Icon or Myth

The first anyone in the West heard of her was in the book Octobriana and the Russian Underground by Peter Sadecky , published in 1971. In the book Sadecky claimed to have been a member of an underground movement in the U.S.S.R. called the P.P.P (the Progressive Political Pornography group). The group published underground comix and anti-state propaganda in the late sixties. now, although the P.P.P. were anti-state (as they were all for free speech and free love) they did still believe in Communism (Hey! They were basically a bunch of Hippies), and so created a comic strip heroine who embodied the ideas of Communism (as they saw them). This heroine was Octobriana, the spirit of the October Revolution!

The strips were created by a group of P.P.P. members who, by using the pseudonym of 'Roy Pavel Drakov', managed to protect their identities from the Soviet authorities.

Octobriana's mission was to fight for the Russian People, against the oppressive Soviet Government and all sorts of outlandish threats - including a giant killer walrus.

The beauty of the character lies in the fact that she is a true icon. You need only see her once to see who she really is and what she represents. Physically, she is a tall, powerfully built woman, with long blond hair. Her heavy set features indicate that she may be of Mongolian descent. The red star on her forehead clearly marks her a communist. She is a Russian Wonder Woman!

The original book, by Sadecky, reprinted several Octobriana strips and explained the since the P.P.P. believed in the Communist ideals (and such concepts as public ownership) no-one actually owns the copyright on Octobriana. She is public domain. This for all intents and purposes, allows everyone and anyone to take the charecter and do their own interpretation of her.

That at least is the story put forward in Sadecky's book. However, the truth is unclear. Did the P.P.P ever really exist? Were the Octobriana strips really published behind the Iron Curtain?

It is generally believed now that Sadecky's book is an elaborate fake. But there is very little evidence either way. Sadecky claims to a Czech who, in 1967, escaped to the West, via West Germany. And in the early seventies, a painting of a woman, looking very much like octobriana (only with a bat emblem, replacing the more familiar red star, on her forehead), was printed in a Vampirella letters page. The accompanying letter was signed by a West German called Peter Sadecky, whilst the illustration was signed by a Roy Pavel Drakov.

Regardless of where she came from, Octobriana does exist. And whatever else she is she stands as one of the few public domain comic charectors. She is now comics legend. Since the sixties, she has stared in a handful of comics. Most notably, in Bryan Talbot's The Adventures OF Luther Arkwright. The Octobriana of these stories comes from an alternate Earth, where the Russian revolution never happened. She fights in a retro-version of the present day, against the current Tsar.

Octobriana has also graced the pages of Cherry's Jubilee, an erotic American comic by Larry Welz. In that story, Octobriana visits present day America and the books heroine Cherry. Arguably, her appearance in this book is Octobriana's most explicit to date, and plays up the 'underground' nature of the original strips.

Finnish comic creators, Reima Makinen and Timo Niemi, self published their own Octobriana strips, in the 1992 album, Octobriana and the Tenth Circle of Hell. This strip is very much in keeping with the original Octobriana strips, including such elements as the mysterious Wonder Machine and Octobriana's native companions.

All of which brings us to the here-and-now, and in particular, Revolution Comics. Publishers of the newest set of Octobriana strips they intend to put a their own spin on the Octobriana legend, with the release of their all new, 5 issue mini-series, available from your local comics shop

© John A Short 1996. Originally published in Octobriana Issue 0.