Latvia.
Latvia
1906
Latvian comics grew out of satirical magazines and newspaper cartooning.
Svari, started by Latvian journalists in Saint Petersburg in 1906 and revived in Riga in 1920, and the Soviet-era humour magazine Dadzis, relaunched in 1957, carried the work of cartoonists such as Gunārs Bērziņš and Ēriks Ošs, and Mirdza Ramane's character Hugo Diegs became a television favourite in 1971. Book-length comics stayed rare until independence; since 2007 the Riga publisher kuš! has given Latvian comics an international profile with its š! anthology and mini kuš! booklets.
21
15
1906
1990s
Artists from Latvia in the archive.
Comics from Latvia in the archive.
Svari, the earliest comic from Latvia in the archive.
The decade when the most new comics from Latvia began.
komikss
Latvia 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.
Latvia.
4 chapters
1906
to 1940
Chapter 01
Satirical magazines
Latvian journalists founded the illustrated satirical magazine Svari in Saint Petersburg in 1906, and it came back in Riga from 1920 to 1931 with cartoonists such as Rihards Zariņš. In 1920 Jānis Spriņģis drew almost every picture in his short-lived satirical monthly Skudras, Ernests Rirdāns began publishing cartoons in 1923, and the weekly Vecais Sikspārnis lasted until July 1940 as the only Latvian satirical title of the Ulmanis years.
1944
to 1991
Chapter 02
Soviet humour magazines
After the war cartoonists drew for Asā slota, the humour supplement of Padomju Jaunatne (1948 to 1974), and for Dadzis, a colour fortnightly relaunched in January 1957 whose print run grew to 128,000 copies. Gunārs Bērziņš, Ēriks Ošs, Edgars Ozoliņš and Uģis Mežavilks were among its artists, and Mirdza Ramane's Hugo Diegs went from a cartoon book to a popular Latvian Television series in 1971. Māris Bišofs, first published in Dadzis in 1963, emigrated in 1972, while the exiled Rirdāns published cartoon books in England.
1991
to 2006
Chapter 03
Children's comics after independence
Māris Rungulis founded the children's magazine Ezis in 1991 and wrote the scripts for the comic books Ausainīši (1992) and Lapsas Rudītes piedzīvojumi (1996), and Zvaigzne ABC published Vilnis Purēns's history comic Gadu kārtām Rīga auga in 1997. Dadzis kept going until 1995 and was briefly revived in October 2005.
2007
to today
Chapter 04
kuš! and the graphic novel
The comics publisher kuš!, founded in Riga in 2007 and edited by David Schilter and Sanita Muižniece, set out to popularise comics in Latvia and promote Latvian artists abroad, and won the alternative comics prize at Angoulême in 2012. Kao Viet Nguyen retold the national epic in Lāčplēša dzimšana (2009) and Lāčplēša hronika (2012), and artists such as Anete Melece, Ingrīda Pičukāne and Anna Vaivare have published with kuš!.
The comics to know
- Svari1906 · comics magazineLatvian journalists, edited by Alfrēds Purics. Illustrated satirical magazine, Saint Petersburg 1906 to 1907 and Riga 1920 to 1931.
- Dadzis1957 · comics magazineGunārs Bērziņš, Ēriks Ošs and other cartoonists. Soviet-era humour and satire magazine; relaunched in 1957 and published until 1995.
- Hugo Diegscomic stripMirdza Ramane. Cartoon character who became a Latvian Television series in 1971.
- Gadu kārtām Rīga auga1997 · graphic novelVilnis Purēns. History comic about Riga published by Zvaigzne ABC.
- š!2007 · comics magazineedited by David Schilter and Sanita Muižniece. Pocket-sized international comics anthology of the Riga publisher kuš!.
- Lāčplēša dzimšana2009 · graphic novelKao Viet Nguyen. Comic about the birth of the epic hero Lāčplēsis.
The people to know
- Gunārs Bērziņš1927 to 1999Leading Soviet-era cartoonist of Asā slota and Dadzis.
- Ēriks Ošs1927 to 2025Cartoonist for Dadzis from 1957 and Latvijas Avīze from 1994.
- Mirdza Ramane1921 to 1996Satirist who created Hugo Diegs.
- Māris BišofsBorn 1939Cartoonist who started in Dadzis and later drew for Time.
- Ernests Rirdāns1901 to 1954Interwar cartoonist of Svari and Vecais Sikspārnis.
- Kao Viet NguyenCao Việt NguyễnBorn 1987Author of the Lāčplēsis comics.
- Anete MeleceBorn 1983One of the Latvian artists published by kuš!.
More artists from Latvia
All 21 artists- Māris Runguliswriter
- Uģis Mežavilks1929 to 1998 · cartoonist
- Jānis Spriņģis1892 to 1959 · cartoonist
- Ingrīda PičukāneBorn 1978 · comics artist
- Edgars Ozoliņš1930 to 1987 · cartoonist
- Lote Vilma VītiņaBorn 1993 · illustrator
- Reinis PētersonsBorn 1981 · illustrator
- Gunārs Vīndedzis1918 to 1991 · cartoonist
- Imants Melgailis1923 to 2018 · cartoonist
- Gatis ŠļūkaBorn 1978 · cartoonist
- Anna Vaivareillustrator
- Rūta BriedeBorn 1984 · illustrator
More comics from Latvia
- Vecais Sikspārnis1929 to 1940 · comics magazine
- Lapsas Rudītes piedzīvojumi1996 · graphic novel
- mini kuš!comic book series
- Ausainīši1992 · graphic novel
- Kurbads jodu kāvējs. I Ķēves dēls2015 · graphic novel
- Feminae Explorarumgraphic novel
- Lāčplēša hronika2012 · graphic novel
- Asā slota1948 to 1974 · comics magazine
- Skudras1920 · comics magazine