Google translate says “They’re finally heating up at Jucika’s”, but I edited it to sound more natural.
(edit: additional context in this comment below - https://sopuli.xyz/comment/23669088 - the Google translation is likely more accurate)
As always, stay tuned here on [email protected] for a slow trickle out of Jucika comics, but if you want to find more, here’s a good post with a large collection that /u/[email protected] posted last year: https://piefed.social/post/1258520
Whoever she is, she’s built right.
This one has a different style than the usual ones, its more “filled up” or idk how to say it. Still dig it.
So some context. In communist era Hungary, a lot of the population lived - and still lives - in big prefab apartment buildings that run off central heating.
In the winter as it was getting colder, the heating would get turned on at the same time for the whole district if not the city.
The “they” in “they are finally heating at Jucika” is the government. It’s a hot topic every year when it gets turned on, as the people pay a flat rate for warmth.
Ohh, that makes the Google translation make a lot more sense.
I’m not sure Hungary has ever been communist, at least since the Roman Empire. Are you sure you’re not thinking of the USSR? That’s Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Hungary was never part of the USSR
I thought the USSR sent tanks in to put down the Hungarian workers’ rebellion against the USSR
Right, but they were part of the USSR, an authoritarian “socialist” regime. The workers tried to rebel against the USSR, and they were put down by the Red Army. The Soviets installed Kádár as ruler of the entire country. That ain’t communism. Marx said communism was stateless, classless, and moneyless.
Oh, you’re just being intentionally dense, ok. “Communist era Hungary” is a perfectly valid way to describe the period of time in which the government of Hungary professed itself to be communist, whether or not it’s “real” communism by anyone’s definition. Also, if you want to be pedantic, they were never directly part of the USSR, at most being a puppet government propped up by the Soviets.
This is true but misleading. It’s like referring to North Korea as Democratic. By uncritically repeating government propaganda, you help to spread it. You’re both legitimising the USSR, AND poisoning people against communism.
If you want to see what actual communism looks like, take a look at the history of Australia. We had communism here for 60,000 years. To equate 50s era Hungary with Indigenous Australia via communism is an insult.
If you can’t tell the difference between calling a command economy communist (when that’s what it was historically referred to as both by allies and enemies) and calling a dictatorship a democracy, I can’t help you.
North Korea is officially called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. They call themselves democratic. The tankies on Hexbear call them democratic.
If America had never rebelled against the British empire, then in all likelihood you and I would have been inundated with decades of anti-democracy propaganda portraying authoritarian regimes like North Korea and Russia as symptoms of the evil ideology of democracy. I would be saying “Well you shouldn’t call Soviet states democratic” and you’d be saying “what’s the difference? They called themselves democratic, their enemies called them democratic, that’s democracy.”
The fact that our culture celebrates democracy and condemns communism is a pure coincidence. The dice of history just turned out that way. You shouldn’t use that as your source of truth. It’s an appeal to authority fallacy.
It’s like referring to North Korea as Democratic
It’s really nothing like that
Did she light her apartment on fire?
I assumed she was just so thrilled that it got warmer that she didn’t question why, but now I wonder how far she was willing to go…
Well in the second panel I see it as her putting on the clothes not taking them off. Looks like she got sick of being cold and went out to do something about it.
I am not 100% sure guess only the artist could tell us for sure.
She was wearing those clothes in the first panel. Shewas taking them off. You can see her kicking off her boot.
I think she assumed her radiator was working again but her building was actually on fire.
Good catch yeah think your right. With the boot it’s 100% taking off clothes.
In rhe second panel the ice on the heater and ceiling has already thawed.
Yeah be nice if we had a panel with he looking confused at the heater before the panel of her taking off her clothes. But I see it now.
The three panels work just fine for this.
Panel 1: cold breath , bundled up, ice inside
Panel 2: no ice, winter clothes off
Panel 3: even less clothing, fire, firefighter
Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen so much of obvious USSR propaganda in contrast, but I wonder if making strips like this could get you in some trouble in a Soviet state.
Nah, the joke here isn’t that there’s no heating, it’s that she thinks it’s warm because the heating was finally turned on.
Old commie blocks commonly have central heating, powered and managed at city level. Works fine, except you don’t get to pick when it comes on, the city as a whole does, so every winter you get a city-wide argument over the thermostat.
I’m reading up on it now, and this comic ran during Hungary’s communist era in “Lúdas Matyi”, the only state-approved satirical magazine. It was likely only allowed to exist so long as it wasn’t subversive and avoided politics.
However, it does sometimes depict hardships of the time, so people now seem to be split on whether this was subtle criticism or an attempt to make light of it.
or an attempt to make light of it.
I see what you did there.
I’ve seen so much of obvious USSR propaganda in contrast
There’s no question that such was a huge issue for any creative-type working within that kind of framework. If you’re familiar with Hergé’s story, we also have examples of that backfiring heavily.
Shes just like me fr fr
