5 events that show the diversity of European comics scene in 2022. Collage by Global Voices based on public domain map from Wikipedia. European comics creators and fans experienced some particular victories and losses during 2022. Some of them are presented in this non-extensive overview. In a feat of public diplomacy that elicited positive reactions all over the world, Belgium introduced a new passport design featuring characters from domestic comics, such as Tintin, Natacha, Marsupilami, the Smurfs, Lucky Luke, Spirou and many more. According to the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the new passport includes enhanced security and personalization features, while the new original design makes it more recognizable “honoring one of the jewels of [Belgian] culture: the heroines and heroes of comic strips.” Front page of February 2022 issue of Croatian comics magazine Strip revija Večernjeg lista #102 dedicated to Jules, featuring some of his characters on the front page. Image source: Stripovi.com, used with permission. Croatian comics artist Julio Radilović, professionally known as Jules, died on January 27, 2022, at the age of 93. Jules was born in Maribor, Slovenia in 1928 and lived in Zagreb, Croatia, since 1939. His professional career as illustrator begun in 1945, and from 1952 he begun making comics covering diverse range of adventures related to history, from ancient Rome to the Middle Ages to the anti-fascist struggle in Second World War, as well as adaptations of movies and novels, including a much loved Sherlock Homes parody. As prolific professional he transcended the Yugoslav market early on, working abroad from 1956, making comics in Germany (Discoveries and Inventions, Tips & Taps…) and the Netherlands (The Partisans, 1977). Later, many of his translated works were published in many other countries. While he officially retired in 1989, Radilović continued to cooperate with publishers and fans alike, from participating in republishing in some of his classic comics to attending events and receiving awards, from the state medal Order of Croatian Morning Star for culture (Red Danice Hrvatske) in 2001 to the comics community Lifetime Achievement Award Andrija Maurovic in 2010. In the years before his death, Croatian monthly comics magazine Strip revija Vecernjeg lista published restored versions of many of Jules’s comics. The process included regular quality control visits by the magazine editor to the elderly master’s apartment. Its February 2022 issue included the first publication in Croatian language of one of his comics originally made in Germany, as well as eulogy from the editor who conveyed how exited Jules was to see his work considered “lost” finally presented to home audience. Front pages of several issues of Croatian comics magazine Strip revija Večernjeg lista featuring works by Julio Radilović aka Jules (African Adventures, Captain Leshi, Partisans, Through Past Centuries). Images by Stripovi.com, used with permission. In 2018 Zagreb Comic Con staged an exhibition of his work, publishing a video clip of Jules discussing his approach (audio in Croatian with English subtitles): “Comics? I have always thought of them as an art form and not just a pastime (entertainment). A person making comics has to be a good artist. Their entire being has to be imbued with this idea, as well as the desire to create perfect work. When I receive the script, I begin making a movie in my head. I take a nice, clean piece of paper, I sit down in front of it, I grab a pencil, and then I stare at it for two hours, not knowing how to begin. Eventually, all falls into place and becomes clear… Success is 10 percent talent, and 90 percent work. Hard work, difficult work, persistent work… Developing your abilities, studying — and I do mean studying, not copying — the other masters. Put your heart into your work, work with love, really dedicate yourself to it, if you want to create comics. Because, I’m telling you, making comics is no hobby. It takes all of you, all day, every day. So there you have it.” After a “pause” of almost three decades, on May 15, 2022, Serbian comics publisher Golconda restarted the legendary comics edition Lunov Magnus Strip (LMS), a fixture of popular culture in SFR Yugoslavia from 1968 to 1993. Golconda was founded in 2019 and has been publishing both reprints and new editions of comics series that were popular on the Yugoslav market, as well as other more modern European comics. The first ten issues of the revived Lunov Magnus Strip (LMS) comics imprint. Photo by Filip Stojanovski, CC-BY 3.0. In its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s the original LMS had circulation of hundreds of thousands per weekly issue. The new edition is published monthly, with circulation of 3000.