Comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

culture in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

is far from being a modern phenomenon. Its roots may be traced back to many stages in

Mexican history The history of Mexico spans over three millennia, with the earliest evidence of hunter-gatherer settlement 13,000 years ago. Central and southern Mexico, known as Mesoamerica, saw the rise of complex civilizations that developed glyphic writing ...

Ancient history

Mexican intellectuals such as

Ilan Stavans Ilan Stavans (born Ilán Stavchansky, 1961) is a Mexican-born Jewish-American writer and academic. He writes and speaks on American, Hispanic, and Jewish cultures. He is the author of ''Quixote'' (2015) and a contributor to the ''Norton Antholog ...

agree that centuries-old

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

codices The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

and other ancient documents could be seen as primary sources of the comics culture in the country.Ilan Stavans, ''The essential Ilan Stavans'', (Routledge, 2000),

Revolutionary times

Another important influence has been the work of

José Guadalupe Posada José Guadalupe Posada Aguilar (2 February 1852 – 20 January 1913) was a Mexican political printmaker who used relief printing to produce popular illustrations. His work has influenced numerous Latin American artists and cartoonists becaus ...

whose

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

cartoons helped create a political identity of visual art. Political satire was quite a strong movement during the

Porfiriato The Porfiriato or Porfirismo (, ), coined by Mexican historian Daniel Cosío Villegas, is a term given to the period when General Porfirio Díaz ruled Mexico under an Authoritarianism, authoritarian military dictatorship in the late 19th and e ...

(1884–1911). Many newspapers became almost legendary because of their political comics and vignettes that were published during this era and during the subsequent

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

(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 twenties, thirties and onward

The end of the Mexican Revolution marked the birth of a national comics industry that lasted many decades, with notable authors like

Yolanda Vargas Dulché Yolanda Vargas Dulché de la Parra (; July 18, 1926, Mexico City) – August 8, 1999, Mexico City) was a List of Mexican writers, Mexican writer principally known for the creation of the comic book character of Memín Pinguín and various teleno ...

(founder of

Grupo Editorial Vid Grupo Editorial Vid (also known as ''Vid'' or ''Mundo Vid'') was a Mexican comic, manga and books publisher. It was funded in the early 1940s as ''Editorial Argumentos'' (EDAR). Many of their books are sold from around 30 pesos for comics up to 60 ...

), starring titles like ''

Memín Pinguín Memín Pinguín was a Mexican comic book character. He was created in 1943 by writer Yolanda Vargas Dulché. Alberto Cabrera took over drawing from 1953 until 1962, followed by Sixto Valencia Burgos. The original series had 372 chapters print ...

'', ''La Familia Burrón'' and ''Chanoc'' among many others. From the 1930s through the 1970s, Mexico had a thriving comic-book industry with several diverse genres. Authors and artists like Gabriel Vargas,

Germán Butze Germán () is a male given name in Spanish speaking countries. It is a cognate to French Germain (name), Germain, and is a variant of Latin Germanus (disambiguation), Germanus. Surname * Domingo Germán (born 1992), baseball player * Esteban G ...

Gaspar Bolaños Gaspar is a given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname). It is a name of christian origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of the three wise men mentioned in the Armenian I ...

Oscar González Guerrero Oscar González Guerrero (January 17, 1926 - May 18, 2017 in Mexico City) was a comic book artist mostly known for his co-creation of ''Zor y Los Invencibles'' and ''Hermelinda Linda''. He was the artistic director of ¡Ka-Boom! Estudio, a family ...

José Angel Mora Suarez José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

and

Rius Eduardo Humberto del Río García (June 20, 1934 – August 8, 2017), better known by his pen name Rius, was a Mexican intellectual, political cartoonist and writer born in Zamora, Michoacán, Zamora, Michoacán. One of the most popular Mexican ...

became famous with very original and diverse comic book series and titles such as ''Los 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 Manuel Leal (born June 8, 1939), better known as Tinieblas ("Darkness"), is a Mexican luchador. Professional wrestling career Tinieblas began as a body builder and stunt man who was spotted by luchadores Black Shadow and Dory Dixon. Impressed ...

'', ''Blue Demon'', ''El Tío Porfírio'', ''Burrerías'', ''Smog'', ''Don Leocadio'', ''Zor y los Invencibles'', ''Las Aventuras de Capulina'', '' Las Aventuras de Cepillín'', ''El Monje Loco'' and ''Memín 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 them ''Chanoc'', ''Fantomas'', ''Kalimán'', ''Hermelinda Linda'', ''Los Supermachos'' (in the 1974 film ''

Calzonzin Inspector ''Calzonzin Inspector'' is a 1974 Mexican comedy film and live action comic adaptation directed and starred by Alfonso Arau. It was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 47th Academy Awards, but was not accepte ...

''), '' Los Supersabios'', ''El Santo'', ''

'', ''Blue Demon'', ''Capulina'' and ''Cepillín''.

The foreign sci-fi and fantasy boom

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 Pantera'' (English: ''The Panther'') is a Mexican television series that aired on Canal 5 from May 14, 2007 to November 26, 2009. It is based on a comic book of the same name. It narrates the life of Gervasio, a young man who fights crime ...

'', ''El Hijo del Santo'', ''Katy la Oruga'', ''

Timbiriche Timbiriche (also known for a brief time as La Banda Timbiriche) was a Mexican pop music group. The group started as a children's group in 1981 and managed to evolve successfully into adulthood. Timbiriche is considered one of the most iconic Lat ...

'', ''

Simón Simonazo Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

'', '' Video-Risa'', '' Karmatron y los Transformables'', ''Hombres y Heroes'', ''Sensacional de Luchas'', and '' Destrúktor 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 include ''Bellas de Noche'' ("Ladies of the Night") or ''Relatos de Presidio'' ("Stockade Tales").

The Asian invasion

In the 1990s the Mexican comics industry began to be revived, importing again USA heroes comics and some national ones like ''Ultrapato'', '' Tinieblas, Son of the Night'' and ''Penumbra''. 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, like ''El

Cerdotado {{More footnotes, article, date=October 2010 El Cerdotado is a Mexican satirical comic, which ran between 1998 and 4 April 2019. His name is a play on the words, Cerdo = ''Pig'' and Dotado = ''Gifted''. The character was created in Monterrey, Mexic ...

'' or ''Buba'' have managed to get anthologies of their strips. In this decade, imported and translated original Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

also began to arrive with titles like ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

'' and ''

Video Girl Ai ''Video Girl Ai'', known in Japan as simply , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masakazu Katsura. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 1989 to April 1992. ...

'', which started a very successful trend of Spanish translated Japanese manga that has continued until recent times.

Modern 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) and Editorial 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 like ''Zeraky'', ''El Bulbo'', ''Caballo Negro'', ''El Arsenal'', ''Rebelde'', ''Meteorix 5.9'' and ''Goji: Un Dragón con Ángel'' as well as the revival of older titles like ''Santo: La Leyenda de Plata'', ''Blue Demon Jr.: El Legado'', ''

'' and '' Karmatron''. Other more recent comic strips that have found some unusual success thanks to the relatively new technology of

social networks A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of meth ...

to promote themselves (in

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

respectively) have been the titles '' Cindy La Regia'' (2004) by Ricardo Cucamonga and '' Jours de Papier'' (2013).

References

External links

History of Mexican Comics
- Fan site * El Cerdotado Spanish Wikipedia page {{Comics