Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek is the longest-published and one of the most popular Polishcomic book series, created by Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski in 1957 and concluded in 2009. It centers on Romek and A'Tomek, two Boy Scouts, and Tytus de Zoo, a chimpanzee with the ability of human speech. Many adventures in Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek have speculative or Science Fiction elements, some are outright parodies of the established genre. The subjects and background themes in all of the books reflect the culture and atmosphere of the time they were drawn and printed. For instance, the early books are dominated by Scouting-related themes and community service, while the 1990s-era books subtly point out the social, economic and cultural changes that occurred in Poland at that time. The dialogues often feature a unique mix of youth slang, slang from the pre-World War II Poland, words from other European languages as well as Chmielewski's humorous neologisms which contain political themes and satire. After 31 volumes and around 10 special issues of the series, Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski announced in May 2009 that the main Tytus, Romek i A'Tomek series will no longer be published, but special albums, including new adventures, are still published periodically.
Main characters
Tytus de Zoo – a chimpanzee and the main hero of the series. Tytus speaks and thinks like a human being and even attends public school together with his friends. However, his animal heritage clearly shines throughhe is presented as wanting to attain humanity, but usually falls short during the hilarious adventures. In the first story drawn by Chmielewski for the Świat Młodych magazine, Romek and A’Tomek find Tytus in a rocket as Tytus tells them he was abused by the foreign scientist. In the book version, however, Tytus came to life from a blot of ink the creator Papcio Chmiel accidentally spilled on the floor. Tytus, however, many times mentioned his "homeland" Trapezfik.
Romek – a tall, blond and slim Boy Scout. He often teases Tytus with ever-more creative and insulting comments and is pessimistic about Tytus's attempts to gain knowledge and attain humanity.
A'Tomek – the leader of the trio. A short, overweight boy in glasses. He is very intelligent, mature and often the most honorable and well-mannered one. A'Tomek is the leader of the group and the source of most ideas on how to approach the process of "humanizing" Tytus. His name is wordplay, suggesting atomic energy and in fact is nicknamed "A'tom" for short by others.
Professor T. Alent – a helpful scientist and one of few recurring characters in the series beside the main trio. He designs and builds various inventions, often flying machines that help the boys during their adventures. Also, he has many lab mice, which are often seen playing in his hair. His name is a wordplay, suggesting talent.
Papcio Chmiel – the creator of the series often appeared in the books portraying himself as a fatherly figure to the boys and Tytus and is often shown to have God-like powers. The name "Papcio Chmiel" literally means "Papa Hops", however in this case "Chmiel" is an abbreviation of his last name.
Szympansia – Tytus's wife brought to life from a painting by Papcio Chmiel. She appeared only in four stories.
In other media
In 1989 and 1990 two episodes of an animated series were made for Polish public broadcasterTVP but they aired only once. Jerzy Chmielewski disliked this series because of very poor animation and showing his characters in very unsympathetic way.
A Polish band "Blenders" made a music video about Tytus, Romek and A’Tomek and used the original animated footage of the characters in it.
In 2002 an animated movie premiered entitled Tytus, Romek i A’tomek wśród złodziei marzeń. The film features one of the most acclaimed Polish actors Marek Kondrat as the voice of Tytus and was directed by Leszek Gałysz. The movie wasn't based on any of the comic books and it had an original plot. Critical response was generally negative. Many fans criticized the movie for lacking the humour and the spirit of the original material, as well dumbing down the characters for the younger children and focusing too much on the main villain Prince Saligia pushing Romek and A'tomek to the roles of secondary characters . Colonel Sanders makes a cameo in this movie as KFC was one of main sponsors of the production.
A Tytus Romek i A’tomek computer game was made in 2006.
An audio book base on the book "Wyspy nonsensu" was published in 2010.
Books
There are 31 published albums called "books" and 8 collective books entitled: "The Gold Book of Adventures", as well as "Book Zero" and "Book of the 80s" containing reprints from "Youth's World" and other newspapers, The TVP Book, and a collector's release "Tytus, Romek, and A'Tomek as Warsaw insurgents of 1944, drawn from the imagination of Papcio Chmiel".
