Mosaik is a German comic book. First published in December 1955, it is the longest-running German (and European) monthly comic book and the only one originating in East Germany that still exists. Mosaik also appeared in other countries and other languages. In its English-language edition it was published under the title Mosaic.
Mosaik was created by illustrator and caricaturist Hannes Hegen. From 1955 to 1975, the protagonists of Mosaik were Dig, Dag and Digedag, known together as the Digedags. They were replaced in 1976 by Abrax, Brabax and Califax, known together as the Abrafaxe, who are still the main characters today.
More than 200 million issues have been sold from 1955 until today. At the height of its popularity, prior to German reunification, Mosaik had a print run of almost a million copies per month. After reunification, the print run has varied from more than 100,000 in the early 1990s to about 80,000 in 2007.[1]
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The East German publisher Verlag Neues Leben, in East Berlin, had wanted to counter Western comics and magazines with a magazine of their own when Hannes Hegen approached them with his ideas for Mosaik and the Digedags. Reaching an agreement with Neues Leben, Hegen created the first issue of Mosaik for publishing in December 1955. Mosaik was published quarterly until July 1957, when it switched to a monthly schedule that has continued uninterrupted to this day. To support the schedule, the publisher hired additional artists, colorists and writers to support Hegen - a team which became known as the Mosaik-Kollektiv (Mosaik Collective). Only Hegen was credited on the cover, however.
In 1975, Hegen left the publisher over a disagreement and took the rights to the Digedags characters with him. The Mosaik-Kollektiv, not wanting to end publication of Mosaik, together created new characters to replace the Digedags. The final versions of the Abrafaxe were created by writer Lothar Dräger and artist Lona Rietschel. During the half-year period of creating the new characters and stories, reprints of old Digedags stories were run in Mosaik, until the new characters premiered in January 1976.
The English editions of Mosaik have mostly appeared mostly under the name Mosaic. Of Hannes Hegen's Mosaik, issue 105, Die Seeräuberburg, was issued in a limited run in 1965 in English as The Pirates Castle. According to a former staff member at the publishing house, this was intended as a promotional issue for the United States market. An agreement had been reached to publish the comic books in the US; however, because of the US policy of economic embargo policy against Eastern European states in the Cold War, the contract could not be fulfilled.
Ten anthology volumes of Hegen's Mosaik were published in English for the international market under the name Mosaic Comic Books:
In the mid-1980s, 42 Mosaic books were published in English in the GDR for India. There is also a promotional flyer for these issues, which states that the Mosaic with the Abrafaxe is published in English and Arabic in addition to German, advertises for subscriptions, and includes an order form.
| English Number | German Number | English Title | German Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9/84 | Pursuit Of Robbers | Den Räubern Auf Den Fersen |
| 2 | 10/84 | As Prisoners Of Amazonians | Als Gefangene Der Amazonen |
| 3 | 11/84 | Alexandra And Roxane | Roxane Und Alexander |
| 4 | 12/84 | The Temple Of Vishnu | Der Tempel Des Wischnu |
| 5 | 1/85 | Devta's Doot | Der Götterbote |
| 6 | 2/85 | Deported | Abgeschoben |
| 7 | 3/85 | Marriage Proposal | Die Brautwerbung |
| 8 | 4/85 | In The Diamond Mine | In Der Diamantenmine |
| 9 | 5/85 | Escaped Into The Desert | Ausbruch In Die Wüste |
| 10 | 6/85 | The Ship Of Nearchos | Das Schiff Des Nearchos |
| 11 | 7/85 | On The Salt Lake | Auf Dem Salzsee |
| 12 | 8/85 | Trick And Counter Trick | List Und Gegenlist |
| 13 | 9/85 | In Great Danger | In Großer Gefahr |
| 14 | 10/85 | Monastery In The Mountains | Das Kloster In Den Bergen |
| 15 | 11/85 | The Fulfilment Of Prophesy | Die Erfüllte Weissagung |
| 16 | 12/85 | King Alexandra | König Alexander |
| 17 | 1/86 | Mysterious Hermit | Der Rätselhafte Einsiedler |
| 18 | 2/86 | In The Empire Of Yeti | Im Reich Des Yeti |
| 19 | 3/86 | Abducted And Wanted | Entführt Und Gesucht |
| 20 | 4/86 | The Mystery Of Brahman | Das Geheimnis Des Brahmanen |
| 21 | 5/86 | On The Ganges | Auf Dem Ganges |
| 22 | 6/86 | A Juggling Trick | Ein Gauklertrick |
| 23 | 7/86 | Tiger Hunt In Jungle | Tigerjagd Im Dschungel |
| 24 | 8/86 | In A Predicament | In Schwieriger Lage |
| 25 | 9/86 | Chamatkarak | Der Wundertäter |
| 26 | 10/86 | Kings Of The Poor | Der König Der Armen |
| 27 | 11/86 | In The Bay Of Bengal | Am Bengalischen Meer |
| 28 | 12/86 | Last Miracle | Das Letzte Wunder |
| 29 | 1/87 | A New Puzzle | Ein Neues Rätsel |
| 30 | 2/87 | The Disappeared Treasure | Der Verschwundene Staatsschatz |
| 31 | 3/87 | Unexpected Rescue | Unerwartete Rettung |
| 32 | 4/87 | New From Roxania | Neues Aus Roxanien |
| 33 | 5/87 | Cheats Among Themselves | Gauner Unter Sich |
| 34 | 6/87 | Golden Pillar | Die Goldene Säule |
| 35 | 7/87 | Buried Hopes | Verschüttete Hoffnungen |
| 36 | 8/87 | Missing In Jungle | Im Dschungel Verschollen |
| 37 | 9/87 | Master Of Animal | Der Herr Der Tiere |
| 38 | 10/87 | The Last Chance | Die Letzte Chance |
| 39 | 11/87 | The Siege | Die Belagerung |
| 43 | 12/85 | A Happy End | Ein Glückliches Ende |
| 41 | 1/89 | Orang Laut | Die Orang Laut |
| 42 | 2/88 | A Crazy Invention | Eine Tolle Erfindung |
Reissues of Mosaik magazines and books have appeared in many different countries, almost always in the respective national language.