Altın Fırçalı Adam (which translates to The Man With The Golden Brush) is a documentary, directed by Fatih Yürür and produced as Hakan Tunga Kalkan in Turkey in May 2018. It chronicles the life and career of Aslan Şükür, one of Turkey’s most prolific and influential comic book cover artists. The production is essentially a labor of love for the Turkish comic book community.

Aslan Şükür is legendary among comic collectors for his work during the “golden age” of Turkish comic publishing. Since the 1970s, he painted thousands of vibrant, action-packed covers for localized versions of international adventure series, including the Phantom (known as Kızılmaske in Turkey).

The documentary serves as a tribute to how his art shaped the childhoods of generations of Turkish comic fans and highlights his role in the broader history of pulp adventure illustration. It was shown at several specialized venues and festivals, touring various documentary and comic book festivals within Turkey. Screenings were also held at places like the Caddebostan Cultural Center (CKM) in Istanbul, often accompanied by exhibitions of Aslan Şükür’s original cover paintings.

While there was no massive global DVD rollout, limited edition copies and promotional discs were sometimes made available at comic book conventions in Istanbul and Ankara where Aslan Şükür appeared as a guest. The documentary is available to watch on YouTube.

Two promotional posters for the documentary were produced, printed in full color on heavy stock paper. These posters were displayed at venues where the documentary was screened. These two poster designs can be seen below.

The poster seen above left features Şükür physically bursting through a wall of his own artwork, metaphorically stepping out from behind the legendary covers he created for decades. The background is a dense grid of comic book covers, while the foreground shows the artist wearing his signature blue cap and red scarf, reaching toward the viewer with brushes in hand. The bold title is positioned at the bottom, accompanied by the word “Yakında” (Coming Soon), signaling its upcoming release.

The second poster seen above right, utilizes a more traditional cinematic montage style against a clean white background. In this version, Aslan Şükür is positioned at the top center, smiling and holding his brushes, while a vibrant array of the characters he illustrated flows beneath him. This collage includes iconic figures such as the Phantom (known as Kızılmaske in Turkey), Mandrake the Magician, and various Western and adventure heroes. Unlike the teaser style of the first poster, this version provides specific release details, listing “Mayıs 2018” (May 2018) and naming the director, Fatih Yürür, and producer, Hakan Tunga Kalkan.

The posters can be seen below on display at a venue screening Altın Fırçalı Adam.

---