Ivica Bednjanec (1934-2011), a professor at the Zagreb Graphic Arts School, was writing and drawing comics during a prolific career of over 40 years. He began his career as a lithographer with the printing firm Ognjen Prica in Zagreb. He finished his higher education in 1962, but he had already published his first comic, ‘Stanoje Goranin’ in 1952. He won a prize for his comic strip ‘Crveni se šuma’ in 1957. Between 1963 and 1968 he worked on a series of historical adventure comics set in the Croatian history, which were comprised in 30 books. Bednjanec is best known for his two serials that ran for more than 30 years in the “tweens” magazine Modra lasta (‘Genije’ and ‘Osmoškolci’).

Ivica Bednjanec: “Durica”, 35 x 42 cm

Ivica Bednjanec: “Durica”, 35 x 42 cm – color

Ivica Bednjanec: “Nježni pečalbasketar / Gentle “Pečalbasketar””, 1978, 35 x 50 cm