History of the comic in Spain

The history of comics in Spain can go back a long way, depending on what is understood by comics. For this reason, and as happens in other European countries, there is a strong controversy about which was the first native comic, even citing the Cantigas de Santa María, probably made between 1260 and 1270 by the workshop of Alfonso X "el Sabio" as such. In any case, and in the form of an uninterrupted tradition that continues to this day, the Spanish comic dates back to the mid-19th century and enjoyed its golden years in the 1940s and 1950s XX, as well as a boom between the late 70s and mid 80s of the same.

First issue of Dominguín (1915).

The hallelujahs (18th and 19th centuries)

We will have to wait until the XVIII century for the first hallelujahs or auques (from Catalan: auca) and prints with a cartoon structure, which some theorists consider the origin of the comic in Spain, although most consider the comic as a cultural product of the Western industrial and political modernity that emerged in parallel to the evolution of the written press as the first means of mass communication, which is why they are looking for the first Spanish comic strip among those reproduced in it.

First comics in print (1857-1909)

Thomas Padró comic book.

The first Spanish comic is identified as the "History of the misfortunes of a lucky man" (1857)[1], by the Basque soldier living in Cuba Víctor Patricio de Landaluze (Bilbao, 1827 - Guanabacoa, Cuba, 1889), published in no. 6 (IX-20-1857) of La Charanga , a Cuban magazine, which was then Spanish territory. In mainland Spain, the first examples found are not earlier than 1864, citing authors such as Luis Mariani Jiménez in Seville or Salustiano Asenjo in Valencia and, already in the seventies, to Francisco Cubas, Tomás Padró and José Luis Pellicer. They published in satirical magazines such as La Flaca (1869-1876) and above all El Mundo Cómico (1873).

Soon there were compilations in albums such as those by Francisco Ortego, Apeles Mestres ("Granizada", 1880 and "Cuentos vivos", 1882), J. Passos, Ramón Escaler, Ángel Pons, Xaudaró or Navarrete, also highlighting other authors such as Joan Llopart, Mecáchis, José Pando or Antoni Utrillo.

At the beginning of the XX century, children's magazines such as Monos and En Patufet, from 1904, where authors such as Junceda stand out, and supplements such as Gente Menuda (1906) of the newspaper ABC, as well as the Argentine Caras y Masks with abundant Spanish collaboration.

A new language (1910-37)

The researcher Antonio Martín, whose work is essential to understand this period, considers the series El suero maravilloso by Robledano published in 1910 in the children's magazine "Infancia" as the first Spanish cartoon with speech balloons. A multitude of children's magazines were emerging at that time, such as Dominguín (1915), Charlot (1916) and above all TBO (1917), the first to be widely distributed (220,000 copies in 1935) and which, in the end, generated the name by which the medium has been known in Spain. Among its authors, Ricard Opisso and Manuel Urda Marín stand out. Other important comics are also from Barcelona B.B. (1920), the first dedicated to girls, Pulgarcito (1921) from the publishing house El Gato Negro and "Virolet&# 3. 4; (1922), in Catalan; the Madrid-born "Chiquilín (1924) and "Pinocchio" (1925) and the Valencian Los Chicos, in which Juan Pérez del Muro stood out.

K-Hito and Miguel Mihura developed comic strips with a new, more absurd and modern humor, in magazines for adults such as Gutiérrez (1927) and for children such as Macaco (1928) and Macquete (1930).

It was in the 1930s when comics began to become popular in Spain, in step with social changes and the publishing boom, added to the introduction of classic American material in magazines such as Yumbo (1934), Aventurero (1935) and Tim Tyler's Magazine (1935) from Hispano-Americana de Ediciones, Mickey (1935) from Editorial Molino and Cine Aventuras (1936) by Editorial Marco. Due to this influence, the autochthonous adventures lengthened and authors of realistic graphics emerged such as Francisco Darnís, Salvador Mestres, Riera Rojas and Jaime Tomás, who joined those with cartoonish graphics, such as José Cabrero Arnal or Arturo Moreno. Other important magazines, but more minority, are "Pocholo" (1931) and KKO (1932).

