In 1979, Dečje novine cancelled the comic. By some reports, the criticism of the comic was heavily supported by a Dečje novine competitor which published foreign comics. Prior to the invasion of Yugoslavia, young Mirko was a baker's apprentice somewhere in Šumadija. After the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, Mirko decides to join the Partisans, exchanging two breads for a gun with a soldier of the defeated and disbanded Royal Yugoslav Army. In the initial three episodes, Mirko's comrades are two other young Partisans, Zoran and Boško, Boško dying in a battle with German soldiers. In episode four, the character of Slavko was introduced. While Mirko is always brave and determined, Slavko tends to hesitate and sometimes can even get scared. That is why Mirko is typically armed with MP 40, which was usually reserved for partisan commanders, while Slavko is typically armed with a regular riffle. "Mirko and Slavko" was the first and only Yugoslav comic to be adapted into a live action film during the existence of the country. The 1973 film "Mirko and Slavko", directed by Branimir "Tori" Janković, starred Vladimir Radenković as Mirko, Dragan Radonjić as Slavko and Velimir "Bata" Živojinović as Commander. The film was disliked by Žižović, who described it as "unrealistic and pretentious" and stated that it "ruined the comic". In the several years following the end of the World War II, the new communist authorities in Yugoslavia had an unfavorable view of comics, considering them decadent products of capitalism. By the time "Mirko and Slavko" appeared, Yugoslavia opened towards Western culture more than the countries of the Eastern Bloc, and comics were regularly published by major newspaper publishers. However, "Mirko and Slavko" is considered the comic which definitely changed the League of Communists attitude towards comics. Dečje novine annually received thousands of letters written by the fans of the comic. With the experience it had as the first distributor of the Walt Disney Company products in socialist Europe, Dečje novine signed contracts with various Yugoslav companies, and the characters of Mirko and Slavko appeared on t-shirts, satchels, notebooks and other products. Aleksandar Zograf stated that "the approach towards this entirely socialist phenomena was absolutely capitalistic".