Ervin Rustemagić (born 1952) is a Bosnian

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

publisher, distributor, and rights agent, born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, and currently based in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. He is the founder of

Strip Art Features Strip Art Features (SAF) is a comic-book publishing house and rights agent currently based in Celje, Slovenia. SAF was founded by comic book author and publisher Ervin Rustemagić in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1972. The company is known t ...

(SAF) in

, as well as the magazine ''Strip Art'' of the former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Rustemagić (through Strip Art Features) represents artists such as

Hermann Huppen Hermann Huppen (born 17 July 1938) is a Belgian comic book artist. He is better known under his pen-name Hermann. He is most famous for his post-apocalyptic comic ''Jeremiah'' which was made into a television series. Biography Hermann was bo ...

Bane Kerac Branislav "Bane" Kerac (born September 7, 1952, Novi Sad) is a Serbian comic book creator, known best for his series ''Cat Claw''. In the US he also published under his pseudonym H.M. Baker. Credits in American comics include '' The Black Pearl'' ...

, and

Joe Kubert Joseph Kubert (; September 18, 1926 – August 12, 2012) was a Poland, Polish-born Americans, American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkm ...

. His personal plight, documented by

telefax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

during the

war in Bosnia and Herzegovina The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war ...

, was the theme of the award-winning nonfiction

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

'' Fax from Sarajevo'' by

Biography

Rustemagić founded ''Strip Art'' in 1971 at the age of 17, and founded

in 1972. ''Strip Art'' won the of

Lucca Comics & Games Lucca Comics & Games is an annual Comic book convention, comic book and gaming convention in Lucca, Italy, traditionally held at the end of October, in conjunction with All Saints' Day. It is the largest comics festival in Europe, and the second ...

as Best Foreign Comics Publisher in 1984. With the beginning of the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

in early 1992, Rustemagić's home and the SAF offices in the

suburb of

Ilidža Ilidža ( sr-cyrl, Илиџа, ) is a town and a municipality located in Sarajevo Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has a total population of 66,730 with 63,528 in Ilidža itself, and is ...

were destroyed. More than 14,000 pieces of original art were lost in the flames, including pieces by Americans

Hal Foster Harold Rudolf Foster, FRSA (August 16, 1892 – July 25, 1982) was a Canadian-American comic strip artist and writer best known as the creator of the comic strip ''Prince Valiant''. His drawing style is noted for its high level of draftsmanship a ...

Doug Wildey Douglas S. Wildey He recalled his professional start as freelancing for the magazine and comic book company Street & Smith in 1947. Because comic-book writer and artist credits were not routinely given during this era, the earliest confirmed Wilde ...

Warren Tufts Chester Warren Tufts (December 12, 1925 – July 6, 1982),Chester Tufts

Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born September 6, 1937) is a Spanish/Mexican cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to '' Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. Among his peers and fans, Aragonés is w ...

George McManus George McManus (January 23, 1884 – October 22, 1954) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the main characters of his syndicated comic strip, ''Bringing Up Father''. Biography ...

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the '' Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into m ...

Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wid ...

Mort Walker Addison Morton Walker (September 3, 1923 – January 27, 2018) was an American comic strip writer, best known for creating the newspaper comic strips ''Beetle Bailey'' in 1950 and ''Hi and Lois'' in 1954. He signed Addison to some of his strips. ...

, John Prentice,

Al Williamson Alfonso Williamson (March 21, 1931 – June 12, 2010) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western, science fiction and fantasy. Born in New York City, he spent much of his early childhood in ...

Gordon Bess Gordon C. Bess (January 12, 1929 – November 24, 1989) was an American cartoonist, best known for the comic strip ''Redeye''. Born in Richfield, Utah, Bess grew up attending schools in Nevada, Oregon and Utah, finishing high school in Hailey, Id ...

, and

Bud Sagendorf Forrest Cowles Sagendorf (March 22, 1915 – September 22, 1994), better known as Bud Sagendorf, was an American cartoonist, notable for his work on King Features Syndicate's '' Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye'' comic strip. Personal life Born in ...

; works by Argentinean artists such as

Alberto Breccia Alberto Breccia (April 15, 1919 – November 10, 1993) was an Uruguayan-born Argentina, Argentine artist and cartoonist. A gifted penciller and inker, Breccia is one of the most celebrated and famous comics/Historieta creators in the world, and sp ...

and

Carlos Meglia Carlos Meglia (December 11, 1957 – August 15, 2008) was a comic book artist and penciller born in the city of Quilmes, Argentina. One of his best-known creations is the ''Cybersix'' series, done in partnership with Carlos Trillo. Meglia die ...

