Kazakhstan.
комикс
Kazakhstan
2017
комикс
Kazakhstan's comics industry is young and is usually dated from 2010, when Orazkhan Zhakup and Adilya Smagulova founded Khan Comics in Almaty, described as the nation's first comics art studio.
Before that, graphic satire appeared mainly in the Kazakh and Russian magazine Ara (Shmel), published in Alma-Ata from 1956 to 1998. Since the late 2010s, superhero and history comics such as Ermek Batyr and Kerey and Zhanibek, web comics such as Le Shapalaque and a busy authors' alley at Comic Con Astana have widened the scene.
15
14
2017
2020s
Artists from Kazakhstan in the archive.
Comics from Kazakhstan in the archive.
Le Shapalaque, the earliest comic from Kazakhstan in the archive.
The decade when the most new comics from Kazakhstan began.
комикс
Kazakhstan in 4 chapters
A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.
Kazakhstan.
комикс
4 chapters
Chapter 1
1956
to 1998
Ara and Soviet satire
1956
to 1998
Chapter 01
Ara and Soviet satire
The illustrated satirical monthly Ara (Shmel) was published in Alma-Ata from 1956 to 1998 in Kazakh and Russian and sold across the Soviet Union. Its Russian edition had a print run of 120,000 to 140,000 copies and its Kazakh edition 70,000 to 100,000.
2010
to 2016
Chapter 02
Khan Comics
Khan Comics was launched in 2010 together with a first comics exhibition, released its first compilation in 2011 and sold mainly in Russia because the home market was small. The Almaty publisher Salben Comics, founded in December 2013, focused on licensed titles such as Marvel comics.
2017
to 2019
Chapter 03
Batyrs and web comics
The humorous Instagram comic Le Shapalaque started on 1 March 2017, and Ermek Batyr, a Kazakh superhero comic by Madibek Musabekov and Bekzat Myrzakhmetov, reached Comixology and a hardcover edition from Salben. In 2018 Khan Comics and the Yessenov Foundation announced a physics comics series for schoolchildren, and the first Comic Con Astana drew 53,000 visitors in 2019.
2020
to today
Chapter 04
History comics and Comic Con
Bexultan Kazybek, head of the publisher Bult Comics, released KazakhMan Batyr in 2020, and history comics such as Ilyas Yusupzhanov's Kerey and Zhanibek (2024) appeared alongside a national 100 Domestic Comics project. More than 100 Kazakh authors showed graphic novels at Comic Con Astana in 2024, while Musabekov went on to draw for Marvel.
The comics to know
- Ara1956First editors G. Musrepov, A. Tokmagambitov and K. Zharmagambetov. Illustrated satirical monthly in Kazakh and Russian, published until 1998.
- Ermek Batyrgraphic novelMadibek Musabekov and Bekzat Myrzakhmetov. Superhero comic based on the founding of the Kazakh Khanate, called the first national comics project by its publisher Salben Comics.
- Le Shapalaque2017 · webcomicAdil Zakenov and Daniyar Akhmetzhanov. Humorous web comic about everyday Kazakh life, launched on Instagram.
- KazakhMan BatyrБексултан Казыбек: КазахMan Batyr2020 · comic book seriesBexultan Kazybek. Comic by the head of the publisher Bult Comics.
- Kerey and Zhanibek2024 · graphic novelIlyas Yusupzhanov. 80-page comic about the founders of the Kazakh Khanate.
The people to know
- Orazkhan ZhakupCo-founder and editor of Khan Comics, the first Kazakh comics studio.
- Adilya SmagulovaCo-founder and art director of Khan Comics.
- Madibek MusabekovAlmaty artist of Ermek Batyr and Golden Warrior who later drew for Marvel.
- Adil ZakenovFounder of the web comic Le Shapalaque.
- Ilyas YusupzhanovYoung author of the history comic Kerey and Zhanibek.
More artists from Kazakhstan
- Alibek Kozhageldiyevgraphic novelist
- Dilka BearBorn 1977 · comics artist
- Bekzat Myrzakhmetovcomics creator
- Iskander Zhandauletgraphic novelist
- Bek-Ata Daniyalcomics writer
- Rinat Akhmediyarmanga artist
- Abylay Karincomics artist
- Magira Tleuberdinacomics artist
- Galym Baitukcomics writer
- Aidiye Aidarbekovcomics writer