Dissenting voices? Controlling comics under Franco

McGlade, Rhiannon (2018) Dissenting voices? Controlling comics under Franco. European Comic Art, 11 (1). 30–47. ISSN 1754-3797 (https://doi.org/10.3167/eca.2018.110103)

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Abstract

The installation of the Franco dictatorship sparked an inadvertent boom in the production of comics. While many cartoonists hailing from Barcelona's rich satirical tradition went into exile or clandestine publication, still more turned to the children's comics market that had become firmly rooted in the Catalan capital since the 1920s. Until the 1950s, comics remained relatively free from censorial intervention, and the development of characters such as La Familia Ulises, Carpanta and Doña Urraca offered cartoonists an outlet for covert critique. However, in 1952, the Junta Asesora de la Prensa Infantil was established to police children's publications for 'inappropriate' content, marking a turning point in the history of Spain's comics genre. This article discusses the implications of this specific legislation for editors, artists and their comic strip characters, focusing on the publications Pulgarcito, TBO and DDT.

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