; and pieces by European creators like

André Franquin André Franquin (; 3 January 1924 – 5 January 1997) was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best-known creations are '' Gaston'' and ''Marsupilami''. He also produced the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' comic strip from 1946 to 1968, a period s ...

Maurice Tillieux Maurice Tillieux (7 August 1921 – 2 February 1978) was a Belgians, Belgian writer and comic artist. He is regarded by many as a major figure of post-World War II, war Belgian comics. Early life Maurice Tillieux was born in Huy in 1921. At f ...

, Hermann,

Martin Lodewijk Martinus Spyridon Johannes Lodewijk (born 30 April 1939) is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist, and advertising adviser. Martin Lodewijk was born in Rotterdam. He dropped out of high school in 1957, and started drawing cartoons, notably of spac ...

Philippe Bercovici Philippe Bercovici is a French comics artist of Franco-Belgian comics. Having illustrated a wide range of series, Bercovici is perhaps most known for ''Les Femmes en Blanc'' written by Cauvin, started in 1981. Initially under the pseudonym Thél ...

Giorgio Cavazzano Giorgio Cavazzano (); born 19 October 1947) is an Italian cartoonist, and one of the most famous Disney comics artists in the world. Biography Giorgio Cavazzano was born 19 October 1947 in Venice, Italy. At the age of twelve, Cavazzano started t ...

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

, and

Ferdinando Tacconi Ferdinando Tacconi (December 27, 1922 – May 11, 2006) was an Italian comics artist. Tacconi was born in Milan. He earned a degree in Applied Arts from Castello Sforzesco. After collaborating as an illustrator to the magazines ''Grazia'' and ''C ...

. Rustemagić was trapped in the war-torn city with his family, sheltering in an apartment building in

Dobrinja Dobrinja ( sr-cyrl, Добриња) is a neighbourhood in the western outskirts of Sarajevo, part of the municipality of Novi Grad. It is estimated to have a population of 25,063 inhabitants. Its name comes from the short river ''Dobrinjka'' th ...

. Some months later, in October 1992, the family moved locations to the Sarajevo

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

, at that point mostly occupied by foreign journalists and constantly under fire. Thanks to help from European publishers and artists, in late 1993 Rustemagić gained journalist accreditation, enabling him to escape Bosnia and Herzegovina. After more than a month fruitlessly attempting to get his family out of the country, he was given

n citizenship, which immediately transferred to his family. In September 1993 the family was reunited in

Split, Croatia )'' , settlement_type = List of cities and towns in Croatia, City , anthem = ''Marjane, Marjane'' , image_skyline = , imagesize = 267px , image_caption = Top: Nighttime view of ...

. This was the story told in '' Fax from Sarajevo''. At some point during the siege, Rustemagić's mother was killed when a hospital where she had been taken due to illness was captured by Serbian troops. Rustemagić co-founded

Platinum Studios Platinum Studios, Inc. is a media company based in the United States. It controls a library of thousands of comic-book characters, which it seeks to adapt, produce, and license for all forms of media. The company has released films and/or telev ...

in January 1997 with

Scott Mitchell Rosenberg Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is an American film, television, and comic book producer. He is the chairman of Platinum Studios, an entertainment company that controls a library of comic-book characters and adapts them for film, television and other ...

.Press release
Scott Rosenberg Leaves Marvel; Acquires 50 Percent of Platinum Studios
''The Free Library'' (Jan. 16, 1997). As part of the arrangement, Platinum Studios acquired the film and television rights to ''

Dylan Dog ''Dylan Dog'' is an Italian horror comics series created by Tiziano Sclavi and published by Sergio Bonelli Editore since 1986. The series features the eponymous character, a paranormal investigator who takes on cases involving supernatural ele ...

''MacDonald, Heidi
"Platinum Studios alive and kicking and licensing Cowboys & Aliens,"
''The Beat'' (August 16, 2011). and ''

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...

'', both of which had previously been licensed by Rustemagić. ''Jeremiah'' was eventually adapted into a science-fiction TV series which ran on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

from 2002 to 2004; Rustemagić was given the title of executive producer of the series. ''Dylan Dog'' was the source material for the 2010 film '' Dylan Dog: Dead of Night''. Rustemagić left Platinum Studios in 2000, returning to full-time work at Strip Art Features.

Personal life

Rustemagic is an ethnic

Bosniak The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, cu ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

background, though his family was not religious. He and his wife Edina have two children, Maja (born July 20, 1982) and Edvin (born c. 1987).Kubert, p. 90.

References

External links

Strip Art Features official site

Interview with Ervin Rustemagić
Dark Horse Comics {{DEFAULTSORT:Rustemagic, Ervin 1952 births Living people Bosnia and Herzegovina comics writers Businesspeople from Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina comics artists Comic book company founders Comic book publishers (people)