Finally, during the Spanish civil war, propaganda publications were launched on both sides, such as Pelayos (1936), Flecha (1937), Pionero Rojo (1937) or Pionerín (1937), although the main Barcelona magazines stopped being published in 1938. The war meant that many families left the country, which would also affect the history of the comic, when an infant Sergio Aragonés left his native Castellón and ended up becoming one of the greatest figures in the US market as an adult; and do the same Quino from his native Fuengirola, who would become one of the greatest exponents of comics in Argentina over the years.

The Spain of comics (1938-1967)

Francisco Ibáñez.

During the postwar period, Spanish comics became the most popular medium in the country, to such an extent that Luis Gasca wrote that "comics in Spain reached its golden years, from the 1940s to 50, which he will never see again." It was then a cheap reading, which was even rented for ten cents in the neighborhoods, and it would be the members of the popular classes who would dedicate themselves professionally to her in the following years.

However, the comic had to overcome a series of difficulties:

• Since 1941, only those publishers authorized by the Ministry of National Education of FET and the JONS, who were seconded to the Ministry of National Education in 1945, could access the necessary paper quotas, given the country's economic deficiencies.
• Following the regulation of the permits for periodicals in 1951, the Government hoped that the comic book — already converted into a mass media medium — would act as a diffuser of its ideology, so that the Spaniards of the time never saw Popeye, Flash Gordon or Superman fight against the Axis Powers.
• With the Decree of 24 June 1955 on the management of the children ' s and youth press, the presence of foreign material in the tebeos was limited to 25 per cent, but censorship also began to grow, which first affected the comic series that made the family institution mofa as a result. Doña Tula, mother-in-law from Escobar.
• In 1962 the Children's and Youth Information and Publications Commission was born, whose secretary-general, Father Jesus María Vázquez charged against the violence of the series of action, contributing to the disappearance of the adventure notebooks and prohibiting in 1964 the series of superheroes.
• Finally, the authors are mere employees with contracts often loyalists who force them to produce uncovered and those who refuse the property of their characters.

In general, the development of the medium at this time has four well-differentiated aspects:

The adventure comic

Developed from North American references (press strips such as Flash Gordon, Jorge and Fernando and The Masked Man, mainly, as well as classic Hollywood cinema) its starting point can be found in magazines such as Arrows and Pelayos and above all Chicos (1938), where Emilio Freixas and Jesús Blasco make themselves known with their Cuto.

Shortly after, Editorial Valenciana implemented the adventure notebook with series as popular as Roberto Alcázar y Pedrín (1940) by Eduardo Vañó, and El Guerrero del Antifaz (1944) by the prolific Manuel Gago, highlighting, due to its graphic workmanship, Silac, the Lion-Man (1945), by Enrique Pertegás. In 1947, new magazines by Bruguera, such as Pulgarcito and El Campeón also included adventure series, such as Inspector Dan of the Flying Patrol by Eugenio Giner, Silver Roy by Bosch Penalva and Dr. Fog by Francisco Hidalgo. Clipper launches El Coyote, with scripts by Mallorquí himself, and Toray, Hazañas Bélicas (1948) by Boixcar.

Already in the 50s, they achieved a great success El Cachorro (1951) by Iranzo; Adventures of the F.B.I. (1951) by Luis Bermejo; Diego Valor (1954) by Jarber/Buylla/Bayo; Red Dixon (1954) by Joaquim Berenguer Artes/Martínez Osete; Mendoza Colt (1955) by González Casquel/Martín Salvador and above all, El Capitán Trueno (1956) by Mora/Ambrós, which sells up to 350,000 comics a week. and causes, with its success, that the adventures are less dramatized, gaining a festive tone. Other outstanding titles of this decade are Captain Pantera (1954) by Carrillo, The Future World (1955) by Boixcar and Deeds of Bold Youth (1959) by Matías Alonso. Manuel Gago, for his part, would found Editorial Maga in 1951, giving rise to series such as Pantera Negra (1956), Apache (1958) and Bengala (1958), all written by Pedro Quesada and drawn, respectively, by José Ortiz, Luis Bermejo and Leopoldo Ortiz.

