Tarkan (character)
Encyclopedia
Tarkan is a fictional Hunnic warrior created by Turkish
cartoonist
Sezgin Burak.
To note, official Turkish
historiography
considers Huns as ancestral to modern Turks. Earlier Turkish cartoon depictions that heroised Huns were Atilla Geliyor and Atilla'nın Ölümü, created collectively by Şahap Ayhan and Ayhan Erer in late 1940s.
, working for the Italian
art agency Studio D'Ami. The first adventure of Tarkan, Mars'ın Kılıcı (The Sword of Mars) was serialised in 1967 as a comic strip
on the pages of daily Hürriyet
. From 1970, adventures of Tarkan had been published in an eponymous magazine. The last Tarkan adventure, Milano'ya Giden Yol (The Road to Milan) was left unfinished due to the artist's demise in 1978, only to be completed by cartoonist Özcan Alper (i.e. Özcan Eralp) in 1983.
The comics are being reprinted.
. As an infant, he is orphaned after an Alan
raid and bred by wild grey wolves, a process that makes him overwhelmingly powerful and courageous. Later, he becomes a warrior in the service of Attila the Hun
.
Tarkan's sole companion is his grey wolf named simply Kurt (Turkish
for wolf) and he is occasionally helped by Kulke, a cunning and skilful warrior of short stature, and Bige, a bold and chaste girl with romantic interest in him.
as the protagonist, in a series that ran from 1969 to 1973. However, the first Tarkan film is Tarkan: Canavarlı Kule (Tarkan: The Monster Tower), which was shot and released separately from the first Tibet Tarkan (Tarkan: Mars'ın Kılıcı), following a dispute about the casting of the lead actor. An earlier film inspired by Tarkan is Bozkırlar Şahini Targan (Targan: The Falcon of the Steppes) directed in 1968 by Mehmet Aslan who would also be the director of four Tarkan titles.
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Sezgin Burak.
To note, official Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
considers Huns as ancestral to modern Turks. Earlier Turkish cartoon depictions that heroised Huns were Atilla Geliyor and Atilla'nın Ölümü, created collectively by Şahap Ayhan and Ayhan Erer in late 1940s.
Publication history
Tarkan was created by Sezgin Burak while he was resident in MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, working for the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
art agency Studio D'Ami. The first adventure of Tarkan, Mars'ın Kılıcı (The Sword of Mars) was serialised in 1967 as a comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
on the pages of daily Hürriyet
Hürriyet
-External links:* * ** * *...
. From 1970, adventures of Tarkan had been published in an eponymous magazine. The last Tarkan adventure, Milano'ya Giden Yol (The Road to Milan) was left unfinished due to the artist's demise in 1978, only to be completed by cartoonist Özcan Alper (i.e. Özcan Eralp) in 1983.
The comics are being reprinted.
Fictional character biography
Tarkan's background is revealed in the adventure Gümüş Eyer (The Silver Saddle). He is born as the son of Hunnic warlord Altar in the Caucasus MountainsCaucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region .The Caucasus Mountains includes:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and* the Lesser Caucasus Mountains....
. As an infant, he is orphaned after an Alan
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
raid and bred by wild grey wolves, a process that makes him overwhelmingly powerful and courageous. Later, he becomes a warrior in the service of Attila the Hun
Attila the Hun
Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...
.
Tarkan's sole companion is his grey wolf named simply Kurt (Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
for wolf) and he is occasionally helped by Kulke, a cunning and skilful warrior of short stature, and Bige, a bold and chaste girl with romantic interest in him.
Film adaptations
All Tarkan adaptations - except two - feature Kartal TibetKartal Tibet
Kartal Tibet is a Turkish actor and film director. Some of his famous films include Ölmeyen Aşk, Dağlar Kızı, Senede Bir Gün, Sultan, Zübük, Gol Kralı, Gol Krale and Şalvar Davası. Tibet is also known for his action roles, especially that of the title character in the Karaoğlan and Tarkan film...
as the protagonist, in a series that ran from 1969 to 1973. However, the first Tarkan film is Tarkan: Canavarlı Kule (Tarkan: The Monster Tower), which was shot and released separately from the first Tibet Tarkan (Tarkan: Mars'ın Kılıcı), following a dispute about the casting of the lead actor. An earlier film inspired by Tarkan is Bozkırlar Şahini Targan (Targan: The Falcon of the Steppes) directed in 1968 by Mehmet Aslan who would also be the director of four Tarkan titles.