The most important anthology of Polish independent comics – a review of the zine “Warchlaki 4.2”

For the past four years I have been regularly dropping by the Golden Chickens, the comic book festival “niezalu”. Throughout this time, Warchlaki received at least one nomination each, mainly for the amazing covers of Barbara Okrasa. They were awarded twice as the zine of the year. Weaners also accompanied exhibitions, and number 2.5 is basically a catalog. The booklet always gathers a cream of cartoonists and illustrators, the company responds enthusiastically to the announcement of the next collection of works. So much so that the fourth issue had to be divided into two editions.

Ghosts 4.2

Piglets have themes of the number, usually related to the occult, horror, horror, but treated literally. So, in addition to weirdness, expect humor or unexpected charm of dark characters. And even emotions – in this collection, a few miniatures can get your eyes wet.

Let me make a banal statement – creating a good collective publication is difficult. Authors do not stick to topics and deadlines. Each of them has their own individual style, so the whole thing can look like a simple mess, not one coherent thing. Therefore, you need to work on the sequence and create a relatively clear table of contents. And now for the worst – the readers don’t like the anthology.

The piglets managed to overcome the above-mentioned adversities. They are distributed in a considerable amount, they are known and liked. They celebrate the individuality of the creators, from the covers. Their own too, hence the deep blackness of each booklet. The only thing you can have a problem with is the lack of section or title pages, which may cause some stories to blend in in the reader’s mind.

What will you find in episode 4.2? Since it is the same call for papers – continuation of the fourth issue. Stories about ghosts and the afterlife, all silent. Sometimes they are like from Edgar Keret’s Kamikadze pizzeria (Paweł Kicman and Dorota Papierska), other times they show a classic school adventure (Rafał Kołsut and Unka Odya). They play with the context of reading to a child a fairy tale about fears which, after all, “do not exist” (Marta Falkowska). They show a classic psychedelic like from A Space Odyssey(Przemysław Wideł). There are also dreamlike illustrations (Agata Sasiuk) and reinterpretations of Slavic deities (Katarzyna Olbromska). One of the touching stories I have announced earlier is a story about a witch (Joanna Sępek). We also have a parable about whether it is worth changing everyone so quickly using black magic (Bartosz Dygoń). Finally, I was impressed by the masterfully drawn American adventure similar to Gaiman (Andrzej Włudecki and Nat Garbaciak / kimioon).

An anthology of independent comics

It is worth reaching for Piglets mainly because of the quality of the comics collected in them. This is a great sample of the capabilities of independent creators, and also gives you an idea of ​​the names and styles. You can treat it as a guide for the next Golden Chickens, Rumia ComicCon or MFKiG. The zine is well-released, so if you like consistency on the shelf, it won’t let you down – you can collect! The editors, i.e. Barbara Okrasa and Jerzy Łanuszewski, will sell you a zine at every major comic book event, and will also add a special event postcard. Currently, they are both associated with Wydawnictwo 23 , which is why the Warchlaki themselves are under the care of Marta Falkowska, who already has experience in publishing Monstwor .

Fancy some weird, disturbing, and sometimes classically fantastic stories about ghosts and spells? Get 4 Piglets , preferably both parts at once. By the way, you will find out who is cool now and on the rising tide in Polish independent comics. Just a note – the zine is neatly stuck together, it won’t be easy to tear pages out of it and frame it – and you may want to.