This is my personal diagram for comic book art styles. Being a list maker and constantly thinking about this topic, I drew it up with all my favorites as examples. And yeah, this is always on my mind, so I wanted to lay it out to give it some shape, to help me understand. This isn’t a contest or “who’s better than who” – I also left out a million other names. These are just the ones I always think about.
Continuing to pack and ship Octobriana 1976. Putting addresses on these books has been thrilling. Seeing the names of friends, creators that I admire, and destinations all over the world…in case I haven’t said it to you - thank you! https://www.instagram.com/p/CDuFguPh8pX/?igshid=18c2clvylxv7j
In June 1940, Soviet army entered Lithuania. This was a beginning of a 50 year long occupation. Catholic Church was one of the biggest enemies of the Soviet Union. Because of atheist policy, churches and other sacral buildings of all confessions were being closed and turned into warehouses, sport halls and galleries, therefore ignoring their architectural and cultural heritage value.
The poster with the “Monumental Church of the Resurrection in Kaunas” from 1940s. | Photo via Lietuva Senose Fotografijose
A lot of valuables were stolen, but the largest damage for the buildings was done by the weigh of goods stored on wooden floors – it crippled the walls, meanwhile the humidity and rainwater which leaked through the holes in the roofs damaged the interiors of abandoned churches. [1]
St. Michael Archangel Church was transformed into the Gallery of Sculpture and Stained Glass. | Photo © Nacionalinis Čiurlionio dailės muziejus
A choice to turn a church into a warehouse is rather interesting, since a warehouse had a symbolic meaning in the Soviet Union. Some researchers believe that converting churches into warehouses “was not the abolition of the holy but, so to speak, its replacement. The warehouse is just as ideal an order in the material world as the church is in the spiritual world. The warehouse is a materialist church, but instead of collecting people who are seeking in prayer an exalted form of the soul, it houses a multitude of objects that have found a precise inventoried form.”[2]
Vilnius Cathedral Basilica in 1847 | Lithography via Katedra.lt
Nevertheless, according to various data from 1953 to 1959 nearly 15-20% of churches were closed while some of sacral buildings went through radical transformations. Vilnius Cathedral Basilica (1783) by Gucevičius was closed in 1949. During 1950 sculptures of saints, which were on the rooftop were removed and destroyed. Since the Cathedral was closed a lot of artifacts were stolen while the interior was ravaged. The Cathedral become part of the Museum of Art and was in1956 transformed into a gallery. The building was returned to the Catholic community in 1988.
Vilnius Cathedral Basilica in 1950 | Photo © S. Simanskis
A synagogue of Kulautuva constructed by Trakman (1935) was turned into the warehouse. In 1967−1968 the building was reconstructed and masoned, so that it could be used for a library and a cultural centre.
The original constructions of the synagogue were uncovered in 2016 and was due to its poor condition demolished. | Photo via autc
Kaunas and Kaunas District are well-known because of the modernist buildings that were built during the Interwar Period. Five examples of Kaunas modernism – five sacral buildings - that were pushed to the politics of the oblivion in the Soviet times and are celebrated as architectural and cultural heritage today will be presented in this edition of FOMA.
Christ’s Resurrection Church had a flat roof, what was not common for catholic churches at the time of construction. | Photos © Lukas Mykolaitis
The Christ’s Resurrection Church was designed by Karolis Reisonas in 1929 as a 82-meter tall spiral tower crowned by a 7 meter tall statue of Jesus Christ. However, this project was too pricey and not very well accepted by the people of Kaunas, therefore abandoned. A new project was inspired by modernist spirit and designed in 1932. It was believed that the new church would become a monument of XX century architecture because of its contemporary style, advanced construction and quality materials. Its size was also extraordinary and exceptional in the context of the Baltic States.
Local granite was used for the construction, and the window frames and doors were made of oak. | Photos © Lukas Mykolaitis
The construction of the church was complicated because of lack of funding. Therefore the community engaged in the collection of donations for the church. In 1938 the walls were masoned and the roof was covered in concrete. In the spring of 1940 main construction works were completed, but when Lithuania was occupied by the soviets, it stopped and the building was confiscated. During the second world war the church was used as a paper warehouse.
