Comic strips in the Republic of Moldova – from tradition to modern design trends

Abstract

The study focused on identifying, systematizing, inventorying, analyzing, and preserving cultural memory through comic strips from the Republic of Moldova created between 1945 and 2025. The analysis allowed for the identification of multiple comics developed in the country, thus highlighting, by format, journalistic comics, graphic novels, and digital comics; by content: social, historical-documentary, action/adventure, educational, fantasy; by style: realistic, caricature, franco-belgian, minimalist; by narrative structure: linear sequential, fragmentary sequential, without text, hybrid; by function: educational, historical-documentary, demystifying, political, experimental. Extensive analysis clearly shows that comics have found their way into the visual art of many artists in the Republic of Moldova. The specificity of comics in the Republic of Moldova has been shaped by a distinct trajectory, marked by a preliminary stage, between 1945 and 1959, defined by the emergence of early artistic explorations, a prolific stage in the 1960s and 1970s (watercolor, ink), followed by a period of diminished interest in the 1980s–1990s and, starting in the 2000s (digital techniques), a stage of revitalization of comics, evolving from a propaganda-educational function to a modern instrument of artistic and civic expression. This study was conducted within the framework of the research and innovation project 25.80012.0807.53SE – Valorization and Safeguarding of Comics from the Republic of Moldova (1945–2025) as an Integral Part of the National Cultural Heritage.