Still in the 1960s we can mention Olimán (1961) by José Pérez Fajardo, El teniente negro (1962) by Silver Kane/José Grau or Captain Martín (1963) by Mallorquí/Zata, but around 1966 this market collapsed definitively, due to the increase in censorship, social changes and the spread of new forms of leisure, such as television.

The humorous comic

Humorous series, on the other hand, are self-contained and always in a vertical format. Milk (1943) by Gabi. Little by little, other weeklies are reappearing, organized around three schools:

• The sempiterno TBO (1941) of the Editorial Buigas, Estivill and Viña, which, although traditionally had chosen to avoid fixed characters, popularized at this time The Ulysses family Benejam. Josep Coll was the other great author of this publication.

• Jaimito (1943) and Pumby (1955) de Editorial Valenciana, which shelter the development of the so-called "Valencian school of humorous tebeus", represented by authors like Karpa, Jesús Liceras, Nin, Palop, Rojas, José Sanchis and Serafín.

• Pulgarcito (1947), The DDT (1951), Uncle Vivo (1957) and Din Dan (1965) Editorial Bruguera, in which there is a wide repertoire of characters, work of authors like Peñarroya, Cifré, Jorge, Escobar, Conti, Vázquez, Martz Schmidt, EnrichIbáñez, Segura, Nené Estivill or Alfons Figueras. It is the rise of the so-called "School Bruguera", which reflects the reality of the country, "through a sperm filter".

Apart from the three previous schools or sharing the character of several, other magazines can be cited:

• Hippo, Monito and Fifi (1948) and La Risa (1951), by Editorial Marco, and with Emilio Boix as the leading author.
• Nicolas (1948), Topolino (1950) and Yumbo (1953), of Cliper Editions.
• Cavall Fort (1961), the first in Catalan language since 1938, and which has authors like Josep Maria Madorell.

The comic for girls

In 1941, Consuelo Gil promoted this sector with My girls, where Pilar Blasco created an authentic stylistic school. The most popular of all these fairy comics was the notebook Azucena (1946-71) by Toray, while Cliper addressed the new rising class with Florita (1949).

At the end of the 50s, there was a boom in women's comics, when new magazines began to present more contemporary sentimental comics, which on many occasions sought synergies with the film and musical hits of the moment: White Roses and Sissi in 1958 and Claro de Luna in 1959. New authors such as María Pascual and Gómez Esteban prevailed.

Starting in 1960, Ibero Mundial launched series on female professionals such as Mary Noticias by Carmen Barbará and there was a boom in graphic novels, shortly before the sector went into decline around 1964, unable to adapt to the new socioeconomic changes and to compete with the fotonovela, television and the gossip.

The foreign market (1954-1967)

Following the path of José Cabrero Arnal y Gabi, a multitude of cartoonists opted from 1954 to go abroad in search of better job opportunities, preferably in France, such as Florenci Clavé, José Antonio de Huéscar, Antonio Parras, Julio Ribera (whose work Le Vagabond des Limbes would be awarded a few years later with the first edition of the Fauve d'Or) and Manfred Sommer, and Latin America, such as Alfons Figueras and Ángel Puigmiquel.

Over time, agencies were created to provide syndicated assignments to Spanish cartoonists and distribute them abroad. The most important were:

• Editorial creations, belonging to Bruguera.
• Illustrated selections, founded by Josep Toutain and Antonio Ayné in 1956.
• Bardon Art founded by Jordi Macabich and Barry Coker in 1957.

Another important study is that of Jesús Blasco and his brothers, responsible for series such as Zarpa de Acero (1962).

Juan Arranz and Tomás Marco Nadal also publish abroad. Some will produce series for Anglo-Saxon newspapers, such as Enrique Badía Romero (Modesty Blaise), Jordi Longarón (Friday Foster), José Ortiz and Luis Roca (Scarth), or for the French market, such as Víctor de la Fuente or Fuentes Man (Klip et Klop).

All these Spanish cartoonists enjoyed a substantial improvement in their working conditions, with incomes much higher than those of the native market (from 25 pesetas per cartoon in France to 125 in Great Britain). At the beginning, these works were carried out by the cartoonists on some iron scripts, and without the right to accreditation of the authorship or the return of the originals, a situation that changed from the 70s with the claim of the author's comic.

