Comic Books of the World (Part 2)

The Little Things Pile Up

Continued from here:

Uruguay

Historietas here are the usual blending of humor, fantasy, and social criticism. The earliest I could find is Pelopincho y Cachirula in 1931; simple adventures and disputes of two title kids. Apparently these rascals were so popular in Argentina, they got published there in the 50s. Probably for the best because of what lead to the 12 year civic-military dictatorship in 1973 that burned books. The lack of civil liberties might be why some more creators publish in Argentina like Tabaré’s Diógenes y el Linyera. One of the title characters is a hobo who lives in a city square resembling the two countries’ capitals. With his only companion being a dog named after a Greek philosopher to provide humor to the strip’s satire.

So what happened in the 80s when democracy came back? There were some economic structural reforms, but they still needed help from their neighbors like Brazil and Argentina that were going through their own economic hardships.

On the plus side, the native Dragón Comics came out of this hardship sharing as part of the Mojito publishing collective. Between shared publishing in Uruguay and Argentina, the graphic novel El Viejo won Brazil’s Eisner, the Troféu HQ Mix. The complexities of an old guy living through the best and worst of Latin American life relates with a lot of this huge audience. Honestly who doesn’t mind reading about a layers behind people’s bitterness. This audience is all over social media.

Can’t forget the number of comic cons like Montevideo and Continuara…. This gave fans a chance to live out their fantasies. Plus they can be places to meet your favorite creators even American artists. Not that the AUCH (Asociacion Uruguaya de Creadores de Historietas) won’t display local talents whenever they show up. Gotta get future artists inspired you know.

Ecuador

Blah-blah, caricatures in newspapers, blah-blah, most came from North America, blah-blah… oooh… so there were two titles called Pav and Cilla that were a transitionary phase between political caricatures and strips. It’s not until 1961 where Don Canuto, the first national comic strip appears. And another one called El Gato doesn’t show up for more than 15 years. Probably because of economic instability and the military government.

But when it comes to comic magazines with notable titles, imports with the likes of Mexico’s Kaliman inspires local talent. Doesn’t hurt that democracy and the following economic boom comes around this time. With this, national comic books show up in 1983 with the magazine Panfleto featuring characters a distinct Ecuadorian identity. Like it’s title character, an everyman reacting to everything around him. As well as El Conde Alcohorita about a vampire sucking the blood of drunks. Yeah the petroleum boom ended early, but the country persevered.

Hence why anthologies like XOX appear, each focusing on specific trending niches. While XOX focused on the rock scene, it’s followers go into humor, sports, and anime. Despite each being independent, they got the support of the local government. Mostly the strips in newspapers.

Naturally, these gave way when the internet and social media come onto the scene. Ask anyone in Ecuador what the most popular comics are, they’ll tell you a manga title or strips like Malfalda or Condorito. There are locally made comics with graphic novels like the Blade Runner-esque Angelus Hostis. As well as more experimental stuff that you’ll usually find in the Guayaquil Comic Con. These days, institutions like the CCE try to encourage the locals with comic focused rewards.

Guatamala

Mostly educational or autobiographical. Might be more but can’t find any.

Bulgaria

Oddly enough started as a photographer’s drawings angled like photos in a magazine. Then there were strips that adapted poems like Gordelivata Maca for another magazine… for kids. A lot of caricatures come in at this time. Then color comes in 1940 after being inspired by Walt Disney comics, both American and Italian. Not to mention, Tarzan, gangsters, and pirates. ‘Course adaptations of folk tales and classic literature dominate.

But not as much as the rebel Soviets. Like any communist states, comics had to be kid stuff or approved of by the state. Less the makers be nearly beat to death in one Stalin satirist’s case. The only magazine from the old days to survive was the Disney comics inspired Chuden Sviat under the Central Committee of the Dimitrov Communist Youth Union. Everyone else had to go underground and avoid getting caught.

These comics peak around the 70s and 80s with Duga/Daga(?) rivaling Chewed Spit…uh. Anyway that magazine features a lot of animators who worked on Cartoon Network shows. One of them was vain enough to adapt his cartoon Choko i Boko. The most famous strip was about a kid named Darko with a magic mushroom-like hat. There’s also an unfinished sci-fi comic called ELO, something in Bulgarian.

The magazine went on for about 12 years until communism’s grip loosened. With people finding stuff like Asterix more entertaining, Bulgarians saw how little they actually knew. When Soviet Union fell, they decided to analyze comics in depth to get a better idea.

In any case Duga gets a couple of revivals in the 21st century for Bulgarian illustrators. Some of them try to combine with manga like in Bonzai. Others went out of the country, probably because distribution proves to be a problem. These days, webcomics are probably the most viable area.

