo.. haven't seen tytus in ages.. used to have all the books through xviii or so.. even had one or two signed by the author.. tytus.wp.pl/Wow, you must have lived in Warsaw once..... There is a funny thing about Tytus. The author made it more brutal in 1990s. When I bought an episode about acting,  I got a shock - there were such nasty topics as killed people, occupation, hunting Jews etc. I didn`t like it then. The last part is about Warsaw Rising:  |
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Post by tufta on Jun 17, 2009 18:13:57 GMT 1
well, let me just add that I read the early 'Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek' as well!!
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Post by locopolaco on Jun 18, 2009 0:15:32 GMT 1
no killing in volume IV? how about IX?
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 18, 2009 20:51:09 GMT 1
no killing in volume IV? how about IX? No killing in volume IV at all. It is about the army but no one gets killed. In volume IX there is killing which turns out a mockery in fact. The guy gets shot and blood spouts up high, but the boys use a cork and he comes back to life, saying it isn`t blood, but whisky. www.relax.nast.pl/galeria/tytus04.jpgwww.relax.nast.pl/galeria/tytus09c.jpgThe killing which I was talking about is when Germans shoot a guy in the street round-up called łapanka. It was a shock for me because I had associated Tytus with "safe danger." |
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 4, 2009 20:57:20 GMT 1
In late 70s, till 1981, a comic magazine was published in Poland, called Relax, altogether 31 issues. The elite of Polish comic writers and artists took part in it. It was hard to obtain due to goods deficit created by socialist economy. I managed to buy a few issues, the rest I had to look for at second-hand book markets, of course at a much higher price. A few I had never read, got them recently from the Internet. The magazine ceased to be printed in 1981 at the peak of the economic crisis - they simply ran out of colour printing paint. That is why I was strongly anti-communist since early 1980s. I loved Relax - though it was polluted with socialist propaganda and official version of history, on the whole it was a wonderful remedy for the grey reality of those times. A few covers: First issue  Middle    Last one  All www.relax.nast.pl/galeria/A few examples of subjects which regularly appeared in Relax Fairy tales for adults  www.relax.nast.pl/1/rebajki.htmHow Poland was born   www.relax.nast.pl/1/rehistor.htmWar stories www.relax.nast.pl/1/rewojenn.htm     Science fiction www.relax.nast.pl/1/rescifi.htm       History/adventure    About youngsters www.relax.nast.pl/1/remlodzi.htm    Propaganda www.relax.nast.pl/1/repropag.htm   Weird  Kajko and Kokosz  Gucek and Roch www.relax.nast.pl/1/rechrist.htm  Thorgal the Viking  Secret of Inka Kipu  Smiling History - gossip from the past   Crime/thriller    For kids  historiaimedia.org/popkomunizm/pawel-miedzinski/
Paweł Miedziński, Learn To Play And Play To Learn. Comics “RELAX – The Illustrated Stories Magazine” As An Example Of Communist Propaganda In Poland
Comics in communist Poland was treated as “degenerated art and capitalistic mass culture products” and had no acceptance of the ruling party. The word “comics” was forbidden in public dispute. Editors were persuaded to call it “drawing stories” or “colorful number”. But, new policy of “technocrat” – Edward Gierek – First Secretary of Polish Communist Party during the period of 1971 – 1980 – used comics as a very useful tool of propaganda which was especially addressed to children and teenagers. The communist propaganda of the 70’s was called “success propaganda”. It meant that Poland was a growing power in every part of internal and foreign affairs. “Relax” contained different stories showing how the life of people had changed comparing the pre-war period (capitalistic Poland) and the time of middle seventies. Officials wanted to show Poland as a big, important and powerful country on the worldwide arena. So there were many stories about brave expolorators of Arctic, valiant UN soldiers in Polish uniforms helping Arabs in the Middle East, cosmonauts in internal friendship with Soviet Union.
For communist propaganda the Polish-German relationship during II WW was significant. We can find a lot of war-stories comicses. In most of them the main character is a Soviet soldier or a spy exposed as a positive hero. The Magazine had a circulation of 200 000. It was of course much less than readers expected. So, it was resold on the black market with a much higher prices. Learn to play and play to learn – means that, RELAX contained both educational and strongly propaganda stories mixed together which made it very popular and effective. Nowadays we can see how many fakements and lies were published in this magazine – especially – in war stories comics.
1. Stanisław B a r a ń c z a k, Książki najgorsze i parę innych ekscesów krytycznoliterackich, Wyd. ab, Poznań 1990, s. 81 |
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 18, 2010 23:21:43 GMT 1
Kapitan Żbik (English: Captain Żbik) is a Polish comic book series published in years 1967-1982. Title hero, Jan Żbik (Wildcat) is Milicja Obywatelska (communist criminal police) captain. There were 53 comics about Żbik released. I had a dozen or two of comic booklets. Today I keep them all on my computer. The stories deal with such crimes as murder, kidnapping, smuggling of diamonds, industrial and miliatary espionage, theft, pickpocketing, even poaching or the problem of hood in a school.  |
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 14, 2018 18:19:42 GMT 1
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