Slavica Tergestina 27 (2021/II). КОМИКСЫ – STRIP – COMICS: Intercultural Forays into the Slavic Area Comics
Abstract
This work examines the comic book series Major Grom: Plague Doctor, first published in 2012 by the Russian publishing house Bubble Comics. The first part analyzes protagonist Igor Grom, a superhero from St. Petersburg, by examining Russians’ attitude to this type of characters and then studying cultural traits and models that make Grom the first real Russian comics superhero. The second part is an analysis of the antagonist Sergei Razumovsky, with an in-depth study of his complex personality and modern-day Russia’s delicate themes that come up while carrying out such analysis. Therefore, the aim of this article is to prove that comics can be a new medium to showcase Russian culture, even by means of previously disdained characters such as superheroes and their enemies.