Institutions as well as conventions help bolster interest in the artform.

Iceland

Mostly imports for kids at first. WWII called for (badly translated) soldier comics. The 70s bring in the Franco-Belgian adventurers (Tintin, Asterix, & retranslated Donald Duck). Not a lot of local activity until the 2000s apparently. But even that’s not much, most of them are straight adaptations of Icelandic folk sagas. Others are artbooks or editorial cartoons. There’s an institution called The Icelandic Comic Society which hosts monthly events. Webcomics seem to be the most accessible form of the medium.

Brunei

Seems to be pretty recent since there isn’t too much. Earliest I can find is a comic called Noh. It’s multi-book series about a cartoonist’s life growing up in the country’s capital. Either it started in the 90s or the artist did. Next there was a superhero comic called The Chronicles of Tebuanman from the publisher AD Comics. The four book series has been well received thanks to the passion and effort local comic fans put into it. The most recent one was funded by the US Embassy. Genesis was meant to inspire people to think outside the box. Because after a pandemic, you gotta be able to express yourself. Who knows maybe Comic Cons, institutions, and centralized web comics will appear next.

Lithuania

Not much on history, but the recognizable form started in 1990. But anything more specific is behind a language barrier. From the cliffnotes, it’s got a local name: komiksas. They start with the usual satirical cartoons to strips and books. A lot of of people think its for kids, mainly because of how popular it is with them especially adventure stories. As for specific genres, Lithuanian historical events happen very often. Especially Sibiro haiku, a graphic retelling of a family’s deportation to Siberia. Ebooks and conventions are also around. A few artists even take part in international anthologies.

Georgia

Not the US state! This COUNTRY’s comic scene started pretty recently. No big history that came before, but Georgia does have its classic literature and epic poems. Enough to adapt to comic form to inspire more. But it might be a while before anyone notices anything big.

Sri Lanka

A lot of stores and a con. Apparently comics were THE medium before the 90s. Local or imports? Probably more of the latter, since there’s no proper industry. But there was a lot of underground stuff. Eventually that leads to a website called Papadamn where creators put all of their work together. Mainly to centralize exposure over the most accessible platforms possible like social media for Sakkai Muniyai or webtoons for This Fluffy Love. But they offer plenty of other services to show how comics and art can benefit more people. From advertisements, PSAs, tutoring aspiring creators, and a curation platform for creatives to advertise on and get recommendations.

Honduras

As early as 1983, comics were the cheapest way for education and awareness. Especially since rural grade schools didn’t have much to work with. Today, comics appear to go as far as junior high. Mainly thanks to being sponsored by programs like the Office of Transition Initiatives. From water purification to transparency and accountability over corruption, no subject is too much.

Slovakia

Seems to be recent with conventions’ locals mostly being artists with Instagram accounts. Anthologies certainly help get them attention. Fewer are recommended to help learn Slovak.

Ghana

More recent scene with most companies quickly changing direction towards gaming or animation. The ones who still do comics are usually the web stuff. Or educating populace about history whether on their own or collaborating with TV and Nigeria’s premiere comic company.

Tunisia

Yeah, back to Arabic stuff. Tunisia had comic magazines since the 60s through connections to a political party fighting French colonial influence. More magazines came up and then its first convention appeared in the 90s. During all this time, there’s a unique style that came in reaction. Most I could find was on a blog that comes from the word for Cuttlefish. Then there’s one called Queer Squad. Pretty big deal since Tunisia doesn’t allow same-sex marriage.

Panama

A Comic Con and a graphic novel made between the Smithsonian, parts of the Panamanian government, and an illustrative communications company is all I can find.

Jamaica

According to one source, there were comics on defunct newspapers and their websites. Maybe there were more from before and after the Spanish and English colonial times to Jamaica’s independence. But the source agrees that only the more recent stuff gets noticed. Including the internationally sold Dread & Alive multimedia project. Even though the most recent stuff is mostly the creator Zoolook’s music. A good chunk of these creatives are also in animation with highly expressive character designs and effects to deliver a story’s impact. Also now that I have a better understanding on Maroon definitions, I’m not gonna be able to look at Looney Tunes’ usage the same way ever again. Because some of these artists go above and beyond with projects like Maroon Black and I-Land Chronicles. Today people throughout the Caribbean islands try to help one another out with services like AllUhWi Comics.

North Macedonia

I knew that Macedonia had a list of comic creators, but most people don’t talk about what they do specifically. Apparently they came in 3 stages.

First from contact with Yugoslavia to create specialized magazines, usually kids. Doesn’t mean that there wasn’t anything serious though. There were plenty of caricatures showing the bitter absurdities of the prison camps in 1941. As part of the National Liberation Struggle, it gave the communist led partisans a big push for support against German occupation.

