The dominant role of adult comics in Mexico is relatively new. From the 1930s through the 1970s, Mexico had a thriving comic-book industry with many genres. Titles such as Pepín, Fantomas, and Memín Penguín sold millions of copies during this era.
But in the 1980s, American superhero comics poured into Mexico. That, combined with the perception that comics were only for kids, nearly wiped out indigenous comic books in Mexico. The only genre to survive, and even thrive, was a unique form of adult pulp comics.
Sensacionales – Adult Comics, Mexican Style
In Mexico, adult comics go by a number of names, like "sensacionales" or "ghetto librettos." They are published in huge numbers as roughly square-shaped digests, about 96 pages long, in a realistic but uncomplicated "house" style. Most are sold cheaply at newsstands, either new or second-hand.
Sensacionales are known for their lurid subject matter, with stories and images that can get very gory or pornographic – or even a combination of the two. Typical titles include Bellas de Noche ("Ladies of the Night") or Relatos de Presidio ("Stockade Tales").
The full-color, painted covers of these comics are often the most sensationalistic. Interior art, whether in black and white or in color, can vary widely. Often, compositional tricks or shadows hide the most explicit details in a form of comics self-censorship (see image #5 below for an example).
Ghetto Librettos and Mexican Culture
The name ghetto libretto, points out artist Luis Blackaller, is indicative of the medium's place in Mexican society. "Comic books in general are already a segregated medium in Mexico," Blackaller observes. They are seen as "not something people should be proud of reading."
Unlike most adult comics in the United States and Europe, which cater to an artsy (or pretentiously artsy) crowd, sensacionales are strictly for the masses. Working-class characters, from prostitutes to laborers, are their heroes. Similarly, those who create these comics consider themselves craftsmen rather than artists.
The range of genres that the sensacionales embrace is surprisingly wide. Ghetto librettos can be sex farces, thrillers, soap operas, and romances. They deal with various social issues such as governmental corruption and race. But the comics only deal with these serious topics in the most superficial, exploitative way.
And there is a danger of reading too much into Mexican comics. For instance, the depiction of Memín Penguín, a Cuban-Mexican children's character from the 1960s, was recently denounced as racist in America. In Mexico's different cultural context, those overtones are absent and the character is often looked on with fondness.
Adult Comics in Mexico and Abroad
Mexican sensacionales have a rather ambiguous value in the world of comics. They represent a vibrant, truly popular indigenous cultural production. Yet, at the same time, they are inherently sensationalistic and boast few artistic merits.
For that reason, Americans and other foreigners should try to understand this paradox before denouncing such comics or coveting them simply as lurid souvenirs of a trip south of the border.
Luke Arnott - Luke Arnott has a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Western Ontario, where he is currently enrolled in the ...
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