A rgentina Historietas e historia Historietas Argentina has one of the most important comic traditions internationally The figures and writers are as iconic as compare with those produced in New York and Paris in the 1930s ID: 532150
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Slide1
Comics in Argentina
Historietas
e
historiaSlide2
Historietas
Argentina has one of the most important comic traditions internationally. The figures and writers are as iconic as compare with those produced in New York and Paris in the 1930’s.
According to Oscar
Masotta
, comics began in Argentina during the early national period(19
th
C.) as single-panel political satire drawings on “
hojas
volantes
”, eventually moving to magazines and then newspapers which “facilitated a more stable contact between artists and public” (
La
historieta
en
el
mundo
moderno
141)
The first Argentine comic books (
Tit
Bis
and PBT) appeared in 1904-1905. Newspaper strips appeared later with
Viruta y Chicharrón
(1912,)
by
Manuel Redondo.
El negro Raúl
(1916),
Las diabluras de Tijereta
(1918
) and
Las aventuras de don Pancho Talero
(1922) de Arturo Lantén (
Lanteri
).
Lanteri
was
the
first
comic
artist
to
achieve
national
recognition
. Slide3
Masotta argues that comics developed in three distinct genres:
Historietas
de
aventuras
: “Adventure comics”, generally
sci
fi or police serials which had the most in common North American comic books of the 1930s (i.e. Superman) though without the “imperialist ideology” of those. (ex.
El
E
ternauta
by Hector
Osterheld
)
Historietas
humoristicas
: “Humor comics” which focused on “metaphysical humor” “sociological commentary” and “liberal/humanist ideology” (Ex.
Mafalda
by
Quino
)
Historietas
focloricas
: “folk comics” focused on history
(
Fuerte
Argentino
by
Valter
Ciocco
) Slide4
Comics and Politics
In his study
La
historietas
en el
mundo
moderno
. Oscar
Masotta
defends the comic genre against detractors both on the left and right. Leftists such as Victoria
Ocampo
accused them as being reactionary and ahistorical, while those on the right feared their corrupting influence on youth.
Unlike
painting, which enjoys a certain “innocence of nature”, comics are tied to story
. Stories in
which
the
characters
live
“un momento
preciso de la historia, que lleva una vida
particular, con
sus rasgos
de carácter
, y situado, en la
mayor parte
de los casos, en el interior de un determinado
grupo social.” (9)
Comics are also a singularly modern phenomenon, linked to the evolution of print-media and mass forms of communication as well (
Masotta
10). Slide5
The Golden Age
The 1950’s is considered the “golden age” of Argentine comics.
The country experienced a publishing boom in 1953, in which “Argentine books and publications were export goods” (Torres 5) and the country produced 51 million copies with an average print run of 11,000.
At the same time an influx of European immigrants following the war in Europe brought in a variety of new popular cultural expressions. Slide6
During this period, the comic genre fully established itself both through the medium of newspapers and through the creation of genre specific magazines.
In the 1950’s satire and comic magazines emerged, including
Tia
Vicenta
by Juan Carlos
Colombres
(
Landru
)
Hora Cero and
Frontera
by Hector German
Osterheld
and
Misterix
published by Editorial Abril.
These comics frequently combined humor/
sci
fi with social commentary, occasionally arousing the ire of political figures who were targeted by the comic artists. (
Tia
Vicenta
was shut down by the government in 1966)Slide7
A group of Italian artists called the “Venice Group” also formed in Argentina at this time. The group consisted of
Mario Faustinelli, Hugo Pratt, Ivo Pavone, and Dino
Battaglia. They would go on to support and influence key comic artists of the period such as Solano Lopez and Alberto Breccia.
This period also saw the introduction of iconic figures of the humor genre: Caloi (Carlos Loiseau) and Quino (Joaquin Salvador Lavado)Slide8
Comics and Politics
In his study
La
historietas
en el
mundo
moderno
. Oscar
Masotta
defends the comic genre against detractors both on the left and right. Leftists such as Victoria
Ocampo
accused them as being reactionary and ahistorical, while those on the right feared their corrupting influence on youth.
Unlike
painting, which enjoys a certain “innocence of nature”, comics are tied to story
. Stories in which
que
the
characters
live
“un momento
preciso de la historia, que lleva una vida
particular, con
sus rasgos
de carácter
, y situado, en la
mayor parte
de los casos, en el interior de un determinado
grupo social.” (9)
Comics are also a singularly modern phenomenon, linked to the evolution of print-media and mass forms of communication as well (
Masotta
10). Slide9
Comics Before and During the Dirty War
The genre experienced a slump in the late sixties and picked up again in the 1970’s.
Torres suggests that comics didn’t receive that much censorial scrutiny during the 1976-1983 regime.
Citing the “
Banade
” (Development Bank) archives which contain records of the regime’s communiques on culture, Torres finds only one memo referring to comic book writers in the entire eight year period.
Torres argues that this was due to the “marginal” position of comics as well as their dissociation with the realms of education.
Cases where comic artists were scrutinized or disappeared (
Osterheld
) had more to do with political involvements, almost nothing related to content of works. Slide10
Humor Genre:Mafalda
Originally intended as a graphic ad to run in the newspaper
Clarin
in 1962.