The adult comic boom (1967-1986)

Ascent (1967-1976)

In the mid-sixties, the so-called graphic novel, vertical format and longer than the adventure booklet, dominated the Spanish market, with titles as durable as Novelas Gráficas de Hazañas Bélicas (1961) and Secret Brigade (1962) by Toray or Celia by Bruguera. On January 19, 1967, the Children's and Youth Publications Statute was promulgated, through which comics began to be classified according to the age of their recipients (youth, adults, all audiences).

In the youth sector, series by Miguel Calatayud, Carlos Giménez, Esteban Maroto, Antonio Hernández Palacios or Ventura y Nieto were published in Delta 99 (1968) or Trinca (1970) and Franco-Belgian comics, superheroes and Disney were disseminated through Junior Gazette (1968), Strong (1969), Don Miki (1976) and Pif (1978) and Ediciones Junior and Editorial Vértice (the superhero cover illustrations by Rafael López Espí being well remembered). Editorial Bruguera dominates this market, with Mortadelo (1970) and Zipi y Zape (1972), hiring Fresno's, Jan, Joan March, Nicolás, Jaume Ribera or Jaume Rovira, and opting for a less testimonial and more crazy humor in Sir Tim O'Theo (1970) or Superlópez (1975) and in the renewed Mortadelo and Filemon (1969).

More adult readers succumb to the horror trend (Dossier Negro, 1968; Dracula and Vampus of 1971; Panic, 1972; Rufus, 1973; Vampirella, 1974, or SOS, 1975) and the satirical press (Barabbas, 1972; El Papus, 1973) and underground (El Rrollo enmascarado, 1973; Star, 1974). Many publishers join the so-called poverty market.

Meanwhile, a current of demands was generated, a cultural rethinking that, in the words of Javier Coma, was prior to the artistic one and that manifests itself with the appearance of:

• Books: Theory and mass culture (1966); Notes for a History of Tebeans: 1833-1963 (1967-68), The comics. Art for consumption and pop shapes and The Awesome Worldboth of 1968; Drawing comics, Paper Heroes and Los Comics en EspañaAll of 1969.
• Fanzines: Cute (1967), Bang! (1968), Comics Camp, Comics In (1972), The Wendigo (1974).
• Articles about comics in the generalist press: ABC, Destination, El Alcázar, Fotogramas, Imagen y Sonido, Informaciones, Madrid, Mundo Joven, Nuevo Diario, Pueblo, Triunfo, etc. The generalist press in which the viñetas of authors such as Forges, Mingote or Peridis proliferated, whose importance for the future of the Transition would be later recognized.
• In the tebes themselves, sections of letters of readers and divulgestives: The World of comics (DDDT, 1968) The Museo de la Historieta (Great Thumb, 1969) Magis de la Historieta (Gaceta Junior, 1969), Tebeoteca and Heroes Minor (Trinca, 1973).
• Clubs of amateurs: Club de Amigos de la Historieta
• The first associative movements: First national gathering of cartoon drawers (Sitges, 1969), Club DHIN (1972)
• The Comic Hall of Asturias (1972).

The large publishers also began to hire cartoonists who had chosen to work for the foreign market and to launch retrospective issues and compiling collections, such as the Olé! (1971). Among those Spanish authors who worked for other markets at this time, the Aragonese Carlos Ezquerra, co-creator of Judge Dredd or Julio Ribera, winner of the first edition of the Fauve d'Or are especially worth mentioning. of the Angoulême Festival. Other smaller publishers, such as Buru Lan or Grafimart are also dedicated to recovering the history of the medium, even with magazines such as El Globo (1973) or Chito (1974).

Splendor (1977-1982)

Portrait of Antonio Segura.

