A Short History of Comics in Turkey

Comics and comic strips have been published in Turkey for more than a century, with periods of interruption, and on a more continuous basis for approximately eighty years. During this time, a number of notable local works were produced. In public memory, however, discussions of comics in Turkey have often foregrounded titles of foreign origin. One commonly cited explanation is that comics production in Turkey did not develop into a fully institutionalized industry. Local comics financed and supported by newspaper publishers generally struggled to compete with imported publications in both quantity and perceived production quality. For this reason, even during 1955-1975 -often described as a “golden age” for comics in Turkey- locally produced children’s comics appear not to have reached the same level of mass popularity as many imported titles.

At the same time, the period witnessed the creation of several influential works, including Karaoğlan by Suat Yalaz, Abdülcanbaz by Turhan Selçuk, and Sezgin Burak’s Tarkan. In these decades, comics frequently appeared in newspapers as daily comic strips and were later compiled into book-length editions. Children’s magazines and other periodicals also provided an important venue, and artists often adapted narrative length and format to the editorial profile of each publication and its readership.

Across much of the twentieth century, Turkish comics and comic strips were frequently associated with historical themes, heightened prose centered on heroic figures, and varying degrees of erotic content. Many major newspapers (Hürriyet, Milliyet, Akşam, among others) maintained designated spaces for comic strips, including historical serials. Comic strips also contributed to the broader visual design of newspapers. Before the 1970s, printing constraints limited the routine use of photographs, and newspapers relied heavily on drawn material-caricatures, vignettes, portraits, illustrations, and decorative elements. Several artists worked across these formats, including Suat Yalaz, Bedri Koraman, and Turhan Selçuk; within the newspaper economy, comic strips could function as both high-visibility content and a source of royalties for their creators.

From the 1970s onward, improvements in printing technology and the increasing prominence of photography altered the visual landscape of the press. Over time, this shift reduced the centrality of comic strips in newspaper design and, in many cases, the economic conditions under which they were produced. Although comic strips continued to appear, their role and visibility within the newspaper industry changed relative to earlier decades.

The magazine Gırgır is often discussed in relation to these broader transformations in print culture. Its rise is frequently linked to improved printing capacity, expanding distribution networks, and the availability of financial backing from media owners. Developments associated with offset web printing increased the feasibility of producing high-circulation newspapers and magazines with extensive photographic and illustrative content. In the early 1970s, Gırgır emerged as a humor magazine combining comedic and, at times, political and erotic elements. Beyond its cultural identity, Gırgır is widely recognized for its commercial impact and for providing an institutional platform in which many artists developed careers. Its success also coincided with the emergence of other humor magazines that combined caricature with humorous comic strips.

In the last several decades, humor has been among the most visible genres in Turkish comics. Examples frequently cited in this context include Oğuz Aral’s Utanmaz Adam (“Shameless Man”), İlban Ertem’s Küçük Adam, Bülent Arabacıoğlu’s En Kahraman Rıdvan, and Nuri Kurtcebe’s Gaddar Davut. These works commonly employ irony and satire and often draw on adventure structures and exaggerated character types. In accounts of the period, Gırgır and other humor magazines such as Çarşaf, Limon, and Fırt are sometimes described as reaching very high total circulation figures. In any case, their prominence is widely considered to have expanded the range of visual styles and narrative approaches visible in popular print culture. Artists frequently associated with this productive period include Galip Tekin, Suat Gönülay, Kemal Aratan, and Ergün Gündüz.

From the late 1980s into the 1990s, print media in Turkey faced significant competitive pressure from television, including the expansion of commercial channels. Several commentaries from the era describe sharp declines in circulation relative to the previous decade. In this context, some magazines repositioned themselves by emphasizing themes, language, and forms of representation less likely to appear on television. This development shaped the tone of certain comics and, in some strands of humor publishing, contributed to an increased use of grotesque imagery and deliberately transgressive content.

A magazine often referenced in discussions of this period is L-Manyak. It is typically characterized as a humor magazine oriented toward buffoonery and provocation, including the use of obscenity and scatology as stylistic devices. Its recurring targets include social predators, braggarts, the wealthy, gluttony, aggressive ambition, and opportunism linked to sexual attraction. Descriptions of the magazine also note a relative avoidance of conventional political satire compared to some earlier humor periodicals, while covers and interior material frequently foregrounded grotesque characters as well as comedic depictions of violence and sexual practices. In interpretive accounts, the magazine’s vulgar register is sometimes framed as a mode of social critique, with recurring motifs such as hostility toward oppression, fantasies of escape from mass society, suspicion toward agendas and institutions, explicit desire, hedonism, generalized mistrust, and indifference to money.

In later years, some contemporary Turkish comics—particularly within humor publishing—have been discussed as operating in the shadow of this aesthetic and editorial turn. Commentators often highlight shifts toward denser page layouts, highly detailed backgrounds, and a stronger emphasis on visual saturation, in contrast to the minimalist editorial sensibilities commonly associated with Oğuz Aral. Works often cited in this context include Bülent Üstün’s Kötü Kedi Şerafettin (“Şerafettin the Bad Cat”), the “Martyrs” series by Memo Termbelçizer, and Oky (Oktay Gençer) Cihangir’de Bi Ev (“A House in Cihangir”), which presents Cihangir as a bohemian’s district of Istanbul and foregrounds adolescents’ sexual and emotional relationships. Other examples include Cengiz Üstün’s grotesque works that invert horror-film logic, such as Kunteper Canavarı (“The Kunteper Monster”), and Gürcan Yurt’s Turkish adaptation of Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe ve Cuma, ). In more recent discussions, artists such as Bahadır Baruter, Kenan Yarar, and Ersin Karabulut are also frequently mentioned.

It is also useful to note several creators whose works have remained prominent across decades of local production. Suat Yalaz’s swashbuckling serial Karaoğlan (1962) and Turhan Selçuk’s Ottoman-era figure Abdülcanbaz (1957) became long-standing reference points and circulated across multiple platforms. Sezgin Burak’s Tarkan is often singled out for its imaginative settings and distinctive visual approach. Ratip Tahir Burak is widely regarded as a highly skilled draughtsman, sometimes discussed as exerting influence through drawing rather than through narrative construction; he is frequently identified as a model for artists associated with the Gırgır generation. Oğuz Aral’s Utanmaz Adam is similarly cited for its scripting and story construction. Engin Ergönültaş (b. 1951) is often discussed as influential for his use of the figure of the hınzır—a boorish, unfeeling trickster—and for a mode of “literary visuality” combining verbal and graphic registers. Many accounts of contemporary Turkish comics situate current production within the longer lineage shaped by these figures.

[2017]