The inside of the church was reconstructed, adapting it to the needs of the Kaunas Radio Factory. | Photo © Kauno miesto muziejus
In 1952 a decision was made to turn the church into the Kaunas Radio Factory, later named Banga. The inside of the church was reconstructed, adapting it to the needs of the factory: three stories in the side naves and five stories in the central nave were constructed. Crosses were removed, the chapel was demolished and large industrial windows were installed.
Minija-4 produced 1967-1973 in Kaunas. | Photo © Kauno miesto muziejus
Since the opening in 2004 the church has become the dominant landmark within the cityscape. | Photos © Lukas Mykolaitis
During 1930s Vaclovas Michnevičius designed a neo-gothic church for the Evangelical and Reformed community in Kaunas and the project was not built since its design didn’t fit well with its surroundings.The other project designed by Karolis Reisonas represented current modernist trends with a flat roof, smooth shape and its functionality. Narrow vertical windows added greatness to the image of the relatively small church.
Evangelical and Reformed Church looks similar to Christ’s Resurrection, designed by same architect. | Photo © Skeivys, 1956, KTU ASI archive.
The Evangelical and Reformed Church was finished in 1940 and remained unused due to the Soviet occupation. The top part of the tower was torn down, the building was nationalised and turned into the warehouse for tobacco and alcohol manufacturers. Afterwards was given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which adapted it for the use of special school. When Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, most of the churches were given back to religious communities, however, this case was different: since the owner of the building was an educational institution, the rules of returning the property did not apply. For nearly 20 more years the Evangelical and Reformed Church in Kaunas was used as a sports hall and a canteen, until 2019 when the church was given back to the community.
The believers were allowed to pray on Sundays. | Photo Wikimedia
Pažėrai Sacred Heart Church, a masterpiece by Stasys Kudokas, was built in a small village of Pažėrai in Kaunas district. The construction started in 1936 and was funded by the catholic community. The construction of modernist red-brick building was interrupted during the Soviet occupation. In 1967 the function of Pažėrai Sacred Heart Church changed as it was given to a collective farm and used as a grain warehouse.
The church has two towers, with a high raised apse and the main space of the building is covered by a dome. | Photo © Lukas Mykolaitis, 2018
When Lithuania regained the independence, the church was returned to the congregation in 1991.The reconstruction began shortly afterwards and in 1997 the nearly-finished church was consecrated. The plan of the church in the form of a Greek cross has an unique, dynamic composition, and it is an example of rational modernist architecture.
Kaunas Mosque also known as Vytautas the Great Mosque is one of four remaining mosques in Lithuania. Its design reminds the mosques in Northern Africa, a compact, small-volume mosque combines historical forms with oriental motifs like an elliptical dome and a small minaret, which was never used for its traditional purpose.
Kaunas had a wooden mosque built in 1860. | Source postcard from 1940s
In 1941 the mosque was closed and robbed: its windows were smashed, carpets, furniture and ancient hand-written Quran were stolen. The ownership rights were transferred to Kaunas City Archive which turned the building into a warehouse. In 1986 the building became a library and a warehouse of M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art. During the soviet times murals were painted over and there are plans to recover the old murals by 2030 when the mosque will celebrate its 100 anniversary.
The mosque was returned to the Muslim community of Kaunas in 1989 and restored in 2007-2008. | Photo © Lukas Mykolaitis, 2017
Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Šančiai neighborhood is a great example of modernist sacral architecture. The church is built of reinforced concrete, the nave is covered by supporting arches and the caisson shell. The exterior is minimalist and composed of regular geometric shapes: square front door and narrow rectangular windows.
During the war, the church was damaged, instead of stained-glass window a brick wall was built. | Photo © Justinas Stonkus, 2020
Kaunas2022 European Capital of Culture program Modernism for the Future tackles the questions of preservation, interpretation and dissemination of modernist heritage and promotes various initiatives by building owners, heritage community and cultural organizations.
[1] R. Čepaitienė. Vilniaus bažnyčių likimas sovietmečiu (1944-1990). Liaudies kultūra, 2002/5 (86), p. 32-37.
