Rolf Kauka was a comic artist, most famous for the series Fix and Foxi

Fix and Foxi

Fix und Foxi, created by the comic book editor Rolf Kauka, is the most successful and best known German comic series. The weekly magazine, taking its name from the two fox protagonists, was published for more than 40 years between 1953 and 1994...

.

In 1951, Rolf Kauka founded Kauka Publishing. Aside from Rolf Kauka’s original comic characters, Kauka Publishing introduced to German audiences such international series as Asterix

Asterix

Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...

and The Smurfs

The Smurfs (comics)

The Smurfs are a Belgian comic series, created by cartoonist Peyo . The fictional characters of the Smurfs first appeared in Johan and Peewit in 1958, and the first independent Smurf comics appeared in 1959. Twenty-nine Smurf comic albums have been created, 16 of them by Peyo...

from France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. Some characters received Germanized names, for instance Spirou & Fantasio / Pit & Pikkolo, Gaston Lagaffe

Gaston Lagaffe

Gaston is a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the comic strip magazine, Spirou. The series focuses on the every-day life of Gaston Lagaffe, a lazy and accident-prone office junior...

/ Jojo, etc.

In 1973, Kauka sold his publishing house to the English publisher IPC

IPC Media

IPC Media , a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year.- Origins :...

 and the Dutch publishing group VNU. He maintained his right of authority, but removed himself from the active publishing world. In 1975 he founded the Kauka Comic Academy in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, where he concentrated on the training and continuing education of young writers and illustrators. At the end of the 1970s the publishing consortium was dissolved and Bauer/VPM began publishing Fix & Foxi.

Kauka characters/series outside the Fuxholzen (Fix und Foxi) universe:

• The Pichelsteiner - prehistoric adventure series
• Dagobert - an early character by Rolf Kauka
• Diabolino - an imp character
• Mischa - adventure series based in the future and in outer space.
• Tom and Biberherz - Old West adventure series.
• Peppercorn Family - the last series created by Rolf Kauka.

Rolf Kauka also directed the animated film Maria d'Oro und Bello Blue, which contains characters created by him.

External links

• Website of Rolf Kauka
• Wiki on Kauka's publications (German)
• Website of Kauka Medien-Gruppe (German)
• Website of Kauka Marketing & Medien
• Website of Kauka Promedia, Inc.
• Website of Kauka Licensing

This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of August 17, 2005.