Ervin Rustemagić

Ervin Rustemagić (1952–2025) was a Bosnian comic book publisher, distributor, and rights agent, born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and based in Slovenia. He was the founder of Strip Art Features (SAF) in Sarajevo, as well as the magazine Strip Art of the former Yugoslavia. Rustemagić (through Strip Art Features/Platinum Studios) represented artists such as Hermann Huppen, Bane Kerac, and Joe Kubert.

Biography SAF/Strip Art In 1971, at the age of 17, Rustemagić founded the publisher/rights agency Strip Art Features (SAF) and began publishing Strip Art magazine. The rights agency component of SAF, known as Platinum Studios, developed a large, internationally oriented library of non-superhero properties. From its inception, the company focused on representing a broad range of genres and maintaining relationships with prominent European creators and publishers. As part of the arrangement, Platinum Studios acquired the film and television rights to Dylan Dog and Jeremiah, both of which had previously been licensed by Rustemagić. Jeremiah was eventually adapted into a science-fiction TV series which ran on Showtime from 2002 to 2004; Rustemagić was given the title of executive producer of the series. Dylan Dog was the source material for the 2010 film Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. Rustemagić left Platinum Studios in 2000, returning to full-time work at Strip Art Features.

In 2009, Rustemagić filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California against Platinum Studios and Rosenberg, alleging breach of an agreement under which Rustemagić was to receive 50 percent of producer fees from the exploitation of certain comics-based properties. The dispute was resolved through arbitration in April 2011; under the settlement, Platinum Studios guaranteed additional payments (approximately US $77,000) that Rosenberg was required to make to Rustemagić.

Rustemagić continued to facilitate international comics projects, including commissioning major works such as Martin Lodewijk & John M. Burns' Zetari (1983) and bringing Italian comics like Martin Mystère, Dylan Dog, and Nathan Never to English-speaking audiences via Dark Horse Comics in the 1990s.

Personal life and death Rustemagić was an ethnic Bosniak of Jewish background, though his family was not religious. He and his wife Edina had two children, Maja (born July 20, 1982) and Edvin (born c. 1987). Rustemagić died in Slovenia in July 2025 after a long illness.