REFERENCES ON ABDÜLCANBAZ
“Abdülcanbaz is a milestone in the domain of comic strip. Western comics regarded generally as a tool for brain-washing, took another nature in the hands of Turhan Selçuk, the great artist, who worked on it, for years, with love and patience to bring it to its actual state of maturity.
Putting aside the positive examples of the Eastern Europe comics on which we do not have sufficient knowledge, we can easily conclude that Turhan’s Abdülcanbaz, with its skillfull drawings, revolutionary content and impactful style is an outstanding example of world comics.
Can Abdülcanbaz be the very basic material for the theatre which we’ve been longing for?”
GENCO ERKAL, Özgür İnsan, 1973
“Abdülcanbaz is different from the similar examples published in the Western World. The strip-cartoon heroes (such as Li’l Abner, Beetle Bailey, Kavanagh’s Jiggs and Chic Young’s Dagwood) which have been translated and adapted to the Turkish life, culture and tradition, do not resemble Abdülcanbaz.
In comparison to those heroes who are humorous in daily life situations with their moods or acts such as absentmindedness, carelessness, forgetfulness or naivety, Abdülcanbaz has much more depth of personality, giving out messages on the serious issues of life, and strikes with the richness of its content, thus Abdülcanbaz, the hero features a monumental character. This is largely because of the nature of the adventures, which work with universal themes alongside the native cultural forms.
The core of the storyline is always based on adventures which are likely to happen in every time and every era such as fighting against injustice, standing up for the people’s rights, uncovering the tricks of the exploitors.
This makes both Abdülcanbaz and the characters around him as well as their adventures universal and keeps them relevant to the current affairs.”
KAYA ÖZSEZGİN, Güldiken, 1994
“Turhan wasn’t just a man of humour or satire; he prioritized the importance of giving people food for thought and making people think as they enjoyed his work. Thus he made a well-deserved, valuable and global name for himself.
What interests me more is the energy he has brought to the domain of comic strips with Abdülcanbaz and his circle. The new dimension he has brought, by interlacing historic and social events along with caricature and humor, won the minds and the hearts of the Turkish readers. He proved that it is possible to deal with the complicated issues and events in our recent history positively and objectively more successfully than many scientific work.
His works are going to stay relevant much longer due to the fact that he presents the definitive characteristics of Abdülcanbaz and Sami the Specs in various environments, representing the eternal war between the bad and the good.
There are a lot of strip-cartoons dealing with our history. Yet, Turhan’s surpasses all with his use of humour and artistry as well as his social research-rich content. It is a multi-dimentional work covering the past, social conflicts, relating the events and issues of the past, present and even future, to each other.”
ORHAN KOLOĞLU, Güldiken, Fall 1994
“Turhan Selçuk is one of those rare cartoonists who is able to keep his ideas and drawings fresh and up to date... His creation, Abdülcanbaz is a rare gem whose popularity has already surpassed his own creator.”
LEVENT CANTEK, Türkiye’de Çizgi Roman, 1996