The heyday of adult comics (the so-called "boom") will take place after Franco's death, thanks to the work of editors such as Roberto Rocca, José María Berenguer, Luis García, Josep Maria Beà, Rafael Martínez, Joan Navarro and above all Josep Toutain, responsible for a veritable barrage of magazines, always monthly or bimonthly: Totem, Blue Jeans , El Jueves and Trocha, all from 1977; Boomerang and 1984, both from 1978; Creepy and El Víbora, in 1979; International Comix, Delta and Bésame Mucho in 1980; Cairo, Cimoc, Sergeant Kirk, Metal Hurlant and Rambla, all from 1981, and Makoki and Vértigo, in 1982. We must also highlight the work of publishers such as De la Torre and Ikusager, which develop the album market.

The satirical magazines, illustrated by authors such as Ivà, Ja, José Luis Martín or OPS, risked reprisals such as the attack on the September 20, 1977 office of El Papus. Others cultivated science fiction and fantasy, on many occasions with exacerbated eroticism, and dedicated themselves primarily to publicizing adult comics published abroad, including those by Spanish authors, such as 5 x infinity (1967), Mara (1971), The Chronicles of the Nameless (1973) or Hom (1975), which had not yet been published in the country. Finally, strictly erotic comics also proliferated, generally of poor quality, although some exceptions such as "Muerde" (1976).

Already in the 80s there was a "dodgy line" represented by El Víbora and Makoki, and the "light line" of Cairo, which gave rise to bitter controversies reflected in manifestos such as "In the face of an attempt to degrade the cultural significance of comics" (1983) and "Manifesto against the Tintin and Hergé exhibition" (1984), directed against the exhibition "Tintin in Barcelona" that was going to take place at the Joan Miró Foundation.

In this climate, new cartoonists emerged such as Mique Beltrán, Ceesepe, Guillem Cifré, Gallardo, Pere Joan, Mariscal, Max, Micharmut, Nazario, Roger, Scaramuix, Sento, Daniel Torres or Luis Royo. Taking advantage of the favorable situation, the Argentines Horacio Altuna and Juan Giménez also established themselves in the country. In general, the cartoonists of the period were subjugated by the concept of author comics, launching themselves to write their own scripts, although the need was highlighted. of more "able writers" such as Hernández Cava or Andreu Martin.

Such a variety of authors and trends bequeathed such well-known and different series as Paracuellos (1976); Makoki and My God!, both from 1977; Makinavaja, Anarcoma and Grunts in the Desert, from 1979; Zora and the Hibernauts and Galactic Tavern Stories (1980); The Mercenary, Nova-2, Bogey, Frank Cappa and Torpedo 1936 (1981), Cleopatra, Maese Espada and Taxi Driver in 1982; Peter Pank and Roco Vargas in 1983; Man (1984) and The Adventures of Dieter Lumpen (1985).

The creation of the Salón del Cómic de Barcelona (1980) and the edition in 1982 of a History of Comics in fascicles for kiosks, which had the collaboration of numerous media theorists, were also important. Spaniards and foreigners.

Decline (1983-1986)

Bruguera was the first of the big publishers to enter into a crisis, to the point that some of its authors joined the magazine Jauja, already in 1982. This did not prevent it from surpassing, however, comic magazines such as Spirou Ardilla (1979) and Fuera Borda (1984), acquiring the TBO in 1983 and giving the green light to Esther (1981), Superlópez (1985) and More wood! (1986). In the long run, young readers seemed to prefer the American superheroes, which since 1982 had been published, in stiff competition, by Zinco and Forum.

Market saturation was already evident in 1983, with the brief life of Ediciones Metropol magazines (Metropol, Mocambo and K.O. Comics), soon aggravated by an international economic recession that made paper prices more expensive and the rise of new entertainment media, such as video games. This crisis is also blamed on "lack of planning, lack of professionalism in the editors, and excessive triumphalism of everyone (including mercenary critics and others)". We must not forget either

the scar of censor and political control in the years of the dictatorship (which has conditioned, we admit it or not, the mentality of other editors); the general disregard of the media of then and now; (...) the business exploitation of the author's rights; the lack of awareness of many of his companions (current and precedent) about the responsibility that every artist has as a spokesman (although his voice is cowardic); the general crisis of the sector that is profitable

The truth is that in these years of apparent prosperity, publishers and authors had lost "a golden opportunity to really interest the reading public in general" and thus, Despite the proliferation of subsidized comics from 1984 with Madriz where Federico del Barrio or Ana Juan stood out, most of the adult comic magazines were closing, Cairo and Creepy in 1985, El Papus in 1987 or Dossier Negro in 1988, as well as Editorial Bruguera (1986). By then, the first manga, Candy Candy (1985), had already been published.

