''Jeż Jerzy'' (''George the Hedgehog'') is a popular Polish comic book title created by two young artists, (script) and (drawings). The comic strip first appeared as part of a children's magazine called ''

Świerszczyk Świerszczyk (, Polish language, Polish for ''little cricket'') is an illustrated Polish children's biweekly magazine published since 1945. The publisher of the magazine is Nowa Era. Many popular Polish authors of children's magazines, such as Hann ...

''. Originally, the strips were aimed at children with Jerzy the

Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...

having adventures in a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

land. In 1996, the strips were first published in the magazine '' Ślizg'' as an "adult version". The adult version of the comic strip was a satire on politics and modern Poland. The comic makes fun of groups like the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

ecologists This is a list of notable ecologists. A-D * John Aber (United States) * Aziz Ab'Saber (Brazil) * Charles Christopher Adams (United States) * Warder Clyde Allee (United States) * Herbert G. Andrewartha (Australia) * Sarah Martha Baker ( ...

, the

subcultures A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

skinheads A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...

or '' dresiarze'', or individuals, such as politicians (

Andrzej Lepper Andrzej Zbigniew Lepper (; 13 June 1954 – 5 August 2011) was a Polish people, Polish politician, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture, and the leader of Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland. Known for his radical rhetoric and agg ...

and Grzegorz Kołodko). In the adult version, which has often been compared to ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

'', the characters often swear, drink alcohol and take

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

. It is often violent and has scenes of

nudity Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. While estimates vary, for the first 90,000 years of pre-history, anatomically modern humans were naked, having lost their body hair, living in hospitable climates, and not ...

. Jerzy has become a part of the

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

subculture. The adult version is still running on ''Ślizg'' and many versions of the adult comic books were published both in and outside of Poland.

Characters

* Jeż Jerzy (George the Hedgehog), the main character, is a talking

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...

and a skateboarder. He likes to drink, smoke

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and have sex with human females (in some stories they find him attractive; in others, repulsive). He loves his trusty

skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...

. It seems that he has enemies everywhere, including the police and politicians. He often breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

. *Stefan and Zenek are two of Jerzy's enemies. They represent the far right skinhead

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

. They are

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and they hate everything they consider unpatriotic. *Zombie is a member of subculture called "'' dresiarze''" who shot himself after Jerzy convinced him that he was

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. He later came back from the dead as a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

to take revenge on the hedgehog. * El Dresso, often referred to as "Mały" (Tiny), is a friend of Zombie who became a supervillain after his friend's death. In the ''Exorcist'' storyline, Zombie took over his body, as his own was destroyed. * Kula and friends are a trio of bullies from the ''dresiarze'' subculture who often try to beat up Jerzy. The leader's name is Kula. *The priest is an

exorcist In some religions, an exorcist (from the Greek „ἐξορκιστής“) is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or performs the ridding of demons or other supernatural beings who are alleged to have possessed a person ...

and a good friend of Jerzy. *Przemysław R. is a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

who, after once failing to kill Jerzy, keeps coming back to seek revenge. In some ways, he is similar to

Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk "Bob" Terwilliger Jr., Doctor of Philosophy, PhD, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring antagonist in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared in the episode "The ...

from ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. *Pietia "the Scar" Pavlov is a Russian

hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

, often seen in the second book and then return as center character in book six, as well appears in the final volume. *Yola is a very lusty girl who sometimes dates Jerzy. While a minor character in the comics, she plays a central part in the movie. *Michał Puszka is a prison warden and friend of Jerzy. *The Authors themselves occasionally appear in the stories as Jerzy's biological parents (even though they are both male).

Albums

Child friendly version: *''Jeż Jerzy: Dla dzieci'' (''For Children'') Adult versions: *''Jeż Jerzy: The True Story'' - The book is not counted as part of official series and it had a very limited print run, many of the stories were reprinted in later albums. *''Jeż Jerzy: Nie dla dzieci'' (''Not for Children'') – 2002. A series of short stories *''Jeż Jerzy: Wróg publiczny'' (''The Public Enemy'') – 2002. A series of short stories *''Jeż Jerzy: Egzorcysta'' (''The Exorcist'') – 2003. A long story. The story is a spoof of ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...

''. In the story Jerzy is chosen by God to save the world from Satan's plot to take over. *''Jeż Jerzy: Ścigany'' (''The Fugitive'') – 2003. Short stories *''Jeż Jerzy: Dokument'' (''The Documentary'') – 2004. A series of short stories, combined with a host telling the story of Jerzy's life. *''Jeż Jerzy: Ziom'' (''Homie'') – 2005. Short stories. *''Jeż Jerzy: In vitro'' – 2006. Two long stories. One has Jerzy being cloned and the other has Jerzy being imprisoned with his enemy Przemysław R. *''Jeż Jerzy: Człowiek z Blizną'' (''Scarface'') – published in 2007. A long story and centred on the Pieta "the Scar" character. *''Jeż Jerzy: Musi umrzeć'' (''Must Die'') - published in 2009. It centers on the motif of death (i.e. Jerzy faking his own death to avoid paying bills).

Awards

An episode of ''Jeż Jerzy'' won the Grand Prix at the International Festival of Comics in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

in 1999.Jakub Demianczuk
Tomasz Lesniak biography
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Film

An animated film was released in 2011. The script was written by the authors themselves. The first teaser trailer can be seen o
YouTube

References

External links

*
Oficjal Page ''Jeż Jerzy''

Strip Show

Warsaw Voice ''Warsaw Voice: Polish and Central European Review'', commonly shortened to ''The Warsaw Voice'', is an English-language newspaper printed in Poland, concentrating on news about Poland and its neighbours. First released in October 1988, it is a ge ...