Uruguay.
Uruguay
1931
Uruguayan comics grew out of humour and the short newspaper strip.
Julio E. Suárez launched Peloduro in El País in 1933, and his birthday, 16 September, has been marked as the Día de la Historieta since 2011. Fola's Pelopincho y Cachirula, Sergio Bóffano's Charoná and the humour magazines El Dedo and Guambia carried that tradition for decades, and since the 2000s small publishers such as Dragón Comics and Grupo Belerofonte have built a graphic novel scene, while artists like Matías Bergara also work for foreign publishers.
32
25
1931
1960s
Artists from Uruguay in the archive.
Comics from Uruguay in the archive.
Pelopincho y Cachirula, the earliest comic from Uruguay in the archive.
The decade when the most new comics from Uruguay began.
historieta
Uruguay in 4 chapters
A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.
Uruguay.
4 chapters
1931
to 1964
Chapter 01
Peloduro and the first strips
Fola began at the magazine Mundo Uruguayo in 1931 with Ciengramos y Viola, later known as Pelopincho y Cachirula. Julio E. Suárez's Peloduro first ran in El País on 15 January 1933, and from 1943 to 1964 he also edited, with breaks, a humour weekly of the same name.

1965
to 1981
Chapter 02
Children's magazines and adventure strips
Sergio Bóffano launched the children's magazine Charoná in 1967, and William Gezzio drew its hero for over 40 years. Fola's pantomime strip Don Gumersindo (1965) ran in syndication for 45 years, and Carlos María Federici's Barry Coal (1968) asked readers to find the killer.
1982
to 2004
Chapter 03
Humour magazines and long-running strips
Antonio Dabezíes founded the political humour magazine El Dedo in 1982, and after the dictatorship closed it his team launched Guambia in 1983. Enrique Ardito's Viviana y Yamandú ran in La República from 1991 to 2012, and the 2000 book Historietas.Uy adapted stories by five Uruguayan writers, a model for later book editions.
2005
to today
Chapter 04
Graphic novels and small presses
Grupo Belerofonte grew out of the magazine Quimera in 2005 and, with Dragón Comics (2003) and other small labels, began publishing graphic novels such as Los últimos días del Graf Spee (2008). Creators founded the Asociación Uruguaya de Creadores de Historieta on 14 May 2011, and the publication of El Viejo by Alceo Thrasyvoulou and Matías Bergara earned a Brazilian HQ Mix award in 2014.
The comics to know
- Peloduro1933 · comic stripJulio E. Suárez. Daily strip first published in El País; also the title of his humour weekly from 1943 to 1964.
- Pelopincho y Cachirula1931 · comic stripFola. Children's comic first published as Ciengramos y Viola in Mundo Uruguayo.
- Charoná1967 · comics magazineSergio Bóffano and William Gezzio. Children's comics magazine with nearly 3,000 pages of its title hero.
- Guambia1983 · comics magazineAntonio Dabezíes (founder). Humour magazine that succeeded El Dedo and ran until 2012.
- Viviana y Yamandú1991 · comic stripEnrique Ardito and William Gezzio. Adventure strip in La República until 2012.
- Historietas.Uy2000 · graphic novelTunda, Ombú, Daniel González, Eduardo Barreto and Renzo Vayra. Book of comics adaptations of Uruguayan literature.
- Los últimos días del Graf Spee2008 · graphic novelRodolfo Santullo and Matías Bergara. Graphic novel published by Grupo Belerofonte.
- El ViejoEl Viejo (historieta)2010 · graphic novelAlceo Thrasyvoulou and Matías Bergara. Serialised from 2010, collected in 2013, HQ Mix award in 2014.
The people to know
- Julio E. Suárez1909 to 1965Creator of Peloduro (1933), honoured by the Día de la Historieta on 16 September.
- FolaGeoffrey Foladori, creator of Pelopincho y Cachirula and Don Gumersindo.
- Sergio Bóffano1917 to 2003Creator and editor of the children's magazine Charoná.
- William Gezzio1945 to 2018Drew Charoná for over 40 years and continued Viviana y Yamandú.
- Carlos María FedericiBorn 1941Science fiction and crime author of the strips Barry Coal and Dinkenstein.
- Eduardo Barreto1954 to 2011Uruguayan artist with years of prominent work for DC Comics.
- Alberto Breccia1919 to 1993Born in Montevideo, he made his career in Argentina.
- Matías BergaraBorn 1984Artist of El Viejo and Los últimos días del Graf Spee, later working for US publishers.
More artists from Uruguay
All 32 artists- Tabaré Gómez Laborde1948 to 2023 · cartoonist
- Léo BekerBorn 1946 · comics artist
- José RiveraBorn 1930 · comics artist
- Nicolás PeruzzoBorn 1980 · comics artist
- Tunda PradaBorn 1959 · cartoonist
- Renzo VayraBorn 1971 · comics artist
- Enrique Arditocartoonist
- Gabriel CiccarielloBorn 1981 · comics artist
- Alceo ThrasyvoulouBorn 1974 · comics artist
- Richard Bennett LamasBorn 1968 · cartoonist
- Rodolfo SantulloBorn 1979 · comics writer
- Mario Levrero1940 to 2004 · comics writer
More comics from Uruguay
All 25 comics- Les Tribulations de Louison Cresson1988 · comic book series
- Diógenes y el Linyera1977 · comic
- El Dedo1982 · comics magazine
- Valizas2011 · graphic novel
- Barry Coal1968 · comic strip
- Crímenes2005 · graphic novel
- Misia Dura1969 · comics magazine
- Ismael1959 · comic strip
- Dinkenstein1973 · comic strip
- Freedom Knights2003 · comic book series
- Ciudad Fructuoxiacomic book series
- Cocona en el País de las Hormigas1938 · comic strip