Hook and Comma

p { text-align: justify; } The comic strip Háček + Čárka appeared on the back page of Sluníčko magazine between 1972 and 1974. Although the magazine was aimed at pre-schoolers, Jaroslav Malák's comic was no ordinary illustrated story for the very youngest. It introduced a pair of children who were aware that they were appearing “in some sort of series”. Their adventures can thus be read in a variety of ways: as a cheerful picture strip, as a playful exploration of the expressive means of the comic medium, and as an unexpected insight into Czechoslovak society at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. In any case, it is unique evidence of the mature form comics had already attained in our country fifty years ago. Jaroslav Malák (1928-2012) was a painter and illustrator, and the author of comic strips. He collaborated with the children’s magazines Mateřídouška and Sluníčko , contributed to Dikobraz and Mladý svět , and drew the popular comic strip Polda a Olda, published in Čtyřlístek . In the magazine Ahoj na sobotu he published the romantic comic novel Břetislav a Jitka. The complete book edition of the Háček and Čárka stories is accompanied by an extensive study by Pavel Ryška on Malák's work, illustrated with a wealth of visual material.