Rychlé šípy ("The Rapid Arrows") is the name of a fictional club of five boys by the Czech writer Jaroslav Foglar. Consisting of Mirek Dušín, Jarka Metelka, Jindra Hojer, Červenáček ("Red Cap"), Rychlonožka ("Speedy") and a dog named Bublina ("Bubble"). Rychlé šípy are universally known in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, virtually everyone is familiar with them. The name Mirek Dušín has even become proverbial, referring to someone who is extremely upright, honest and hard-working, and usually used sarcastically. It became the most popular series in the history of the Czech comics. Literature Rychlé šípy was originally a comic series issued from 1938 to 1989, with stand-stills enforced by the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia. Whilst it was always Jaroslav Foglar who wrote the text, the first series was drawn by Dr. Jan Fischer, the second series (until the end of the 1960s) was drawn by Marko Čermák. The first series was issued in the magazines Mladý Hlasatel ("Young Herald") and Vpřed ("Ahead"). Rychlé šípy are the main characters of the book trilogy called Adventures in the Dark Alleys. The founding of the club is described (with many other stories) in comics, the trilogy describes adventures from later time when the club is already firmly established. Books of the trilogy are Záhada hlavolamu ("Mystery of the Puzzle", 1941), Stínadla se bouří ("Stínadla in Revolt", 1947) and Tajemství Velkého Vonta ("Secret of the High Vont", 1986). There is a certain time lag between the parts of the trilogy in the story. The period between the stories of the individual books is described through short comic stories, which, however, do not elaborate the plot of the trilogy. They are separate and only loosely connected comic stories, although sometimes they may mention previous book adventures. The first book was translated into Polish (1959, Tajemniczy cylinder), into Slovak (1970) and into Hungarian (1971, Sündisznó a ketrecben). Film Záhada hlavolamu ("Mystery of the Puzzle") was made into black and white TV series in 1969 (directored by Hynek Bočan), which in fact merged stories of first two books into one story. In 1993 the story of the first book was made into a movie (directed by Petr Kotek), but it wasn't followed by rest of the trilogy. Locations and props The most of the adventures from trilogy "Adventures in the Dark Alleys" (written by Jaroslav Foglar) happened in an old town quarter, called Stínadla. There lived boys