Funky Koval
Encyclopedia
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/detective story
Detective Story
Detective Story is a film noir which tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. It features Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, Lee Grant, among others. The movie was adapted by Robert Wyler and Philip Yordan...
/political fiction
Political fiction
Political fiction is a subgenre of fiction that deals with political affairs. Political fiction has often used narrative to provide commentary on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction often "directly criticize an existing society or.....
genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
published in People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
in the 1980s. It gained a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
and is still recognized as one of the best Polish comics
Polish comics
Polish comics are comics written and produced in Poland. Very few of these comics have been published in languages other than Polish.- History :...
.
History
The scenarioScenario
A scenario is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the Commedia dell'arte it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play that was literally pinned to the back of the scenery...
for the comic was created by Maciej Parowski
Maciej Parowski
Maciej Parowski is a Polish publicist, essayist, writer and translator. Critic of science-fiction, chief editor of Nowa Fantastyka from 1992-2003, editor of several science-fiction series and anthologies. Chief editor of Czas Fantastyki...
and Jacek Rodek; the drawings were done by Bogusław Polch. It was first published in November 1982 on four black and white pages in the second issue of Fantastyka
Fantastyka
Fantastyka , is a Polish speculative fiction monthly fantasy and science fiction magazine....
, a Polish sci-fi magazine
Science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
. The first episodes were more of the 'comic short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
' format, and have generated both much praise and critique among the readers. Later, the comic moved from short story format to more lengthy, novel-like plots. Plot-wise the series has never ended.
With the release of the 'Komiks-Fantastyka' series in 1987 comics were moved rereleased in this comic spin-off, and Koval was soon released in 3 albums ("Bez oddechu" (Breathless), "Sam przeciw wszystkim" (Alone against everyone), "Wbrew sobie" (Against oneself)). The first album, Bez oddechu, contained collected stories published earlier (1982-1983), reprinted in Fantastyka, colored and with some additional panels to allow more seamingless transition between various stories. The second collected the 1985 more novel-like story; the third - the 1991-1992 story. All comics first debuted in 'Fantastyka' and were later released as color albums.
In 2002 it was reprinted again in a mega-album "Klasyka Polskiego Komiksu - Funky Koval", it also contained the beginning of the fourth series - "Bez litosci" (Without mercy).
Gossip and semi-official promises about that new parts of the comics have been circulating for many years, but no official announcement have been made until 2010, when it started to be serialised in the SF monthly Nowa Fantastyka. The fourth part is eventually titled "Wrogie przejęcie" (Hostile takeover).
Art
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
, Stanislaw Lem
Stanislaw Lem
Stanisław Lem was a Polish writer of science fiction, philosophy and satire. He was named a Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. His books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies. He is perhaps best known as the author of the 1961 novel Solaris, which has...
and the 'Fantastyka' magazine). Many gadgets have logos of known companies (such as Sharp
Sharp Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more than 55,580 people worldwide as of June 2011. The company was founded in September 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder's first...
and Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
), and their characteristics shapes - of videophone
Videophone
A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time...
s, guns, spaceships or flying car
Flying car
A flying car or roadable aircraft is an aircraft that can also travel along roads. All the working examples have required some manual or automated process of conversion between the two modes of operation....
s - are also one of the trademarks of that comic book.
The art in the third series is different from that in the first two: in the third series Polch experimented with more simple style, sometimes bordering on caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s. This change proved to be a disappointment to some fans used to his earlier, more detailed and realistic style.
Story
Cultural impact
This comic book gained a cult following in Poland, partially due to the high quality of drawings and plot, and partially due to many subtle connections with the real world of the 1980s Poland (martial law in PolandMartial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...
, Jerzy Urban
Jerzy Urban
Jerzy Urban , also known as: Jerzy Kibic, Jan Rem, Klakson born Jerzy Urbach, is a Jewish-Polish journalist, commentator, writer and politician, editor-in-chief of the weekly Nie and owner of the company which owns it, Urma.-Before 1989:Urban was born in Jewish family in Łódź. His father was an...
, Polish Round Table Agreement
Polish Round Table Agreement
The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from February 6 to April 4, 1989. The government initiated the discussion with the banned trade union Solidarność and other opposition groups in an attempt to defuse growing social unrest.-History:...
). Although some of those elements are no longer easily read by modern audience, the comic is still seen as one of the best Polish sci-fi works, and has influenced several more recent works.
Movie
At 2010 Lodz International Festival of Comics Polch told the press than an American producer that has bought the rights to the trilogy. The movie is based on Bez Oddechu. A movie is currently being produced by Josi W. Konski
Josi W. Konski
Josi W. Konski is a film producer. Arriving in the US from Cuba at a young age, Josi finished H. B. Plant High School in Tampa, Florida then studied to become an aeronautical engineer at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, afterwards, he obtained a minor in film and upon graduation served with...
and Roland von Ciel with a $37 million budget.