The crossing of the desert (1987-1997)

After the disappearance of Bruguera, various publishers fought to take over its market: Compañía General de Ediciones with "Bichos" and "Garibolo" and Editorial Grijalbo with "Guai!" and "Me and Me". None of them nor the "Mortadelos" and the "TBO" de Ediciones B were able to maintain their niche, also disappearing "Don Miki" in 1989. The same fate suffered the latest comics for girls ("Freckled", 1986). In the process, authors such as Casanyes, Cera, Maikel, Marco, Miguel, Paco Nájera or Ramis became known and successful characters such as Goomer, Mot and Pafman .

Among adult magazines, things weren't much better, with "Cairo" (1991), "Creepy" (1992), "Zone 84" (1992) and "Cimoc" (1995) and launching other short-lived ones, such as "Gran Aventurero" (1989), "Puta Mili" (1992), "Vignettes" (1993), "Co&Co" (1993) or "Top Comics" (1993). While they lasted, they allowed Pep Brocal, Fernando de Felipe, Corominas, Keko, Jaime Martín, Miguel Ángel Martín, Bartolomé Seguí or Sequeiros to start their careers, some of them aborted. Similar difficulties were encountered by authors who, shortly before the crisis, became known through fanzines, such as Beroy's Zero Comics (1980-1984), Ricard Castells, Pedro Espinosa, Daspastoras, Pascual Ferry, Garcés, Kaffa, Rafa Estrada, Miguelanxo Prado or Mike Ratera.

Yes, there was a boom in superheroes and imported manga, with which the influences became international, in addition to publishing Franco-Belgian material by Norma Editorial and directly pornographic headers such as "Kiss Comix& #3. 4; and "Penthouse Comix". Specialized bookstores and information magazines also spread (Inside the cartoon, La Guía del Cómic, Krazy Comics, Nemo, Urich, Volumen). Fanzines (Amaníaco, El Batracio Amarillo, La Comictiva, Crétino, Kovalski Fly, Kristal, Pate de Marrano, Nosotros Somos Los Muertos, TMEO) and small publishers (Dude, MegaMultimedia, Under Cómic, 7 Monos) arose.

The publishing house Camaleón raised, for example, a proposal for independent publishing that, with hardly any economic benefit, gave rise to a good cast of new cartoonists, through comics such as Mondo Lirondo and Tess Tinieblas. Despite the fact that the publisher ended up closing in 1998, other publishers, small and not so big (such as Planeta DeAgostini with its Laberinto line) followed suit, betting on new talent. With such publications, it became "somewhat easier to publish, but it is still just as difficult to get paid for it". Many of these comics were parodic and referential in nature, such as Fanhunter by Cels Piñol or Dragon Fall by Nacho Fernández/Álvaro López and made in the American or Japanese style (Gorka by Sergi San Julián, Iberia Inc by Rafael Marín/Rafa Fonteriz, El Resentido by Juaco Vizuete, Sueños by Rafael Sousa/Javier Sánchez, etc.).

Of the veterans, only Alfonso Azpiri, Jordi Bernet, Carlos Giménez, Francisco Ibáñez, Jan or Max, could afford to dedicate their greatest efforts to comics, increasing the number of those who worked abroad: Joan Boix, Ignasi Calvet Esteban, Pasqual Ferry, Salvador Larroca (first Spaniard —excluding Aragonés— to be awarded an Eisner for his work on Iron Man), Esteban Maroto, Ana Miralles, Josep Nebot, Carlos Pacheco, Rubén Pellejero or Jorge David Redo. Many more opted for painting and illustration, less exhausting and better paid.

Finally, we must mention the creation of two important events: El Salón de Granada (1994) and the Jornadas de Avilés (1996).

Assimilation (1998-present)

Albert Monteys.