[2] M. Epstein. Russo-Soviet Topoi. The Landscape of Stalinism: The Art and Ideology of Soviet Space.ed. E. Dobrenko, E. Naiman. University of Washington Press, 2011, p. 301.
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#FOMA 38: Ugne Marija Andrijauskaite
Portrait photo © Justinas Stonkus
Ugne Marija Andrijauskaite is a historian, who investigates social and cultural history of XX century Lithuania. In 2017 she defended her PhD thesis, which investigated urban workers and organized labour movement in interwar Lithuania. Currently she is working at Kaunas2022 European Capital of Culture program Modernism for the Future. The goal of the program is to awaken responsibility for the environment that surrounds us and create an emotional connection with the urban landscape and culture.
Last Sculptures, by David Moreno
A TREATISE ON REALITY IN COMIC LITERATURE is the first work by soon-to-be comics legend Mark Gruenwald. This is considered to be his finest hour - a HUGE limited edition fanzine on how the multiverses work in DC & Marvel comics of the day (1976).
Source: WorthPoint
(image via eBay)
My new Event Horizon column on Crisis on Infinite Earths has finally seen the light of day! It’s pretty big, which is appropriate given the subject matter. I follow the history of the comic book crossover and how it eventually led to the emergence of shared universes. The article also explores superhero metaphysics, the role of fandom in all these developments, and traces Crisis’ cultural influence.
Silver Surfer: Black Issue 5, Page 1 Inks
Art by Tradd Moore
Rather than reach my first stop in Montenegro, Nikšić, at about 5pm as planned, I didn’t get there til after 8:30, when the sun was almost down. I was so upset as there was so little light left, and when I finally parked, my Canon’s battery was at 0%, so I was just left with my phone. My panic subsided when finally turned a corner and saw what I had rushed to see: the totally fantastic Dom Revolucije, the enormous social forum that has stood half-completed for more than 30 years in the center of the county’s second largest city. The cloudless sky’s crepuscular glow coated the raw concrete in a soft pink, which, unexpectedly aided by the sodium orange streetlamps, provided these pastel-tinged, low-light images. In the mid-1970s, Slovenian architect Marko Mušić proposed perhaps one of the largest and most ambitious civic works in all of Yugoslavia, a huge public palace, that was to be a war memorial, a municipal and cultural space, and a commercial arcade. Construction began in 1976 and dragged to a halt before the break-up of Yugoslavia. The sprawling skeleton has remained a half-built hulk in the city’s main square since then, and increasingly a famous urbex attraction, especially after it was a main feature of Montenegro’s Venice Biennale pavilion in 2014.
Had it been finished it would have been like nothing else architecturally or programmatically. Although incomplete, it is an incredible place: massive raw concrete spaces for auditoria and galleries, partially enclosed in spans of ruddy space-frames holding up slopes of indigo-tinted glazing panels—at least those that have not been smashed by local trespassers. I didn’t try to venture inside: it was dark, the building is notoriously dangerous, and there’s plenty about what the interior’s like easily available on urbex and other travel blogs. More importantly, after more than 30 years since work was halted, the place is in the process of being finished by what is reported to be a team of talented architects who aim to respect the original design.
Sweet Little Cunt: The Graphic Work of Julie Doucet, by Anne Elizabeth Moore won an Eisner Award! We’ve been nominated almost every year since we started publishing, but this is our first ever win!
The history of Uncivilized Books blog series continues!
Money is my Master
by Donny Cates, Tradd Moore, Dave Stewart
I’ve read a lot of Silver Surfer comics. He is one of my favorite Marvel characters. I always try to see what’s up with the character, especially when there’s a new series. Generally speaking the Surfer is not very well handled.
