Zigomar

Zigomar was a Yugoslav adventure comic strip about the masked hero of the same name, created by artist Nikola Navojev and writer Branko Vidić. Zigomar appeared in six stories published in comic magazine Mikijevo carstvo (Mickey's Kingdom) from 1939 to 1941 and has been called one of the most notable titles of the "Golden Age of Serbian comics". Creation and publishing history Zigomar was originally created by artist Nikola Navojev, a white émigré, and writer Branko Vidić. The biggest influence on Navojev and Vidić was the Phantom, but they were also influenced by other masked heroes, like Lone Ranger, which appeared in Yugoslav comic magazines during the 1930s. Zigomar got his name from the more famous French character of the same name, hero of pulp fiction novels and films. Serbian cartoonist Aleksandar Zograf and comic book artist and historian Zdravko Zupan suggest that the idea to name the character after the French Zigomar might have come from the owner and editor of the comic magazine Mikijevo carstvo, Milutin S. Ignjačević, who studied filmmaking in Prague and Munich and was one of Yugoslavia's early filmmakers. Zigomar first appeared in the 28th issue of the magazine Mikijevo carstvo, published on May 28, 1939. Navojev and Vidić were credited under pseudonyms, Navojev as Nick Woodly and Vidić as Brandon Vid. Zigomar episodes were published in sequels, with one or two pages of the episode per issue. Until the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, five more Zigomar stories were published in Mikijevo carstvo: "Zigomar protiv Fantoma" ("Zigomar versus the Phantom"), "Nevesta bogova" ("Bride of the Gods"), "Bič pravde" ("The Whip of Justice"), "Misterije Egipta" ("Misteries of Egypt") and "Leteći Zigomar" ("Flying Zigomar"). "Misterije Egipta" was announced as "the last Zigomar story", due to Navojev's health condition. In 1940, Navojev died of tuberculosis. However, due to great popularity of Zigomar, Ignjačević decided to offer young artist Dušan Bogdanović to draw Zigomar, with Vidić continuing to write the script. The last Zigomar story, "Leteći Zigomar" was the only one drawn by Bogdanović. The occupation of Yugoslavia ended the publishing of Mikijevo carstvo and thus Zigomar, leaving the last Zigomar story unpublished in its entirety. The last Zigomar story was published in its entirety for the first time in 2008. Fictional character