Picked up by the magazine
Primera
Plana
in 1963 the comic would continue to run until 1974.
Strongly influenced by the “Child-centric” worldview of Charles Schultz’s
Peanuts
.
Comic features a precocious, highly intelligent six year old (
Mafalda
)of liberal sensibilities, parents, and classmates. Slide11
Each of the characters represents a certain dimension of Argentine society.
Mafalda’s
parents are a typical bourgeois/middle class family. Mother is a housewife, Father is a horticulturalist.
Friends include Felipe—a dreamer who dislikes school and is scared of girls,
Manolito
– a
gallego
, son of Spanish Immigrants who own a store, loves capitalism,
Susanita
—a girly girl who loves boys, romance and gossip, and Libertad –a brusque girl with radical social views. Slide12
Clemente:
Created by Carlos
Loiseau
(
Caloi
) in 1973. Comic published daily in the Newspaper
Clarin
up until the artist’s death in 2012.
“Clemente” is an bird-like creature with an oversized head, tiny legs and no arms. Loves soccer, is a fan of the Boca Juniors, drinks Mate and loves women, (
Mulatona
)
Clemente often makes “innocent” observations and inferences to the political situation in Argentina including during the regime. A television spot featuring Clemente was cancelled in 1982 for this reason.
At the world-cup match in 1978, Clemente opposed the dictatorship by encouraging spectators to throw confetti in the stadium, an Argentine tradition at soccer matches which the dictatorship tried to discourage. Slide13
Las puertitas del Sr. Lopez
Written by Carlos
Trillo
with drawings by
Horacio
Altuna
in 1979. Associated with the magazines Humor
Registrado
and
Pendulo
.
Series describes a meek character who ends up in another dimension every time he goes to the toilet. Usually in hiding from society.
“Humiliated and with no voice, a witness of repression and abuse, manipulated and with no way out, Lopez is less than a tepid consciousness. “ Juan
Sasturain
(“
Cerrame
la
puerta
, Lopez)Slide14
Adventure Comics: El Eternauta
Created by Hector German
Osterheld
and drawn by Solano Lopez between 1957-1959, a second version was created in 1969 for the magazine
Gente
and a Part II was created in 1976 for the magazine
Skorpio
.
Each re-creation increased in political content and as
Osterheld
became more involved with the
Montoneros
.
The story begins with an apocalyptic event, a “poisonous snowfall” that kills off a majority of the population of Buenos Aires. The main character Juan Salvo eventually discovers the snowfall as the product of an alien invasion. Survivors gather to resist a series of invaders. A series of events leads to a rift in the space time continuum which causes Salvo and his family to enter different timelines.
Osterheld
, along with his two daughters went into hiding during the creation of the second
Eternauta
. Eventually
Osterheld
was disappeared by the regime in 1977, Slide15
Barbara
Created by Juan
Zanotto
(drawings) and Ricardo
Barriero
for
Skorpio
Magazine in 1979.
Like
Eternauta
, the plot features a
postapocalyptic
Buenos Aires, destroyed by war and ruled by a regime.
The title character is a (very chesty) insurgent who leads an armed rebellion against a regime imposed by Alien invaders.
The comic features veiled references to outlawed political ideas and figures. The astronaut who helps the rebellion is named “Ernesto Medina” (Reference to
Che
Guevara) upon whose death the insurgents chant “Victoria!”. There are also intertextual references to
Osterheld
and El
Eternauta
Slide16
Editorial Urraca/El Pendulo
/
Superhumor
Editorial
Urraca
was founded in 1978 by humorist Andres
Casicoli
as a publishing house for the comic genre. Invited other well known comic artists to contribute.
Urraca
would sponsor comics with more vigorous political content including
Humor
Registrado
, El
Pendulo
and
Superhumor
Humor
Registrado
in1980 would become bolder in its political content. The magazine featured political satire, comics, articles and journalism and often featured cover art mocking members of the junta. Slide17
The financial success of Humor Registrado
would lead to the creation of
El
Pendulo
,
(primarily
sci
fi content) and
Superhumor
(humor and satire)
Humor comics featured in the first issues of
El
Pendulo
feature more direct references to the dictatorship such as
Los
Viajes
del Marco Mono
about a monkey who travels to “ciudad
feliz
” in which society is paralyzed under the rule of a “tyrant” and
General Gori de
Bosquivia
which would feature depictions of torture.
Superhumor
would eventually come to focus entirely on the humor comic genre. After the restoration of democracy the magazine
Fierro
would take its place.Slide18
Questions for discussion:
Describe your relationship with comics? Are you a fan/reader of them? Which comics do you read? Do you prefer the adventure genre or the humor genre and why?
What is your view of comics as art? In what way does the debate around graphic arts resemble that around popular culture as a whole
?
Which of the Argentine comics we examined did you find most interesting? Why?
How would you describe the view of childhood presented by
Mafalda
?
How would you characterize the relationship between Science Fiction and Society (for example, El
Eternauta
and Barbara)? In what ways is sci-fi more able to reflect on social problems/crises?
Certain comics like Clemente, Las
puertitas
and to some degree
Mafalda
are strongly character driven. How do these “Character comics” also incorporate social critique into their work?
How do you think social unrest in Argentina (both during the Dirty War and prior to it) influence the comic genre?