ABSTRACT
This chapter examines both the communist comics audience and the particular representational code it was taught to operate with, the possible implications of the recent revival of communist comics in Romania through exhibitions, books, public talks, and the creation of new "Romanian comics" sections in bookstores. For Romanian comics, as well as illustrated children's books and textbooks, this meant an adherence to a realism that often emphasized stereotypical notions of masculinity and created the illusion they were trustworthy portraits of actual historical figures. The demonization of the aggressive foreigner coming to invade the peaceful Romanian land was later interestingly paralleled by Romania's new status after December 1989 as a demonized post-communist nightmare whose citizens would flee to invade the West through the democratic opening of the country's borders. At the same time, the examination of the visual rhetoric of the communist dictatorship from Romania can serve to demystify the construction of a national ideology whose rhetoric is still quoted today.