In 1998, two more events were created: Expocómic and Viñetas desde el Atlántico. More stable independent publishers also began to emerge, such as De Ponent (1998), Sinsentido (1998), Astiberri (2001), Dolmen (2001), Dibbuks (2005) and Diábolo Ediciones (2006), which focus on the production of albums. and graphic novels. Although the magazine El Víbora disappeared in 2005, BD Banda, Cthulhu or El Manglar joined the already established Amaníaco, TMEO or El Jueves. This was renewed by Manel Fontdevila and Albert Monteys, who gave way to authors such as Darío Adanti, Mauro Entrialgo, Pedro Vera or Paco Alcázar. In 2014, as a result of a controversy with a change of cover, several of the main The authors of El Jueves left the magazine, creating a new one (Pride and Satisfaction), which would stop publishing three years later.

For their part, the new children's magazines, such as ¡Dibucómics! (2001) or Mister K (2004) did not prosper, also closing the supplement Pequeño País in 2009. Only ¡Dibus! and those that have a subsidy for their publication in Catalan survive, such as Cavall Fort, Camacuc, Esquitx and Tretzevents, in such a way that the recovery of the youth sector, "neglected at the time", became a problem.

Little by little, and after the success of the Dreamers portal (1996) by Nacho Carmona, the old paper information magazines were replaced by electronic publications, such as Guía del Cómic (2000) by José A. Serrano and the collectives Zona Negativa (1999), Tebeosfera (2001) and Entrecomics (2006), as well as by a multitude of blogs, among which La cárcel de papel (2003) by Álvaro Pons stands out. and Mandorla (2009) by Santiago García.

Intimate comics are also becoming fashionable, such as those by Juan Berrio, Nacho Casanova, Calo, Sonia Pulido, Javi Rodríguez and Fermín Solís, although some are inscribed in the fantastic (Quim Bou, Víctor Santos, Santiago Valenzuela, Nacho Fernández), or are as varied as they are unclassifiable (Luis Durán, Studio Kôsen, Álex Fito, Javier de Isusi, Man, Hernán Migoya, Paco Roca, David Rubín).

Many Spanish authors work, however, for other markets, in which several of them have stood out very significantly:

• American: Daniel Acuña, Gabriel Hernández Walta (winner of an Eisner Prize for his work in The Vision), Marcos Martín (winner of several Eisner Awards for The Private Eye or Daredevil), David Aja (winner of several Eisner awards for several of his works for Marvel), Ramón F. Bachs, David López, Emma Rios, Juan José RyP, El Torres, Kano, Javier Pulido, Salva Espín, Natacha Bustos, Paco Díaz, etc.
• French: Juan Díaz Canales y Juanjo Guarnido (authors of Blacksad, award-winning work with several Eisner Awards, Sergio Bleda, Tirso Cons, Esdras Cristóbal, Enrique Fernández, José Fonollosa, Sergio García, Mateo Guerrero, Raule and Roger IbáñezJazz Maynard), José Luis Munuera, Rubén del Rincón, José Robledo and Marcial Toledano (Ken Games), Kenny Ruiz, Alfonso Zapico, etc.

We should highlight webcomics such as Hey, man!, Young Lovecraft, The Smart One or the digital comic ¡ Universo! and the creation of portals for Spanish and Spanish-speaking webcomics such as WEE of "Webcomics en español" and [2], in which both professionals and amateurs make themselves known.

Although the Ministry of Culture had already awarded its Gold Medal for merit in Fine Arts to cartoonists Miguel Quesada (2000), Francisco Ibáñez (2001) and Carlos Giménez (2003) and to cartoonist Mingote (2004), In 2007, a National Comic Award was created in Spain to reward the best Spanish comic book of the year, which was a great stimulus for the sector, having won authors such as Max, Paco Roca, Felipe Hernández Cava and Bartolomé Seguí, Altarriba and Kim, Santiago Valenzuela, Alfonso Zapico, Miguelanxo Prado, Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, Santiago García and Javier Olivares, Pablo Auladell, Rayco Pulido or Ana Penyas. However, the Gold Medal for merit in Fine Arts has continued to be awarded to authors related to comics after the establishment of the Award, such as Pura Campos, Román Gubern, Forges, Nazario, Ceesepe, Jan (the latter rejecting it) or The broken.

References and notes