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| Mexican comics | |
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 Gabriel Vargas comic characters fromLa Familia Burrón.Museo del Estanquillo, Mexico City. | |
| Earliest publications | Late 19th century |
| Creators | Gabriel Vargas |
| Languages | Mexican Spanish |
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Comics culture inMexico is far from being a modern phenomenon. Its roots may be traced back to many stages inMexican history.
Mexican intellectuals such asIlan Stavans agree that centuries-oldpre-Columbiancodices and other ancient documents could be seen as primary sources of the comics culture in the country.[1]
Another important influence has been the work ofJosé Guadalupe Posada whosesatirical cartoons helped create a political identity of visual art. Political satire was quite a strong movement during thePorfiriato (1884–1911). Many newspapers became almost legendary because of their political comics and vignettes that were published during this era and during the subsequentMexican Revolution (1910–1920).
As a result of the harsh government repression, the political cartoon ("caricatura política") practically became the only means of free expression in those turbulent years.
The end of the Mexican Revolution marked the birth of a national comics industry that lasted many decades, with notable authors likeYolanda Vargas Dulché (founder ofGrupo Editorial Vid), starring titles likeMemín Pinguín,La Familia Burrón andChanoc among many others.
From the 1930s through the 1970s, Mexico had a thriving comic-book industry with several diverse genres. Authors and artists likeGabriel Vargas,Germán Butze,Gaspar Bolaños,Oscar González Guerrero,José Angel Mora Suarez andRius became famous with very original and diverse comic book series and titles such asLos Superlocos,La Familia Burrón,Adelita y Juan Sin Miedo,Pancho López,El Gran Caperuzo,Los Chiflados,Los del Doce,Sopa de Perico,Chanoc,Pepín,Fantomas,Kalimán,Rolando el Rabioso,El Payo,Hermelinda Linda,Los Supersabios,Los Supermachos,Los Agachados,Las Aventuras del Santo,Tinieblas,Blue Demon,El Tío Porfírio,Burrerías,Smog,Don Leocadio,Zor y los Invencibles,Las Aventuras de Capulina,Las Aventuras de Cepillín,El Monje Loco andMemín Penguín to name a few.
“Los Supermachos” treated social and political issues - suicide, tuberculosis, Marxism, for example - with humor and with innovative and varied graphics.
Most of these books sold millions of copies during this era, which has often been cited as "The Golden Age of Comic Books in Mexico".
Because of their success some comic book titles and their characters were even adapted into radio dramas and live action TV series and films during the 1960s and 1970s, among themChanoc,Fantomas,Kalimán,Hermelinda Linda,Los Supermachos (in the 1974 filmCalzonzin Inspector),Los Supersabios,El Santo,Tinieblas,Blue Demon,Capulina andCepillín.
During the early eighties American superhero and sci-fi comics poured into Mexico. The cheaper costs of reprinting foreign titles combined with the perception that comics were only for kids, nearly wiped out indigenous comic books in the country.Las Aventuras de Parchís,El Pantera,El Hijo del Santo,Katy la Oruga,Timbiriche,Simón Simonazo,Video-Risa,Karmatron y los Transformables,Hombres y Heroes,Sensacional de Luchas, andDestrúktor el Defensor Cósmico were some of the very few titles produced locally to great demand. The only genre to survive, and even thrive, was a unique form of adult pulp comics.
In Mexico, adult comics go by a number of names, like "sensacionales" or "ghetto librettos." They are published in huge numbers as roughly square-shaped digests, about 96 pages long, in a realistic but uncomplicated "house" style. Most are sold cheaply at newsstands, either new or second-hand.
Sensacionales are known for their lurid subject matter, with stories and images that can get very gory or pornographic – or even a combination of the two. Typical titles includeBellas de Noche ("Ladies of the Night") orRelatos de Presidio ("Stockade Tales").
In the 1990s the Mexican comics industry began to be revived, importing again USA heroes comics and some national ones likeUltrapato,Tinieblas, Son of the Night andPenumbra. The national industry went through many inner problems getting almost killed again. The only survivors went to magazines or newspapers mainly as comic strips but not as individual autonomous issues. The most popular, likeElCerdotado orBuba have managed to get anthologies of their strips. In this decade, imported and translated original Japanesemanga also began to arrive with titles likeDragon Ball andVideo Girl Ai, which started a very successful trend of Spanish translated Japanese manga that has continued until recent times.
In the last years, with the immense popularity of manga across the world, the Mexican comic industry seems to getting back on track with Editorial Toukan (whose whereabouts are uncertain at the moment) andEditorial Vid publishing, along with some USA comics, many new manga titles translated into Spanish. Manga has been one of the comic genres with the more growth in the last years.
In recent Mexican comics the political satire is still quite strong and there are some attempts of new independent comics likeZeraky,El Bulbo,Caballo Negro,El Arsenal,Rebelde,Meteorix 5.9 andGoji: Un Dragón con Ángel as well as the revival of older titles likeSanto: La Leyenda de Plata,Blue Demon Jr.: El Legado,Tinieblas andKarmatron.
Other more recent comic strips that have found some unusual success thanks to the relatively new technology ofsocial networks to promote themselves (inTwitter andFacebook respectively) have been the titlesCindy La Regia (2004) by Ricardo Cucamonga andJours de Papier (2013).
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