By Ariel Baska — Mtsyry Octobriana 1976 opens with a bang on page one, with an experimental sexual orgy, amid psychedelic color contrasts. Opposite, there appears the figure of a woman, naked but for her leopard print scarf, sniper rifle, and belt of ammo. One character looks out of frame to ask, “Who are you?”

Good question. 

Octobriana, the superheroine featured in these pages, ties into a mythos that’s been celebrated internationally in underground comics for over 50 years. Petr Sadecky, the Russian writer of those early comics, created her as “Amazona” with two Czech artists (Bohumil Konečny and Zdenek Burian), but when he stole their work and smuggled the comics out to the West, he was only able to market the character by changing the name to Octobriana (after the October Revolution), adding a red star to her forehead, and creating a fake political backstory for her.

Sadecky claimed that she emerged as a figure in political cartoons of the ‘50’s, supposedly created by the fictional PPP (Progressive Party), and that she was meant to embody the ideals of the Russian Revolution. Because of Sadecky’s inability to copyright her (given the stolen artwork) and intent to let her be the people’s hero, after the initial publications, many underground and erotic cartoonists worldwide embraced her and created their own adventures for her.

Fast forward to 2020, when Eisner-winning cartoonist Jim Rugg writes her into this slim, but brilliant one-shot. He layers every page with this inherited mythology, creating a work of historical meta-fiction that is engrossing and gorgeous at the same time. 

Rugg’s incredible work fuses the style of Soviet propaganda posters and Western pop art, bathed in neon colors that accentuate some truly delightful and cathartic action sequences. His skill as a graphic designer shows through in the layouts of each page as his punches land precisely where he wants them to. He is the auteur of this book, and parsing his visuals is a joy. 

The political messaging of the book, as is appropriate for any Octobriana book, is none too subtle. Robot Stalin and his yes men are indeed symbols of oppression, depicted as deliberately squashing indigenous cultures. But we have a bad-ass woman to stop them, with all the powerful iconography Rugg can muster. He doesn’t stop with the power of the image though, as he is eager to integrate the written word - the written Russian word. The dialogue is in English, but knowledge of Russian is helpful when reading this book, or at least access to a decent online dictionary (or even Google translate).

For a good time, check out this tale of a hot chick fighting oppression. Or this meta-historical fiction. Or this brilliantly colored adventure. Or this underground political cartoon. Whatever you want to call it, it is a good time.

Overall: Soviet aesthetics get a blissful neon makeover in this salacious and satisfying one-shot. 10/10

REVIEW - Mtsyry Octobriana 1976 by Jim Rugg

Mtsyry Octobriana 1976
Writer/Artist: Jim Rugg
Publisher: Adhouse Books
Price: $10
In 1971, the west learned about Octobriana - the outlaw Russian superhero comic. To show solidarity, underground American cartoonists made their own Octobriana comic book. 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!?! You've NEVER seen a comic book that looks like this! Revolution forever, bitch.
Release Date: September 30, 2020
Buy It Here: Mtsyry Octobriana 1976

Ariel Baska pretends to know many things. And yeah, she has a pop culture podcast, Ride the Omnibus. Which may or may not be exactly as pretentious as you think.