Now that Kajtek and Koko are lazily rowing down the mighty Porcupine River, there is time for me to tell you a story which will shed light on the mystery of four decades … but wait a moment, let’s start with solid facts.
It is 1977, Vancouver, Canada. My girlfriend and I are in the movie theatre watching just recently released George Lucas’s Star Wars movie. I am mesmerized, but at the same time perplexed, as there is something strangely familiar to Christa’s W kosmosie story, published 5 years earlier in Poland.
After the movie, I try to explain to my girlfriend my observations, yet, all attempts are met with… a beautiful but puzzled smile and a tempting request for a night stroll along the ocean.
In 2014 (37 years later), I am in Australia. As I start visualize The Spirit Journey, I come across an article in Na plasterki website that rekindles the Christa/Lucas story again for me. The author of the article, Kapral, had also noticed similarities between W kosmosie and The Star Wars movies. I am swept into (and intrigued by) Kapral’s writing, but it is his passion for “all things Christa” that makes me reach out to him, starting a long distance cyber-friendship.
It’s December 2019, and now for over 5 years I am writing and illustrating The Spirit Journey cartoon. The memories from the past are flooding in, helped by my old travel journal that I kept since Poland. This days Kapral kindly translates my Blogs, exchanges ideas, even gives helpful criticism on improving the look of my cartoons.
Last Christmas, Kapral and I exchange exciting emails that encourage me to start a new segment in the story of The Spirit Journey. In it, Janusz Christa is joined by such great artists as George Lucas, Jacek Federowicz, Kalina Dżndrusik, Agnieszka Osiecka, Marek Grechuta, Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda, Zbigniew Cybulski, and even … Faye Dunaway. How and where they meet is an interesting story, and I hope you’ll find it credible!
And for those of you who prefer more intellectual or scholarly approach to this ongoing debate of “who came first, chicken or egg?”, below you’ll find (worth another look) three very interesting articles, written by Maciej Parowski and Kapral (bravo guys)!
- https://na-plasterki.blogspot.com/2011/02/komiks-nowej-przygody.html
- https://na-plasterki.blogspot.com/2011/02/jak-kajtek-i-koko-zostali-rycerzami.html
- https://na-plasterki.blogspot.com/2012/12/orion-sopot-hollywood.html
Finally, as it is again July 19th and Christa’s 86th birthday, let me wish you Happy Birthday, dear Janusz. May your creative expression last for ever!
And last but not least, happy 10th anniversary to Na plasterki for its ongoing contribution to “all things Christa”. Congratulations and thumbs up!
Excerpt from my journal, (Vancouver, Canada 1977 – Yandoit, Australia 2020).
Meeting of the Titans, 1975
Thumb up!