ITC.ua has already published articles about iconic Ukrainian cartoons. Among them, we’d like to mention a superhero publication from the 1990s «Buffalo» and several bright contemporary comics «Widowmaker», «Hermann» and«Pitman». Today we’re going to talk about a comic book by Ukrainian author Ivan Popovych. It’s called «Mythologeme. Grandfather Pikhto, or the guests who knocked from below», and it is published by the publishing house «TUT». So, what kind of painting is this, is it worthy of attention and worthy of the level of the above-mentioned publications? All this, as always, is in the article below.
Pluses:
a combination of Ukrainian myth and history with familiar modernity; a vigorous story and a lot of action; good quality of the publication
Minuses:
unpretentious plot with some illogicalities; very simple dialogues that sometimes repeat themselves; incomprehensible organization of scenes and text bubbles; strange decisions with some drawings
«Mythologeme. Grandfather Pikhto, or the guests who knocked from below»
Scenario Ivan Popovych
Figure Oleksandra Lutsiuk
Number of pages 48
Format 220×290 mm
Binding Solid
Year of publication 2022
Publisher HERE
Website knygarnya.com
A family from Kyiv goes on vacation to Dragobrat, a famous resort in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Brother and sister Maksym and Yulia have not been getting along for a long time and are constantly fighting. In the mountains, they want to relax not only by skateboarding, but also from each other. However, the very next day, the teenagers are caught in an avalanche and miraculously survive. They are rescued by a strange old man who invites them to his home, an old military base under the mountain. It turns out that the old man has been living here for a long time and for a reason. He protects the world from underground evil spirits that constantly want to get to the surface. It appears that the young heroes will have to join the fight against the monsters because they have just launched a powerful new offensive.
I like that the author used our mythology and combined it with Ukrainian mountains and familiar locations. Also, the same grandfather Pikhto appears here, which is also cool, but that’s where the positive aspects end.
«Mythologeme» stands out for its simple and often illogical plot, with strange actions of the main characters. I didn’t like the dialogues either. They are sometimes primitive and sometimes repeated in different scenes. The story itself is eventful and generally interesting to read, but it often stumbles over the aforementioned problems and strange design decisions.
The fact is that there is an illogical arrangement of scenes that are not clear how they go. Perhaps it’s a matter of design flaws, but I often found it difficult to understand where to read next. It seems to be clear that it’s from left to right, but it’s all placed strangely. The same applies to the dialog bubbles, which climb on top of each other, interfere and confuse even more.
The artwork «Mythologemes» is bright and modern. I found it lacking in detail, but that’s normal for most publications because you don’t need«Hard-boiled»because this kind of work usually takes a lot of time. However, the painted jeep looks strange, as it was probably not made by hand, but somehow digitized or simply pasted a picture from the Internet. At least it seems so because it is very strange.
«Mythologeme» is definitely worse than all the other Ukrainian cartoons mentioned above. However, this didn’t stop me from having a good time reading and looking at the drawings. Yes, the overall story and artwork quality are average, but it’s more than enough to keep you entertained. Someone will find it enough, and someone won’t, but it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves.
«Mythologeme. Grandfather Pikhto, or the Guests Who Knocked from Below» has an open ending and a good basis for an adequate series of simple paintings in the style of «Ukrainian mythological action». According to the author’s statements, five volumes are planned for release. We hope they will come out and be better than the first one. Because there is definitely room to grow.
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