Suat Yalaz (1 January 1932 – 2 March 2020) was a Turkish comic book artist, foremost known as the creator of the character

Karaoğlan ''Karaoğlan'' is a Turkish historical comic book that was created in 1963 by Suat Yalaz. It was first published on January 3, 1962 daily in ''Akşam'' newspaper. Karaoğlan was started to be published by Yalaz as a separate comics magazine on ...

. He has also produced films based on his creation.

Early career

Graduated from Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts, Yalaz began working as a cartoonist in Turkish press and his

chef d'œuvre A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

''Karaoğlan'' began to be published in the daily ''Akşam'' in 1962, later to be published as a comics magazine by 1963.

French works

In 1970, Yalaz settled in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

where he created two French language

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

adaptations/spinoffs of ''Karaoğlan''; ''Changor'' (1971) for Éditions de Lutèce and ''Kébir'' (or ''Kébir l'invincible''; first series 1971 - 1975, second series 1975 - 1977) for Société Française de Presse Illustrée, which were destined for

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

readers and had considerable reception particularly in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. He also created the

Western comics Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic books ...

series ''Ringo'' (1971 - 1972) and ''Sony'' (1972 - 1974) for Société Française de Presse Illustrée.

Gi-Toro

Between 1979 and 1981 Yalaz used the pseudonym ''Gi-Toro'' for two magazines (''Détective Strictement Privé'' and ''Super Flic'') featuring the popular private investigator character Pat Magnum. A prolific

comic book creator developed specialized terminology. Some several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is ...

, he has also written and drawn a large number of adult comics and

erotic comics Erotic comics are adult comics which focus substantially on nudity and sexual activity, either for their own sake or as a major story element. As such they are usually not permitted to be sold to legal minors. Like other genres of comics, they ca ...

, particularly in the 1980s under the same pseudonym (sometimes as ''Jimmy Toro'') for several French magazines, which include ''African Love'' (re-released in series ''Sex Negros'' and ''Eros Negro''), ''Emma'' (''Anna'' from 1980 to 1982), ''Futurella'', ''Kora'', ''Lady Sex'', ''Lovisex'', ''Sadissimo'', ''Satanika'', ''Satarella'', and ''Sylvia''.

Later career

In 2002 he was named Turkish cartoonist of the year. He wrote the comic that was adapted into the film ''

Son Osmanlı Yandım Ali ''The Last Ottoman: Knockout Ali'' ( tr, ) is a 2007 Turkish action film, directed by Mustafa Şevki Doğan based on the book by Suat Yalaz, starring Kenan İmirzalıoğlu as the titular hero Tahtacızade "Yandım" Ali, who is inspired by the l ...

'' in 2006. His later work involved the script for a new ''Karaoğlan'' film planned for release in 2013.Karaoğlan - Sinematürk
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References

Turkish comics artists Turkish cartoonists Turkish illustrators Turkish erotic artists Turkish film producers 1932 births 2020 deaths People from Çiçekdağı Turkish expatriates in France {{cartoonist-stub