These latin graphic novels will fill your library with magic
Who says that the graphic novel has no female representation? Here we present some works that you can not stop reading
Some people consider the graphic novel a literary genre. For others, such as the Mexican illustrator Alejandra Espino in an interview with the newspaper Milenio, "it is a discipline in itself that has literary and visual elements."
Leer en español: Llena de magia tu biblioteca con estas novelas gráficas latinas
Both in Latin America and in other parts of the world, the graphic novel is an artistic proposal that is gaining more space every day. Latin artists have also stood out for their visual works and their stories, some very funny, others much sadder or more moving. Therefore, here are some that you should read.
Diario de un solo, Catalina Bu
This is a cartoon by the Chilean Catalina Bustos, also known as Catalina Bu, published in 2017. The work is a very realistic and fun exploration of loneliness and everyday life, which tells the story of a young man who lives alone in the city.
This is a book that "allows us to see and read ourselves on every page. It deals with the finest humor and an enviable graphics the themes that touch that little "solo" that we all have inside", explains in the prologue of Alberto Montt.
According to Bustos in an interview with Velvet, this is a work that is inspired a bit in her life, "a few stories of other people, things that I exaggerate and others that I invent, I was inspired a bit in my experience living alone, not knowing very well how to do things." Here you can find from day to day stories of this character without a name to graphics, with which we could all feel identified.
Iguana Lady, Isabel Quintero
Iguana Lady is a graphic novel by the Mexican-American writer Isabel Quintero and Mexican illustrator and cartoonist Zeke Peña, published in 2018. The work is constituted as a "biography in vignettes" by Graciela Iturbide, one of the most important photographers in the Aztec country.
According to Xataca Foto, Iguana Lady "collects the history and photos of an artist who has been producing photography for almost five decades, dissecting Mexican ancestral rituals and customs and creating some of the most iconic images of her culture."
This work is also a reflection on the job of being an artist, according to RTVE. The same media explains that this is a book in which "it manages to capture the plastic beauty of the Mexican photographer, while it is an exciting journey through her life and her search for truth, which she captures in each of her snapshots. And she has a lot of poetic, both literary and visual. "
Tropical Virus, Paola Power
In 2017, the animated film Tropical Virus was released, based on the homonymous graphic novel of the Colombian-Ecuadorian Paola Gaviria, also known as Paola Power. This is a book that was published in 2009, "in which she recounts in an autobiographical way all the happenings she experienced in her childhood and adolescence between Quito and Cali" in the 80s and 90s, as is explained on the official page of the film.
In an interview with Radiónica, Paola Power affirmed that this is a work with which people could feel identified, "even though you have not lived in Cali or in Quito or you are not a woman, there are situations that we all go through that connect us with the other".
This is a proposal that also addresses several issues that account for the socio-political reality in the coffee country: drug trafficking and violence. The work also develops the figure of the migrant and the woman, as well as other topics such as adolescence and female sexuality.
Poncho fue, Sole Otero
This is a work by the Argentine Sole Otero, which tells the story of a couple who have a toxic relationship. According to Otero, in an interview with RTVE, "it is told from her point of view, that she has just become a victim, because she is psychologically manipulated by her partner, and psychological manipulation can be even more damaging than physical abuse" In fact, Poncho is inspired by Otero's personal experience.
"Drawing it has helped me as a kind of catharsis and post-traumatic therapy, it was very complicated to do but, at the same time, it helped me a lot to overcome the situation," she says.
This novel not only addresses the issue of manipulation, it also talks about the feelings of the victim in this type of situations and dependence. For this, Sole plays a lot with a variety of color palettes, to "accompany the different emotional states of the character", she mentions the same media.
LatinAmerican Post | Diana Rojas Leal
Translated from "Llena de mágica tu biblioteca con estas novelas gráficas latinas"
