El Salvador.
El Salvador
2012
Salvadoran comics history is mostly the history of caricature.
Antonio 'Toño' Salazar built his name drawing caricatures in Mexico, Paris and Buenos Aires before returning home in 1953. After José Dutriz Jr. became director of La Prensa Gráfica in 1951, the paper introduced cartoons, and later cartoonists such as Ruz, Ricardo Clement ('Alecus') and Otto Meza drew daily political cartoons. Otto Meza's ¡Llegan Otto y Momo! in 2012 is regarded as the first series of caricature books in the country, and the Salvadoran-American Vivienne Medrano ran the webcomic ZooPhobia from 2012 to 2016.
5
3
2012
2010s
Artists from El Salvador in the archive.
Comics from El Salvador in the archive.
¡Llegan Otto y Momo!, the earliest comic from El Salvador in the archive.
The decade when the most new comics from El Salvador began.
historieta
El Salvador in 3 chapters
A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.
El Salvador.
3 chapters
Chapter 1
1920
to 1953
Toño Salazar abroad
1920
to 1953
Chapter 01
Toño Salazar abroad
Toño Salazar went to Mexico in 1920 and reached Paris in 1923, drawing caricatures of artists such as Picasso and James Joyce. He later worked in New York and Buenos Aires, mocking Hitler, Mussolini and Franco, and came home in 1953.
1951
to 1999
Chapter 02
Newspaper cartoons and the war years
La Prensa Gráfica brought in cartoons under its director José Dutriz Jr. from 1951. Ruz drew for La Prensa Gráfica from 1986 to 1998, and Otto Meza learned from him as a teenager while the civil war raged.
1999
to today
Chapter 03
Daily political cartoons, books and webcomics
Alecus drew daily cartoons for La Prensa Gráfica from 1999 to 2008, and Ruz moved to El Diario de Hoy, where he drew until 2022. In 2012 Otto Meza published ¡Llegan Otto y Momo! and illustrated a comic for El Faro, and Vivienne Medrano began her webcomic ZooPhobia.
The comics to know
- ¡Llegan Otto y Momo!2012 · comic stripOtto Meza. Regarded as the start of the first series of caricature books in El Salvador.
- El cómic de lo que siempre quisiste decirle a tus gobernantes2012 · graphic novelIllustrated by Otto Meza for El Faro. Comic of the 200 best ideas Salvadorans tweeted to their rulers; shortlisted at Cannes Lions.
- Diputado Ticuizacomic stripOtto Meza. Political humour character, one of Meza's best known.
- ZooPhobia2012 · webcomicVivienne Medrano. Webcomic that ran until 2016.
- Ruz cartoon collections2011Ruz. Five books, including Cien Caricaturas sin Gracia, gathered in 2011 as a set covering cartoons from 1994 to 2010.
The people to know
- Toño Salazar1897 to 1986Caricaturist praised in Paris, Buenos Aires and New York; his birthplace is disputed between Santa Tecla and Guatemala.
- Wenceslao Cisneros1823 to 1878Academically trained 19th century painter and lithographer who also drew caricatures in Cuba.
- RuzBorn 1959Political cartoonist for La Prensa Gráfica and El Diario de Hoy from 1986 to 2022.
- Ricardo ClementBorn 1962Mexican-Salvadoran cartoonist known as Alecus; daily cartoons in La Prensa Gráfica from 1999 to 2008.
- Otto MezaBorn 1972Cartoonist whose Otto y Momo books are seen as the first caricature book series in the country.
- Vivienne MedranoBorn 1992Salvadoran-American creator of the webcomic ZooPhobia and the animated series Hazbin Hotel.