After WWII, folk traditions, fairy tales, and post-war communist propaganda would combine with poetic prose writing. Usually to comment on events like Greek refugees during its civil war. By the 60s and 70s, a few comics commented on history like the Boer Wars and national heroes like Hristijan Todorovski.

As for the third and ongoing phase, a new wave of cartoonists would appear around the 80s. Youths are definitely the target audience around this time with more contemporary attitudes and institutions opening up. Not to mention an underground scene for the comics that are a bit too much. Won’t stop any censors but at least they lay the foundations for the next decades.

Look no further than the Comic Center of Macedonia. This organization helps nurture local talents with workshops and publishing, organizing shows, and connects with other institutions and the media to make the conditions better.

When it comes to acclaim, there aren’t many. The first title I could find was Streetdog and Rat based on the 80s underground style. Unafraid to speak harsh truths, but only because that was the tradition of the art style.

Albania/Kosovo

Another Yugoslavian influence with the name “stripa”. But most come from Kosovo. Yet there’s no mention of comics unlike in Macedonia because there’s nothing the communist party can use for propaganda.

Except for a newspaper strip called… Taffy Cursory? (Tafë Kusuri). Apparently this is the Calvin & Hobbes and Garfield of these countries. Wait, did this show up in the 90s or 1974? … ‘74! Looks like the title character Tafa was the cartoonist’s way to safely make criticisms of society and politics. I guess the soviets couldn’t see the satire. Better yet, Agim Qena got to actually create and not just echo propaganda. So influential, Qena’s son kept the strip going in a new newspaper.

When the Soviets went kaput, magazines sprout up. There was even a cafe dedicated to them. Great for local titles to mix with foreign material like Hellboy, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Italy’s Alan Ford and Martin Mystere. Although most artists went out of the country for work especially in the Franco-Belgian and Italian areas.

Albums collecting stories and graphic novels have a good reception in recent times. But while the overall interest is high in the medium, local stuff doesn’t have as much. Partly because it will take a while before Albanian speakers really get into comics. There aren’t a lot of places to buy stuff right now.

Kenya

Some of the earliest Komiki came in the 90s with newspaper strips. Babu and Bongoman were some of the most popular. Probably for showing how much of an adventure the average Kenyan can make out of life. As for comic books, 1998 had Macho ya Mji. Can’t tell if it was from a kids newspaper strips or an original piece. Two boys and a blind beggar helping police officers catch thieves…really can’t tell if this was a PSA or a story using elements of one.

In any case, Kenyan comics got more attention years later. The Shujaaz brand is what really kicks things off. The comic was made in reaction to a lack of accessible education in Kenya. That and a crisis after a 2007 election. From teaching farmers to paint chicks pink to speaking to a younger audience about serious issues with a language they’re familiar with. It’s enough for this radio DJ comic with a big cast to win Emmys.

Then there’s the Pan-African framed anthology The Continent. How many are from Kenya? Not sure, most I could find was a guy with a magic spear. Besides a power fantasy about fighting back against colonization in the 18th century means a lot. Especially since around this same time is Naiccon, the first recognized Kenyan convention.

Or maybe it appeared alongside Avandu Vosi Studios. You might see why its Kenya’s premiere comic company when you join its newsletter and check out Rovik. Might convince you to find its premiere title Sanamu. This 12 part epic fantasy explores the local mythology and how it reflects the characters and the readers who support them. Along with the games and animation, they help create a space for ways only Kenyans can express. Enough to make the national news.

They’re not the only publisher of course. More independent ventures like Drelix and the self-publishing Mutendi Writes give Kenyan comics more exposure. And there’s sure to be more!

Libya

Very difficult with militias trying to crack down on comics. But not impossible. Cartoonists like Nabil Fannoush definitely have their fans amid censorship. Look no further than Habka, Libya’s first manga started by two assassinated artists and finished by friends in their comics workshop. Not just in defiance of the militias but because it shows that life with a little humor and heart is easier to deal with. Especially in all of the civil clashes. Hence why it was funded by the Libyan Transition Initiative. So popular, the project team tries to get more workshops running.

That got a little easier with the Comic Cons. Enough for institutions to sponsor them. Until the second annual got cut short by a militia for “Attacks on Morals and Modesty”; at least two of the organizers got out with no charges. When it comes to anything new, it looks like it might be a while.

Nicaragua

Not much with the top results being an instruction comic book the CIA left behind for the Contras. Kind of a boring read really. Most I could find locally made was in 1979 with political cartoons in Humor Erotico. Pretty bold since newspaper editors were getting assassinated around this time and the Contras were sprouting up.

Continued…

Did not expect this to be so full. Hopefully one more post.