Peru.
Peru
1907
Peruvian comics began in the illustrated press: a strip signed by Dumontel appeared in the weekly Don Quijote in 1873, followed by El Perú Ilustrado and the satirical Monos y Monadas.
Speech balloons arrived in 1922, and from 1947 newspaper strips such as Crose's Pachochín, Hernán Bartra's Boquellanta, David Málaga's Serrucho and Víctor Honigman's Supercholo, together with the magazine Avanzada (1953 to 1968), formed a golden age. From the late 1970s Juan Acevedo's El Cuy and the revived Monos y Monadas led a politically engaged scene, carried on since 2000 by fanzines such as Carboncito and by Jesús Cossio's documentary comics about political violence.
35
26
1907
1950s
Artists from Peru in the archive.
Comics from Peru in the archive.
Monos y Monadas, the earliest comic from Peru in the archive.
The decade when the most new comics from Peru began.
historieta
Peru in 5 chapters
A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.
Peru.
5 chapters
Chapter 1
1873
to 1921
The illustrated press
1873
to 1921
Chapter 01
The illustrated press
In 1873 Dumontel signed the strip Fragata sospechosa a la vista in the weekly Don Quijote, the earliest Peruvian comic usually cited. El Perú Ilustrado (1887 to 1892) published Julio Gálvez and Zenón Ramírez, and Monos y Monadas, founded by Leonidas Yerovi with Julio Málaga Grenet, printed political cartoons including some by Abraham Valdelomar.
1922
to 1946
Chapter 02
Speech balloons
American influence brought speech balloons in 1922 with El comisario Ted Micky by Gustavo Lama and Travesuras de Serrucho y Volatín by Jorge Vinatea Reinoso, followed in 1924 by Pedro Challe's Mataperradas de Gordete y Calambrito. In the mid-1940s Demetrio Peralta created a bandit hero for the magazine Palomilla that brought the Andes and its exploitation into Peruvian graphic humour.
1947
to 1968
Chapter 03
The golden age of strips and Avanzada
Crose's Pachochín appeared in 1947, and in the 1950s the daily Última Hora ran Hernán Bartra's Boquellanta (from 1952), Rubén Osorio's La cadena de oro and David Málaga's Serrucho. The magazine Avanzada (June 1953 to November 1968) gathered Osorio, Bartra and Javier Flórez del Águila, and El Comercio's Sunday supplement ran Víctor Honigman's Supercholo from 1957 to 1966.
1968
to 1999
Chapter 04
Children's magazines and political humour
Under the military government the children's comics magazine El Trome, issued weekly by Expreso, reached a mass readership. Monos y Monadas returned on 27 April 1978 under Nicolás Yerovi, with Carlos Tovar, Juan Acevedo, Marisa Godínez and Lázarus, and lasted until 1992, while Acevedo's El Cuy, begun in 1979, became one of his best-known creations.
2000
to today
Chapter 05
Fanzines, documentary comics and new heroes
The fanzine Carboncito ran 20 issues from 2001 to 2017, and Jesús Cossio's Rupay (2008, with Luis Rossell and Alfredo Villar) and Barbarie (2010) documented the political violence of the 1980s. Lakita's Tribadistas (2009) brought lesbian themes into Peruvian comics, regional groups such as Qosqomic in Cusco formed, and MED Comics put the superheroine La Chola Power on newsstands in 2014.
The comics to know
- Monos y Monadas1907 · comics magazineLeonidas Yerovi and Julio Málaga Grenet. Satirical weekly of caricatures, revived from 1978 to 1992.
- Pachochín1947 · comic stripCarlos Roose Silva (Crose). Strip about a naive pen-pusher first modelled on President José Luis Bustamante.
- Boquellanta1952 · comic stripHernán Bartra. Última Hora strip that used popular humour to treat racial prejudice.
- Avanzada1953 · comics magazineRubén Osorio, Hernán Bartra, Javier Flórez del Águila and others. Educational comics magazine published until November 1968.
- Supercholo1957 · comic stripVíctor Honigman and Francisco Miró Quesada. Superhero strip in El Comercio's Sunday supplement until 1966.
- El Cuy1979 · comic stripJuan Acevedo. Strip that ran daily in El Diario de Marka from 1980 to 1983.
- Rupay2008 · graphic novelJesús Cossio, Luis Rossell and Alfredo Villar. Documentary comics on political violence in Peru from 1980 to 1984.
The people to know
- Julio Málaga Grenet1886 to 1963Caricaturist who ran Monos y Monadas with Leonidas Yerovi from 1907.
- Carlos Roose Silva1929 to 2016Crose, creator of Pachochín and a pioneer of Peruvian political cartooning over a 69-year career.
- Hernán Bartra1932 to 2020Monky, creator of Boquellanta and Coco, Vicuñín y Tacachito.
- Rubén OsorioBorn 1931Osito, mainstay of Avanzada and creator of La cadena de oro and El Trome.
- Víctor Honigman1921 to 1994Creator of Supercholo, one of Peru's best-known comics characters.
- Juan AcevedoBorn 1949Creator of El Cuy and art director of the satirical magazine Collera.
- Carlos TovarBorn 1945Carlín, political cartoonist who drew covers for Monos y Monadas from 1979.
- Jesús CossioBorn 1974Author of documentary comics on Peru's armed conflict, such as Rupay and Barbarie.
More artists from Peru
All 35 artists- Pablo MarcosBorn 1937 · comics artist
- Javier Flórez del ÁguilaBorn 1934 · comics artist
- Alfonso La Torre1927 to 2002 · comics artist
- Luis Baltazarcartoonist
- David MálagaBorn 1930 · cartoonist
- HeduardoBorn 1950 · cartoonist
- LakitaBorn 1985 · illustrator
- Gonzalo Mayo1940 to 2021 · comics artist
- Jorge Vinatea Reinoso1900 to 1931 · painter
- Abraham Valdelomar1888 to 1919 · comics artist
- Salvador Velardecartoonist
- Carlos Castellanos Casanovacomics artist
More comics from Peru
All 26 comics- Kintsugi2023 · comic strip
- Tribadistas2009 · comic book series
- Serruchocomic strip
- Travesuras de Serrucho y Volatín1922 · comic strip
- Ayar, la leyenda de los Inkascomic book series
- La cadena de oro1952 to 1956 · comic strip
- Don Burguesini y su Mayordomocomic strip
- Carboncito2001 to 2017 · comics magazine
- Picaflorcomic strip
- El Trome1958 · comic strip
- Barbarie2010 · graphic novel
- La Chola Power2014 · comic book series