Mtsyry: Octobriana 1976 is a new book from Jim Rugg featuring Octobriana, the Russian superhero star of cult 70s comics which themselves have a strange and confusing history. Rugg’s incarnation will be printed in fluorescent blacklight inks by AdHouse Books, which is apparently the first time this has been done: “It should look incredible and appeal to fans of weird comics, printed matter, unique zines, 70s counter-culture.”
The kickstarter has 8 days left and has already blasted past its target. Rugg writes:
The story is set in the 1970s, the period when blacklight posters were most popular (also the period of Rugg’s graphic novel, Afrodisiac). In 1971, the west learned about Octobriana – the outlaw Russian superhero comic in Petr Sadecky’s expose, Octobriana and the Russian Underground. Octobriana is part Barbarella, part Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds. She’s an unusual cult character with a storied history. David Bowie tried to make a movie about her. Billy Idol has her likeness tattooed on his arm. As a child of the Cold War and fan of underground comix, Rugg identified Octobriana as the perfect character for his psychedelic outlaw comic! The concept of Mtsyry: Octobriana 1976 is that underground American cartoonists made their own Octobriana comic book after reading Sadecky’s book. It was an effort to show solidarity with their Russian cartoonist comrades. Robot Stalin’s got a new doomsday bomb! Can the Devil-Woman stop him before he destroys us all? Siberian labor camps, PPP secret orgies, motorcycle gunship train chases – this one has it all! Samizdat gone wild – a cross between 70s psychedelia and Soviet constructivism!?!
Mtsyry: Octobriana 1976 will appeal to fans of comic books as well as fans of design, unique printed matter, and 70s counterculture. It features humor and action and you’ve NEVER seen a comic book that looks like this! Revolution forever, bitch.
Fluorescent Blacklight Outlaw Comic Book [Kickstarter]
