U ovaj projekat uključeno je 200 strip-crtača i ilustratora This project includes 200 comic artists and illustrators Vekovnici su avanturistički strip serijal o vampiru Čenu i Kraljeviću Marku Vekovnici is a series of adventure comics about vampire Chen and Kraljević Marko Marko jedini brani čast domaćeg strip-scenarija u radu sa značajnijim stranim izdavačima / Marko is the only one defending the honour of domestic comic script writers through his work with significant foreign publishers Vekovnici is a series of adventure comics about two accidental partners, themysterious vampire Chen and the whimsical immortal Kraljević Marko, who scour Europe at the end of the 18th century and cross paths withmythological creatures, historical figures likeMozart, Miloš Obilić and Stevan Sinđelić, but also literary figures such as Faust, D‘Artagnan, Quasimodo, Frankenstein and many others… “They say that success is difficult to achieve, even harder to repeat and most difficult to maintain. And here we‘re striving tenaciously to achieve that which ismost difficult, and I‘moverjoyed that we‘ve succeeded for a sixth time. A source of even greater satisfaction is the fact that this time around my own student, MarkoNikolić –withwhom I collaborated, among others, on this comic – has been recognised as belonging to the world comic elite. There is hardly a greater honour for any teacher than when an authority of the likes of Paul Gravett says that their students have developed into top class comic artists, and in worldwide circles, no less.” Marko says that Vekovnici represents a gargantuan project that includes 200 comic artists and illustrators from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Slovakia, Germany, Russia and Brazil. “I‘ve been working with comics for 22 years continuously. While working with them I completed high school, enrolled in and completed my college studies, gained employment, served in the army, got married, had a child... Working with comics in Serbia today is still mostly a thankless task, especially for authors. That‘s why ourmaestrosmainlywork either in the gaming industry and as illustrators or work on comics for foreign publishers, where they enjoy a very good reputation. Unfortunately, our illustrators are hired to illustrate scripts by foreign writers, because it is most difficult to sell one‘s own story to a foreign publisher.” Best testifying to how disproportionate this is is the fact that some 50 local cartoonists are currently working for the biggest French, American and Italian publishers, but only one writer. Fortunately for him, but also sadly, Marko, as he himself says, has been the only one defending the honour of domestic comic script writers for the last four years, through his work with significant American, French and Chinese publishers. “Vekovnici are, let‘s say, a project that only endures thanks to the fact that the entire team that works on them literally donates their own time, skills and energy. We create, according to other people‘s estimates, domestic comics at the highest global level, but we‘ve been doing that for almost 15 years without any kind of compensation. Imagine what we would be able to do with a little help,” says Marko, who authors one of the world‘s best comics. Comics » Strip | 41
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