Cuban Comics in the Castro Era

Creators and Characters

Most, if not all, of the comic artists in Cuba at this time were supporters of the new government or were at least opposed to the Batista regime. They were eager to support their new leadership with the skills they had honed their entire lives. Using their artistry and creativity, they turned their humorous and adventurous comics into a new arm of the Cuban propaganda machine, an arm that was entertaining and easily digestible by the general public.

Roberto Alfonso Cruz (Robe), is the creator of indigenous characters such as 'Guabay,' 'Yari,' and 'Naoh.'Most of his work was published in the magazines Pionero, Zunzún and Cómicos. He created the series 'Recuerdos de Chamaco' with scriptwriter Fidel Morales Vega for Pionero in 1971. It was collected in book format by Editorial Pablo de la Torriente in 1988. In 2009 he illustrated a book about the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. Yarí, an indigenous Taíno constantly struggling (and triumphing) against the Spanish conquistadores. Portrayal of Afro-Cubans stands in stark contrast to common US portrayals (and absences) of African Americans during the 1960s and 1970s.

Jorge Oliver
Historietas de 'Capitan Plin'


Ernesto Padrón Blanco is a Cuban graphic designer, illustrator, cartoonist, scriptwriter and director of animated cartoons. After studying Journalism at the University of Havana, he has worked as chief propaganda of the José Marti youth organization, and as director of children's magazines like Bijirita and Zunzún. He also wrote and drew the comic strip 'Yeyín' and wrote many scripts for Orestes Suárez Lemus. He has taught several courses and workshops in graphic design, scriptwriting and computer animation, and is a film director with the ICAIC animation studios.

Juan Padrón Blanco (born January 29, 1947 in Matanzas) is a Cuban animation director and comics artist. He is best known as the creator of the comic strip Elpidio Valdés. Since 1963 he has published sketches and cartoons for Cuban magazines and newspapers. He was the creator, in 1970, of Elpidio Valdés a cartoon character (and series) with more than sixty shorts and two feature-length movies. In 2008, Padrón was selected as the recipient of Cuba's National Film Award.
Juan Padrón Blanco is one of the most emblematic figures in the Cuban comics and animation scene, and the creator of Cuba's most popular comics character, 'Elpidio Valdés'. Born in Cárdenas, Matanzas, he began working at the Animation Department of the ICAIC at the age of 17. After his military service, he joined the magazine Mella, where he alternated on 'El Hueco' with Virgilio Martínez and Silvio Rodríguez. He was also present in Muñequitos with 'Barsoom de Marte'. Padrón created his best known character, 'Elpidio Valdés', in 1970. This Creole rebel has been featured in many comic strips as well as short and feature films, throughout the years, and has about the same popularity in Cuba, as 'Astérix' has in France. Padrón is also known for his 1985 cult film 'Vampiros en la Habana'.
Historietas de Elpidio Valdés, 1985
La Historia de Elpidio Valdés, 1987

Luis Lorenzo Sosa, 1937-2001. Luis Lorenzo Sosa was born in Guanabacoa, near Havana. He studied with the local art school since the age of 13, but had his first job with a towel factory. Largely a self-taught artist, he joined the art team of Mella magazine under the guidance of Virgilio Martínez in 1960. In the following year, he was present in the first issue of Pionero magazine. He drew the magazine's first cover, and remained a contributor for thirty years until moving over to Zunzun in 1990. His best known creations are 'Kombey, El Samurai' in ¡Aventuras! and the science fiction series 'Matías Pérez' in Pionero. He also worked with Juan Padrón on 'Ronin', another samurai feature, and with Marcelino Ortiz on 'Capitán Fabricio' and 'Zombo'.
Historietas, Matías Pérez y otras Aventuras, Luis Lorenzo, 1988 March
Matías Pérez Contra Kuantrespit, nos. 660-674, 1977
Matías Pérez, nos. 613-621, 1976
Matías Pérez, 1986

Orestes Suárez Lemus 1950-
Cuban comic artist Orestes Suárez Lemus was born in Pinar del Río. He was an electrician and a maintenance worker in a mattress factory before beginning his artistic career with the magazine Pioneros in the late 1970s. He made several illustrations for the magazine, and later also for Pásalo and Zunzún. From 1979, he made his first comics in cooperation with writer Ernesto Padrón Blanco, such as 'Viaje de Exploración a un Extraño Dibujo' and 'Inés, Aldo y Beto en: La emboscada'. Orestes proved to be capable to draw in several styles, varying from realism to grotesque humour and tender children's stories. Among his credits are 'Vitralitos. Cada loco con su tema' and 'Camila' in Cómicos (1989-1990), 'Me voy a España' with Ana Nuñez Machín in Pablo (1985) and 'Yakro' in the collection Historietas of Editorial Pablo de la Torriente (1990). In 1995, he drew 'Razza Selvaggia', an episode of 'Mister No' for the Italian publisher Bonelli. He stated that many young people had no experience with the Revolution, not having been born yet so they needed the education.
Historietas, Yakro, Orestes Suarez, 1990

Virgilio Martínez Gaínza, 1931-2008. Virgilio Martínez Gaínza is a commercial artist and one of Cuba's most notable cartoonists. Born in Havana on 27 April 1931, he began his career as a commercial artist in 1949. He published his first political cartoon in A Barrer and then worked extensively in the underground press, such as Mella and Carta Semanal. Among his first comic creations was the lucky character 'Pucho', whose adventures appeared in the clandestine magazine Mella in the 1955-1959 period. He signed the strip with Laura, to protect himself from the repression of the Batista regime. 'Pucho' later became 'Cucho,' and another notable creation by Martínez was the grotesque Superman parody 'Supertiñosa.' Martínez continued to work for Mello until the merge with Juventud Rebelde in 1965, and also drew for this publication and its supplements El Sable, La Chicharra, DDT and Pionero until 1967. He became Pionero's art director in 1974, and was also the responsible editor for the magazine Zunzún. Throughout the revolutionary period, he worked for INRA, Moncada, Mar y Pesca, Bohemia, Editorial Pablo, La Calle and other publications. Besides humorous works, he has also made a variety of realistic comics, such as 'La gloria que se ha vivido' (script by Olga Marta Pérez), that was published by Editorial Capitán San Luis in 1990. He has also designed many logos, several of which are still used today, as well as the emblems of the Association of Young Rebels and most notably the Union of Young Communists, to which he was affiliated for more than 30 years from 1962. He worked for Revista Somos Jóvenes and from the late 1980s, worked as an artist in Granma. He passed away on 12 May 2008 at the age of 77.
Historietas, Supertiñosa, Virgilio Martínez Gainza, 1988 February
Las Adventuras de Cucho, 1984

Manuel Hernandez
Historietas, Manuel, Manuel Hernandez, 1988 March

Domingo Garcia
Emilio Fernandez
Antonio Prohías Spy v Spy
Santiago "Chago" Armada created Julito 26.
René de la Nuez created El Loquito.

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