Comic Books

The origin of Mexican comic books is shrouded in myth and obscurity. The Mexican association of comic-book authors and illustrators, El Circulo de Tlacuilcos de Mexico, founded in 1970, traces the origin of Mexican comic books to pre-Columbian codices and mural painting; however, this explanation is difficult to take seriously and most certainly owes its genesis to post-1910 Mexican nationalism. Some suggestions for origins that are perhaps more credible, but still not directly traceable, are nineteenth-century, popular illustrated literature serialized in newspapers; illustrated satirical political magazines; the single-panel political cartoon; cigarbox premiums in the form of sequential panels, which told a story in comic-book fashion; and the illustrated handbills, one-sheet news bulletins, and pamphlets by the celebrated engraver Jose Guadalupe Posada. These precedents did establish an appreciation for messages in visual form and for some of the comic books' basic conventions.

The earliest comic books published in Mexico were American strips purchased from syndicates in the United States. For example, The Katzenjammer Kids arrived in Mexico in 1903. The strips were published in conservative newspapers whose editors wanted a visual feature to compete with the political cartoons in rival newspapers that opposed the government of Porfirio Diaz.

Mexican strips did not appear in any numbers until the 1920s. Annoyance with the undependable supply and licensing requirements of United States strips led Mexican newspapers to sponsor the creation of local products. In 1921 El Heraldo [The Herald] commissioned a daily strip from Salvador Pruneda. Don Catarino, considered by some to be the first genuinely Mexican comic book, is a humorous strip about a Mexican charro [cowboy]. In 1925-1926, the newspaper El Universal [The Universal] sponsored a competition to attract additional Mexican talent. Hugo Tilghman and Jesus Acosta Mamerto y sus conocencias [Mamerto and His Acquaintances] won. It was based on an American comic strip called Bringing Up Father and told the continuing saga of a rural couple who moves to Mexico City.

The contest brought to light a wealth of additional talent, whose creations represented many of the finer earlier Mexican strips, for example, Jesus Acosta Chupamirto [Myrtle Sucker], the cartoon forerunner of the comedian Mario Moreno "Cantinflas"; and Juan Arthenack Don Prudencia y su familia [Mr. Moderation and his Family] and his Adelaido el conquistador [Adelaido the Conqueror]. Among many titles that could be singled out, the 1920s also offered Andres Audiffred and Hipolito Zendejas' El senor Pestana [Mr. Eyelash], Carlos Neve Rocambole, Alfonso Ontivero Detective Fisgon [Detective Jester], and Bismarck Mier Chivo y Chavo [Kid Goat and Lad]. Most early strips were team efforts and were humor comic books. As was true of their American models, these generally took the form of child, family, or animal strips. Despite their drawing on genres and examples from the United States , these Mexican comic books also drew heavily on Mexican themes, language, and character types, frequently those of lower-class origins.