Even the original creators didn’t really know what to do with him. After Surfer’s amazing first appearance and story (Fantastic Four #48-50) he was always kind of mis-used. The first Silver Surfer series by Stan Lee & John Buscema is pretty dull. The Surfer, trapped on earth by Galactus, travels around and mopes. His dialogue (actually mostly monologue) is painful to read. Kirby takes the series over for one issue, but it’s not enough to push him in a new direction. The series was cancelled after Kirby’s issue. Stan Lee hobbled the character by ‘reserving’ him for himself. No one could really do anything interesting with the character without Stan Lee’s say so. The first real interesting development of the character didn’t happen until 1987. Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers teamed up on a new Silver Surfer series. This is the golden age for the character. Englehart freed the Surfer from being Earth bound and unleashed him as a character. In the first 12 issues of that series, Surfer and Mantis struggle against the Elders of the Universe as they plot to kill Galactus. It’s is a high water mark for the character. The series lasted for over 100 issues, went through a number of writers (with a memorable run by Jim Starlin) and artists, and eventually petered out. Since then we haven’t seen much new with the Surfer. Occasional guest appearances, a limited series here and there. Most recently the series by Dan Slott & Mike Allred seemed to want to revisit the triumphs of Englehart and Rogers by giving surfer a human companion (like Mantis in the Englehart run… or like Dr. Who’s companions!) and took the character into more camp territory… with uneven results.
I don’t really know where Silver Surfer Black is going yet. I like the art. I only recently discovered Tradd Moore’s work in The New World (Image, with Ales Kot). I really enjoyed the first couple of issues. I like the way he draws.
There’s a barely restrained surrealist/trippy component to his drawings. The Silver Surfer series seems designed bring that element out in force. There are a lot of psychedelic flourishes, unusual angles, expressionistic renderings, complex layouts, etc. Moore seems to be really having fun here. There’s a surreal fluidity to everything. Everything is flows, undulates, and bubbles like… a lava lamp. There’s not much to the story… at least so far…
This series seems to be following on some big events involving the Guardians of the Galaxy & Thanos. I didn’t read the series so I don’t really know what’s going on. It doesn’t seem to matter. The opening sequence is designed to get rid of all the other characters, and to get Surfer to be on his own. Surfer & others are trapped in a black hole. Surfer uses his power to save everyone, but because he uses too much power to accomplish this, he gets sucked back into the singularity. He floats in darkness for what seems to be eons, until he stumbles onto some dark planet. The inhabitants are three guardians protecting a tower.
The design of the guardians let’s Tradd Moore get really expressive. The costumes are baroque, flamboyant, excessive; reminiscent of the most excessive aristocratic costumes of European Renaissance. All this reminds me of Druillet. His Lone Slone series is dense with medieval designs blown up into massive spaceships and complex armor. Tradd Moore seems to be treading similar territory, but there’s a clarity of line and form that brings to mind animation and Manga.
Surfer is determined to get past the guardians… and he does, only to be confronted with ‘Knull’ (null… oh right we’re in a black hole… the ultimate nullifier) another massive character, with massive flowing armor, and a super-massive sword covered in red goo. Who knows where this is going? I’m on board for now.
No Surfer series would be complete without a recap of Surfers origin. We have to be reminded of his cold-blooded service to Galactus, his complicity in the killing of trillions of lives… and witness his constant guilt and hand wringing.
One more note: the introductory paragraph that describes the Surfer on the credit page (and this is something that all Marvel comics have now, a film-like credits page) says that he is ‘coated with galactic glaze’. I’ve never heard his silver skin referred to in that way before. Is this official cannon? It made me hungry for glazed donuts.
Tom K
I wrote (ink logged) about Silver Surfer Black #1.
My Event Horizon column continues on The Comics Journal. Here’s a taste:
BSOTD occupies an awkward position in the Batman canon… and in the Event. On one hand, M.W. Barr tries to disrupt the Batman mythos by introducing new elements into the canon, and takes new liberties with violence and brutality. On other, in execution, it’s a nostalgic callback to the then already classic Denny O’Neil & Neil Adams era of Batman. (That run itself was a callback to the original pre-camp, pre-TV-show Batman). The artist Jerry Bingham may have put it best. Bingham was “half-way through working on Batman, Son of the Demon, when Frank Miller’s first Dark Knight hit the comic shops. My brain nearly exploded. I felt like Roger Corman watching a Spielberg movie, and I had to force myself to pick up the pencil again.” This is an interesting admission. All around him, creators like Miller, Sienkiewicz, Mazzucchelli, and others were competing with each other to innovate comics storytelling. Meanwhile, Bingham felt like a dinosaur drawing in the classic Batman style.
