The reading of Russian comics began for me with Prikloocheniya Scooby Doo (Adventures of Scooby Doo) Russian language versions of which have been on sale in selected kiosks for many years, being both produced and written here in Russia.
As a fun entry into the Russian language these seemed just the job. They were not quite War and Peace level yet not too basic either, and. having grown up with the hound and his ghost busting pals I could enjoy them on the level of a second childhood..
Soon, however, the repetitiveness of their plots –(`Oo menya bi vsye poloochilos yesli bi nye eti protivnye dyetki! `) began to grate on me, as did the strange stares I came to be getting from people as I poured through them in the cafes. It was time to move on to graphic novels.
Bubble comics.
Bubble comics, since having been founded by the media scribe Artyem Gabrelyanov, has printed rivals to Manga and Marvel comics for the past seven years from an office in the Beloruskaya area of Moscow.
They offer around six non-franchised titles which are brought out monthly in twenty page chapters and then collected into books.
Some Bubble comics titles include: Besoboi (demon fighting hocus pocus), Major Grom (St Petersburg detective yarn), Meteora (intergalactic adventure) and Enoch (time travel carryings on). There is even an English language version of their Exilibrium fantasy.
To me, finding Krasnaya Furiya, however, was like coming across an old and long lost friend at a party of strangers.
Krasnaya Furiya.
Started in 2012 Krasnaya Furiya (Red Fury) concerns the exploits of a Russian female action heroine, without any special powers (Older readers might be reminded of a more real world version of the British Tank Girl character from the late Eighties).
The story arc commences with `B Poiska Graalya` (The Search for the Grail`).
In this we meet Nika Chaikina, an athletic, glamorous redheaded master thief. With the aid of Johnny (a mysterious guide who speaks to her via a microphone in her ear) she has broken into a prestigious museum in Mainland China. Her intention is to make off with some precious artefacts but a mysterious intruder sets off the alarm and soon guards pursue her….
After being captured by angry Chinese officials, Nika meets the intruder again and it appears that he is a man of influence. Indeed, he demands her release. She is needed elsewhere, he explains.
MAKS.
This man is a team leader from MAKS (Meshdurodnovo Agentsva Kontrolnaya – International Agents of Control): a secret elite corps that acts with the purpose of preventing world wars from breaking out. Miss Chaikina then finds herself enlisted on a mission to prevent the Holy Grail, a series of historical artefacts (the most important one being Hitler’s diaries) from getting into the hands of a neo-Nazi cell.
There have been seven stories in the Krasnaya Furiya series. I have not read them all yet but so far my favourite has to be `Nichevo Lichnovo, Prosto Biznes` (Nothing Personal, Only business). This forms the third story and Book five in the series and is a standalone story told in four chapters. The author is Atryom Gabrelyanov the founder of Bubble and the artists are Edward Petrovich and Nina Vakooeva.
In this crepuscular and cynical story Agent Delta and Nikita are re-united as she infiltrates a dubious arms dealer in Amsterdam that attempts to remote launch a missile to the West from Taepodong, the Repubic of North Korea. They foil the diabolical plan, but are they really the victors?
Spy-Fi.
The sub-genre that Krasanaya Furiya emobodies constitutes that blend of espionage adventure and techno-thriller pioneered by Ian Fleming: or Spy-Fi. For myself who grew up with the likes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E on the TV, and whose guilty pleasure reading consists of Colin Forbes novels, this is well within my comfort zone!
Furthermore, the series treats this genre with respect, rather than undermining it with a tongue-in-cheek approach in the manner of the British screen Franchise Kingsman.
Realism and idealism.
The characters are hired thugs who often seem surly and sarcastic. However, when it matters, the credo `One for all, and all for one` rules their actions. A stroke of realism adds to the interest too: Nika is vulnerable enough to shed tears on occasion and Joshua her love interest gets killed as the first book closes.
Most of all, in this time of worsening relations between East and West, the central premise of international co-operation to prevent a world war is a thread of gold running through it.
Bubble Comics products can be found at a shop called `Chook & Geek`which is on Bolshoye Paveleski Ulitsa.