Titles and Publications
While comics were becoming very more popular in the 1960s, it was the 1970s and 1980s where they truly became mainstream. Many of the most well known titles opened in these two decades, only to be shuttered in the 1990s due to paper and other supply shortages. These shortages came about because of an economic downturn during that period caused by repeated embargoes leveled at the country by the United States and others.
Most of these titles did not only have comics, but also included activities and puzzles that provided lessons on geography, anthropology, and politics.
Palante, was first
published in 1961 as a
weekly humor magazine.
It closed down in
November of 1990. Palante, whose first issue comes out on October 16, 1961. I mention this publication because it clearly illustrates the blow inflicted on Cuban political satire from that date. The name of the weekly is derived from the slogan then in vogue: “We are socialists, pa’lante y pa’lante[going forward].” The name alone demonstrates the publication’s political affiliation and commitment to the government in power, banishing in advance the intrinsic quality that had thus far characterized Cuban political satire, as an arm of popular sentiment against the abuses of the government in power.
El Pionero, Juan Padron
Blanco's "Elpidio Valdes"
was first published in
Pionero in 1970.
C-Línea, launched in 1973,
was a journal dedicated to
the study of comic art, the
first attempt to do so.
It only published 14 issues.
Dedeté started as a bi-monthly
humor magazine in February
of 1979. It closed down
November 1990.
Zunzún, was first
published in
October 1980.
Bijirita, began as a quarterly
Magazine in February 1985.
El Muñe, was first
published in 1985
as a weekly tabloid.
Cómicos was first published
in December 1985, as a
monthly comic book.
Mi Barrio, was first published
September 1996 despite the
paper shortages. It is supported
economically by
the Comite´s de Defensa
de la Revolucio´n (CDR) and
the Unio´n de Escritores y
Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC)
Pásalo
¡Aventuras!
Mella
Zig Zag started in 1938, initially supported the revolution but ran afoul of the government.El Loquito becomes a regular in Zig-Zag, whose political satire comes into open contradiction with the revolution of 1959, resulting in its definitive closure on January 31, 1960. Dictators have never endured humor, let alone humorists. That is part of the history of the Cuban Weekly Zig Zag, which the old Cuban dictator will liquidate in 1960.
La Picua
Pablo
