The International Festival of Comics and Games in Łódź invites Jakub Kijuc, then cancels a point of the program with his participation, and the controversy continues. We asked representatives of MFKiG and Egmont about their position on this matter.
A wave of indignation swept through the comic book community after the announcement that Jakub Kijuc, who created one of the jubilee DC comic book covers for Egmont, will be the official guest of the International Festival of Comics and Games in Łódź. Therefore, we asked the representatives of MFKiG and Egmont to take an official position on this matter.
Jakub Kijuc – who is he?
Jakub Kijuc is a niche Polish artist who a few years ago tried his hand at mass distribution of his comic books Konstrukt i Czarna Materia in the form of notebook editions straight from the 1990s. When the experiment failed, he started working on another project – Jan Hardy telling (in short) the story of cursed soldiers with superpowers. Over time, this title was enriched with the ROTA spin-off
The controversy surrounding the author’s character and his work is mainly due to the fact that Jakub Kijuc made his heroes’ antagonists, along with the Bolsheviks, to representatives of the LGBT + community, feminists and broadly understood “leftism”. No wonder that numerous criticisms have arisen around the homophobia, transphobia and sexism presented in his works. At the same time, the author made them one of the most important aspects of promoting his comics, next to the cult of the cursed soldiers. His most popular artwork is a variant of the cover of Jan Hardy’s notebook , on which the protagonist’s hand crushes a rainbow symbolizing the LGBT + community. In addition, ROTA comic stripsthey are published, inter alia, in the pages of “Gazeta warszawska”, famous for its anti-Semitic articles. The artist himself creates himself in relations with fans as a patriot and conservative Catholic, who calls non-heteronormative persons “the dunghill of evil” and believes that the Mother of God “will (quietly) take care of the littered ones, and we need to pray that it would be fast, because It’s a pity for people ”(quotes from Jan Hardy’s fanpage ).
Where does this scandal come from?
The controversy surrounding Jakub Kijuc intensified in the first half of September, when Egmont announced the release of occasional editions of twelve DC superhero comics. The covers were created by Polish artists. Among them was also the author of Jan Hardy , who was responsible for illustrating Superman .
READ MORE: Polish Artists Draw DC Comics Heroes
There were voices of dissatisfaction in the comic book community about the choice of cities against which the characters were depicted. However, they were nothing compared to the criticism of the ennoblement that happened to Kijuc through the actions of Egmont. Especially that the participation in the action was followed by the official invitation of the cartoonist as a guest to Łódź for the International Festival of Comics and Games. As he says himself, he was to take part in a joint panel with the other nine cartoonists and two cartoonists responsible for occasional covers. Many comic book fans decided that such a decision was tantamount to legitimizing Jakub Kijuc’s work and the attitudes presented in it. Egmont and MFKiG were thunderous as well as legitimate questions about the reasons for such a selection of illustrators and cover illustrators.
Egmont’s reply
We contacted Egmont to find out about the publisher’s attitude towards Jakub Kijuc and his work, as well as the way in which the people responsible for the twelve special covers were selected. As might be expected, the publishing house distances itself from the cartoonist’s attitudes and his works published outside of Egmont.
Here are the answers we received from Aleksandra Chaberska, PR provider of the publishing house:
We do not refer to the private positions presented by individual authors and we do not take a position on this matter. We do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of their political, religious, social or sexual orientation. We do not promote and do not refer to works by Jakub Kijuc published outside the Egmont publishing house.
He also adds that the idea and assumptions of the project were created inside the publishing house under the wings of Tomasz Kołodziejczak and required the approval of DC Comics. Members of the publishing house’s editorial team presented their suggestions, after which Egmont contacted the artists.
We invited famous Polish comic book cartoonists, as well as illustrators of computer and board games to cooperate on the project. The only selection criterion was the conviction that a given artist would design an interesting cover and that all the projects together would create a diverse and interesting artistic offer. The authors’ private opinions were not the subject of any considerations in the project procurement and approval process. The covers simply show superheroes – and do not express any worldview.
Although such an attitude seems logical and reasonable, it is worth remembering that at the stage of selecting the cartoonists, someone suggested Jakub Kijuc, apparently not caring about what he is mainly associated with. And someone else decided that he was a famous, interesting and respected artist enough to be entrusted with drawing DC’s oldest and most recognizable superhero. However, if the Egmont publishing house can hide behind the fact that its links with Kijuc end with the illustrations for Superman Action Comics , the management of MFKiG is in a more difficult position.
source: MFKiG
Silence of MFKiG
At the festival in Łódź, there was supposed to be a point of the program devoted to occasional covers. According to the posts on Facebook, the panel was to be attended by all twelve artists selected by Egmont. The presence of Jakub Kijuc was announced on the official website and in social media. His creative achievements have been described in detail, so it is difficult for the management of MFKiG to say, like Egmont, that they did not know what values the artist represented. Unfortunately, despite the fact that we tried to obtain some explanations, director Adam Radoń has been silent on this matter for two weeks. On the other hand, Patrycja Narożna, responsible for contact with the media, provided us only with perfunctory information that “there are no official events with the participation of Mr. Jakub Kijuc in the festival program”. Indeed, apparently influenced by criticism, even before the official announcement of the program, a meeting with the authors of the covers was banned from the program. However, it is not known who made the decision to cancel the panel and what was the actual reason for it. However, it can be assumed that the motive was rather the desire to silence the scandal than to reflect on who the festival and Egmont put on a pedestal. All the more so because other cartoonists and cartoonists suffered as a result of the liquidation of the program point, while Jakub Kijuc still remains an official guest of MFKiG, at the same time putting himself in the role of a person persecuted for his faith and views. whom the festival and Egmont put on a pedestal. All the more so because other cartoonists and cartoonists suffered as a result of the liquidation of the point of the program, while Jakub Kijuc still remains an official guest of MFKiG, at the same time putting himself in the role of a person persecuted for his faith and views. whom the festival and Egmont put on a pedestal. All the more so because other cartoonists and cartoonists suffered as a result of the liquidation of the program point, while Jakub Kijuc still remains an official guest of MFKiG, at the same time putting himself in the role of a person persecuted for his faith and views.
The 30th edition of the International Festival of Comics and Games will be held in the Expo-Łódź hall on September 28-29. Alternative covers for DC comics will be displayed as part of the exhibition accompanying the festival. Currently, it is not known whether the cover by Jakub Kijuc will also be presented.
