Trivia / Jucika

• Banned in China: Some unspecified Soviet states banned the comic because they thought it was porn, as alleged by one of Pusztai's colleagues.
• Died During Production: Creator Pál Pusztai was taken by a sudden heart failure while on a swimming trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia in late 1970. He was only 51. The magazine retired the comic. Tragically, the reason he had gone to Dubrovnik in the first place was to preserve his health by swimming in the Adriatic Sea. According to his colleagues, Pusztai collapsed as he was stepping out of the water and even his personal doctor, who had accompanied him, could do nothing.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: One of the most prominent real life stories surrounding the comic is that all of the original strips and other Jucika artwork were destroyed in anger by Pusztai's jealous widow. Only one half-finished strip remained. With Pusztai having left no heirs and Ludas Matyi having folded and then relaunching as a forgettable crossword puzzle magazine sometime in the 90s, Jucika's copyrights have reverted to the Hungarian state who still own her today. Outside of the few dozen strips found in the books Fondorlatos Jucika (see below) and the Chinese comic compilations Life Love Humour and 尤茜卡小姐 (whose legal status is entirely unclear), it was through helpful vintage magazine collectors and online newspaper archives that we can see them at all. The series may finally be rescued however, with the announcement of an official, higher quality Hungarian re-release of the '57-'59 strips.
• Magazine Hop: Jucika was the first ongoing comic published in Érdekes Újság (meaning "Interesting Magazine" or "Noteworthy News") from 1957 until the paper's merger with the then-relaunched Ország-Világ ("Country and World") in '59. The series then moved to the comedy magazine Ludas Matyi ("Mattie the Goose-boy"), which was even referenced in one of the strips where Jucika tries to charm the magazine mascot Matyi to get hired, only to get foiled by his goose.
• Missing Episode: Nearly all original strips have been destroyed, but they at least exist as reprints and magazine scans. But Jucika also made various appearances outside her usual magazines, either as an advertising mascot for different companies, on pocket calendars or special strips published for other newspapers. Other artists at the time also created their own Jucika art, either as collaborations with Pusztai, respectful tributes or vulgar parodies. Since there is no comprehensive list or archive for Jucika's appearances outside Érdekes Újság and Ludas Matyi, there is no telling how many images are unaccounted for. She also starred in a TV ad for a cloth material manufacturing company that was last seen in the 60s.
• Pop-Culture Urban Legends: Supposedly, the artist had a jealous spouse who hated Jucika so much that she tossed the original strips into a fire after Pusztai died. This has been mentioned numerous times by his colleagues and acquaintances. A less substantiated story holds that Jucika herself might have been based on an actual person from Pusztai's life, either a young relative or a press machine operator who worked on the magazine. If this is true, it could explain why Mrs. Pusztai had felt angry over her husband's obsession with the character.
• Referenced by...: In 1961, the Kossuth Radio station played tribute to the comic with their half hour long musical segment Levelek Jucikához ("Letters to Jucika"). In 2018, there was a temporary Hungarian museum exhibit about the products of Socialist-era commerce titled Mit vásárolt Jucika? ("What Did Jucika Buy?").
• Saved from Development Hell: Károly Borlóy's Fondorlatos Jucika, a collection of short poems based on 50 of the strips, was scrapped when Pusztai died. In 2009, nine years after Borlóy's death, it finally went to the presses, keeping its original design, low quality paper and bad reproduction of the comics, as if it had really come out in the seventies.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Pusztai didn't intend to end the series despite making fewer strips each year. One half-finished strip was even found in his work desk.
  • A different magazine named Magyar Ifjúság ("Hungarian Youth") considered continuing the comic after the creator's passing by having their artists mimic his art style, but the idea went nowhere.

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