Chilean Comics: A Portfolio With A Cause

Chilean comics aren’t talked about a lot; not until now. You’ve got your early successes in newspapers and magazines. As well as several regime changes: socialist, junta, and democracy. Chile’s definitely got enough fans to keep its comics going. They wouldn’t make a park in dedication to its most popular characters if they didn’t. Better yet there are passionate creators doing well to show off Chile.

Chilean Comics Origins

Chile’s comics have your usual start: magazines with comic strips that mainly appeal to school kids. Because characters like Federico Von Pilsener tend to be more fun than classic literature. So when newspapers of American origin catch wind of the trends, Chilean cartoonists come out of the woodwork. Some local entrepreneurs even start their own newspapers with strips, gaining prominence to help their readers get through the economic crisis of 1929. So many in fact that by the 1940s magazines got distributed in Argentina. Not bad for pages only in two colors.

Chilean Comics Have Their Icons

Especially when characters like Condorito become icons with international recognition. Who? He’s basically Mickey Mouse of Chile’s lower class; always ready to party, loyal, but a bit irresponsible. The gags and comeuppances of the comics had a good run until 2019. Nowadays Condorito spends more time on TV and YouTube.

He wasn’t the only strip with that kind of attention. Barrabases is equal parts soccer satire and Peanuts-like characterizations. Go onto any search and this will be a lot people’s first Chilean comic.

There were a few other specialized magazines for sci-fi and political satire. The latter of which was starting to become a problem with political polarization coming up. Frankly like in today’s social media feeds, political drama gets more attention than making fun of it.

So Politics Get In Comics

Speaking of politics, the Popular Unity Party saw translated Disney magazines as imperialist/capitalist infiltration. Yeah, this is a Chilean Seduction of the Innocent.

So workers from Chile’s biggest publisher Zig-Zag helped the state buy it as Editorial Quimantú to stay in business. With state resources came lower product prices and wider distribution; wonder how much of that came from tax money. Besides comics were still considered a lower priority to literature and political material.

Sure, classics like Condorito were still around. But others like Confidencias and The Sinister Dr. Mortis weren’t so lucky. While scarier titles like Dr. Mortis got replaced by science-fiction, romances got photo-novels in their place. Funnily enough there was still Disney material so long as it didn’t have “negative connotations”.

Here’s How

Frankly there were a lot of sociologists involved at this time. What with a Department of Comic Strips forwarding Cabrochico as a magazine “for real Chilean children”. And therein lies a familiar problem; the fact that so many people at this time only see comics as for children. It wouldn’t really surprise me that a number of alternative magazines were closed down for not fitting state standards.

Because many people on this committee are all for demystifying and giving social criticism on Chilean reality. Layman’s terms: no flights of fancy no matter how well Superman can deliver an altruistic message. Compared to how Seduction of the Innocent led to large scale censorship, How To Read Donald Duck led to grooming kids towards socialism.

Not that they were explicit, they just changed the aesthetics to suit ideals. Like how in a take on Puss in Boots (not the Dreamworks character), it’s the people who turn against the cat’s master who are the heroes. Honestly, it’s probably because making changes to public domain characters are easier. The purpose this and La Firme serve is to encourage people to think critically about society. Although it was under a socialist bias, it is admittedly less overbearing than other socialist causes.

Chilean Comics vs. The Military

Not that it mattered anyway; the military coup put a dictator in charge. One tragically backed by the CIA in the fight against communism, even the less overbearing kind. Most of the pro-socialism comics were burned by the new power in charge. All so that they could take the reins with Zig-Zag changing its name again into Editorial Gabriela Mistral. Only this time the comics turned into pure military propaganda, or at least the ads did that. Any other magazines that were considered subversive were canceled including Mampato. Plus the inflation caused a few problems with foreign distribution to countries like Mexico. Thus forcing most comics to stay local to have a chance at survival.

It got so bad that underground comics had to spring up in universities with free distribution. The most famous character of this time was Checho Lopez, an unemployed alcoholic who represents the average Chilean. His surreal situations were satire not focusing on ideology but the very humanity of the real world. This allowed the character to live past the 80s and enter Chile’s history books.

Bigger Audiences, Smaller Market

By the 90s, Chile’s transition to democracy brought new opportunities for freedom of speech. Sure it took 15 years but Chilean-made comics started to take precedent. Not because of policies or national pride but because most import comics couldn’t connect to readers on some social and education levels. Not that local comics did much better. Sure, Condorito and Pepe Antártico were doing fine; but newer anthologies, graphic novels, and other IPs were struggling even with a direct market. Most Chilean creators were luckier to find success out of the country.

Take for example Diablo, a comic that was inspired by the US’s “Dark Age” of comics. It did well at first but poor sales cancelled it after twelve issues. But it was so well received in Mexico, that one of the creators decided to republish it there and start a sequel. …That also didn’t last. Today, it’s considered a cult classic held back by circumstance.

There are still Chilean comics being published but they’re few and far between. You can find just about all noteworthy characters in Parque del Comic de San Miguel. But the stores still focus on the ones with history like Condoritio, American comics, and manga.

Chilean Comics Make Their Opportunities

So when the internet became viable, the digital front became Chilean comics main channel. In addition to web comics, autobiographical comics got a bigger audience, especially as a means for artists to get experimental. Just ask Marcela Trujillo. The fanzines and festivals also got a bigger audience to the point of creators getting awards outside of the country. Not just in the United States with the Eisners, but Japan’s Tezuka Awards.

Today a number of indie publishers come up with some getting more notoriety than others. Just look at this list from Goodreads. Some comics are lucky to get support for bigger causes, like the Mapuverse’s Guardianes del Sur (not to be confused with the tabletop gaming channel). The reception for it is great with a video game app and merchandise supporting the franchise. There’s also supposed to be an animated Netflix series but there’s nothing to follow that up with. …That happens a lot. Which is a shame because this brings Chilean legends to life while showing off the indigenous Mapuche people in battle against the conquistadors.

Whatever the case, it seems Chile isn’t going to slow down its efforts for its comics. It’s a tough battle, but there are many spirited creators out there ready to show the world what they’re made of.

Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.