Austria.

World
Comics

Austria

1905

In short

Austrian comics grew out of the caricature of Vienna's satirical papers, from Figaro and Kikeriki to Die Muskete.

In 1930 Ladislaus Kmoch's Tobias Seicherl in Das Kleine Blatt became the first Austrian daily comic strip and one of the first in continental Europe, while Nazi persecution later drove artists such as Lily Renée and Paul Peter Porges into exile, where they worked for American comics and magazines. Later decades brought Chris Scheuer's albums, the caricatures of Manfred Deix and Gerhard Haderer, and the internationally awarded graphic novels of Nicolas Mahler and Ulli Lust.

Austria in numbers

01 • 04

Austria in numbers · 01 • 04

1905

2010s

Artists

Artists from Austria in the archive.

Comics from Austria in the archive.

Die Muskete, the earliest comic from Austria in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from Austria began.

Artists from Austria in the archive.

Comics from Austria in the archive.

Die Muskete, the earliest comic from Austria in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from Austria began.

Comic

Comic · Comics from Austria

History

Austria in 5 chapters

A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.

World Comics Heritage

Austria.

5 chapters

Turn the page

Chapter 1

1857

to 1918

Satirical papers of imperial Vienna

After the 1938 Anschluss, Jewish artists fled: Lily Renée drew for Fiction House comics in New York in the 1940s, Bil Spira drew for French papers, and Paul Peter Porges later wrote and drew for Mad. At home Kmoch revived Seicherl from 1958 to 1961, and daily papers such as the Kurier relied on political cartoonists like Rudolf Angerer.

1938 to 1978

Chapter 4

1979

to 1999

Comic Forum and a new generation

Nicolas Mahler, Rudi Klein and Heinz Wolf opened the Kabinett für Wort und Bild in Vienna's MuseumsQuartier in 2003. Ulli Lust's Heute ist der letzte Tag vom Rest deines Lebens (2009) and Mahler's literary adaptations won international prizes, the Nextcomic festival began in Linz in 2009, and Austrian Superheroes ran from 2016 to 2025.

2000 to today

Keep reading

The comics to know Comics from Austria

World Comics Heritage

Cover

1857
to 1918
Chapter 01
Satirical papers of imperial Vienna
Vienna had a dense press of humour papers, including Figaro (1857 to 1919) and Kikeriki (1861 to 1933), where caricaturists such as Theo Zasche worked. Die Muskete, co-founded in 1905 with Fritz Schönpflug as its art director, set out to be an Austrian counterpart to Simplicissimus with home-grown artists.
1919
to 1937
Chapter 02
First comic strips
In the First Republic the left-wing satirical paper Götz von Berlichingen ran Fritz Gareis's family comic Bilderbogen des kleinen Lebens. On 5 October 1930 Ladislaus Kmoch launched Tobias Seicherl in the Social Democratic Das Kleine Blatt, the first Austrian daily strip and an early European user of speech balloons.
1938
to 1978
Chapter 03
Exile and post-war caricature
After the 1938 Anschluss, Jewish artists fled: Lily Renée drew for Fiction House comics in New York in the 1940s, Bil Spira drew for French papers, and Paul Peter Porges later wrote and drew for Mad. At home Kmoch revived Seicherl from 1958 to 1961, and daily papers such as the Kurier relied on political cartoonists like Rudolf Angerer.
1979
to 1999
Chapter 04
Comic Forum and a new generation
The Austrian trade magazine Comic Forum appeared from 1979 to 1998. Chris Scheuer published his first album, Sheshiva, in 1983 and won the Max und Moritz Prize in 1984, and Gerhard Haderer launched his comic magazine Moff in 1997.
2000
to today
Chapter 05
Graphic novels and festivals
Nicolas Mahler, Rudi Klein and Heinz Wolf opened the Kabinett für Wort und Bild in Vienna's MuseumsQuartier in 2003. Ulli Lust's Heute ist der letzte Tag vom Rest deines Lebens (2009) and Mahler's literary adaptations won international prizes, the Nextcomic festival began in Linz in 2009, and Austrian Superheroes ran from 2016 to 2025.