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 April 1, 1963; and was continued to be published by various publishers until 2002.

Synopsis

The comic's story takes place between the 12th and 13th centuries in Central Asia during the reign of Genghis Khan. The main character, Karaoğlan, is a young Uygur Turkic adventurer who worked as a scout in Genghis Khan's army. Karaoğlan is portrayed as a 23-year-old adventurous and brave youngster. He is nomadic and travels throughout Eurasia in his stories. He traveled as far as China, India, Constantinople and Siberia. He is accompanied by his faithful friend Balaban, an ex-captain in the Mongolian army and his father Baybora. His nemesis is Camoka, a Mongolian bandit who raids villages with his men.
Karaoğlan has an interesting origin story. His mother was killed in a tribal blood feud and his father Baybora had to run while Karaoğlan was just a baby. He was raised by a woodsman. Because he was never officially named with a ritual by his father the boy remained nameless. The woodsman called him "black boy" because of his long black hair.
Suat Yalaz based his stories on Turkish history and folklore. He was faithful to the language and daily life of that era. Because it originally started as a daily newspaper comic strip, stories were focused for a mature audience with serious issues of war, politics, history and eroticism. Humor is also an important part of stories. Characters are never portrayed as two-dimensional heroes or villains. The socio-political aura of 1960s and 1970s Turkey is also reflected in Yalaz's stories.

International publishing

Karaoğlan is the first Turkish comic book to be published internationally. After Yalaz moved to France, Karaoğlan was published in Paris with the title of "Kebir" for seven years. Kebir comic books got successful and began distribution to French-speaking regions of Europe and Canada, as well as north African countries like Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco etc. The Kebir comics started publishing as monthly, then turned to bi-weekly. This success brought new editions of Kebir comics in English and Arabic. A Russian edition with the title "БОЭКАШИ" was also planned by the French publishers but later was canceled.

List of Adventures

  1. Asya Kaplanı
  2. Baybora'nın Oğlu
  3. Altay'dan Gelen Yiğit
  4. Semerkand Casusu
  5. Buzlu Çöller Tilkisi
  6. Yeşil Ejder
  7. Kanlı Saltanat
  8. Bizanslı Güzel Vasiliya
  9. Tek Gözlü Albız
  10. Asya'yı Titreten Korku
  11. Samara-Şeyhin Kızı
  12. Ötügen'in Üç Atlısı
  13. Sarı Bayrak
  14. Yavru Düşman
  15. Çöl Şeytanı
  16. Ölüm Yoldaşı
  17. Bizanslı Zarba
  18. Şeytan'ın Çakalları
  19. Çayır Korsanları
  20. Dokuz Tuğlu Kahraman
  21. Uzun Saçlı Kahraman
  22. Gökçe'nin Baykuşu
  23. Cengiz Han'ın Habercisi
  24. Bağan Tigin
  25. Ergenekon
  26. Kızıl Kule
  27. Tiyen-Şan Canavarı
  28. Kılıçların Gölgesinde
  29. Ölüm Süvarileri
  30. Uygur Güzeli
  31. Sarı Büyü
  32. Camoka'nın İntikamı
  33. Alamut Kalesi
  34. Kurt Başlı Sancak
  35. Tibet Fedaisi
  36. Ölüm Geçidi
  37. Yeşil Gözlü Dilber
  38. Kanlı Tuzak
  39. Kudüs İlahesi
  40. Üç Gözlü Mabut
  41. Kırbaç Altında
  42. Gök Han'ın Mirası
  43. Kafkas Çiceği
  44. Kaplan'ın Adaleti
  45. Ulah Han'ın Gazabı
  46. Dağlar Benimdir
  47. Dağlar Benimdir 2
  48. Fedailer Alayı
  49. Bozkurt Gelini
  50. Kara Panter
  51. Kara Panter 2
  52. Cengiz'in Gazabı
  53. Cengiz'in Gazabı 2
  54. Her Kılıç Bir Kın İçin
  55. Hind Yıldızı
  56. Dünyalar Hakimi
  57. Dağlar Fatihi
  58. Camoka'nın dönüşü
  59. Deniz Ejderi
  60. Düşman Uyumaz
  61. Sarı Baltuk Hocanın Sırrı
  62. Suruç Dağlarında
  63. İnsan Avı
  64. Ötügen'in Dört Atlısı
  65. Acuna Bedel Oğul
  66. Selçuklunun Şeref Sözü
  67. Tumanbay'ın Gelini
  68. Kayıp Ülke
  69. Fırat'ın Sahipleri
  70. Mor Kahküllü Şehzade
  71. Ullimalı Kanlı Sultan
  72. Çin Duvarlarında Dehşet
  73. Demir Maske
  74. Çakal Adamlar
  75. Bir Ölümcül Oyun Bozkaşi
  76. İnce Yılan Hanı
  77. Kul Bakay'ın Mezarı
  78. Banı Çicek
  79. Ya Devlet Başa Ya Guzgun Leşe
  80. Delice'nin 4 Kızı

    Adaptations

Karaoğlan was first adapted to movie by Suat Yalaz as writer, director and producer in 1965. Yalaz searched for a long period for the actor to play Karaoğlan and found a young, unknown theater actor from Ankara, Kartal Tibet. Yalaz and Tibet made five movies from 1965 to 1967, which brought great fame to the actor. Suat Yalaz replaced Tibet with Kuzey Vargın in 1969 movie Karaoğlan-Samara the Daughter of Sheik. In 1972 Tibet returned to the role for a last time in Karaoğlan Geliyor, which was directed by Mehmet Aslan.
YearFilmDirectorActor
1965Karaoğlan - Altay'dan Gelen Yiğit Suat YalazKartal Tibet
1966Karaoğlan - Baybora'nın Oğlu Suat YalazKartal Tibet
1966Karaoğlan - Camoka'nın İntikamı Suat YalazKartal Tibet
1967Karaoğlan - Bizanslı Zorba Suat YalazKartal Tibet
1967Karaoğlan - Yeşil Ejder Suat YalazKartal Tibet
1969Karaoğlan - Samara Şeyhin Kızı Suat YalazKuzey Vargın
1972Karaoğlan Geliyor Mehmet AslanKartal Tibet

Karaoğlan was also adapted for television as a mini-series in 2002. Series was directed by Cem Akyoldaş and Erdogan Engin. Kaan Urgancıoğlu played Karaoğlan, and Baybora was played by Serdar Gökhan. On June 24, 2010, in a TV interview Yalaz mentioned his new Karaoğlan movie project which is early stages of development. The new movie was released in 2013, starring Volkan Keskin as Karaoğlan, Hakan Karahan as Baybora, Müge Boz as Bayırgülü, and Hasan Yalnızoğlu as Camoka. The movie is directed by Kudret Sabancı.

Trivia

"Karaoğlan" was the nickname of Turkish politician Bülent Ecevit.
Turkish postal service PTT printed a series of memorial stamps to honour Karaoğlan in 2006.