Boring.

Sal�n

A morose dramatization of true events in the Spanish comic book industry of the 1950s that serves to prove that quote attributed to Jack Kirby: "Kid . . . Comics will break your heart."

Older American comic book fans may remember the drama in 1992 when seven of Marvel's biggest artists decided to break away from the work-for-hire world and form Image Comics so they could enjoy full rights to their creations. Well, the same thing basically happened about 35 years earlier in Barcelona when five headline cartoonists walked away from their publisher to create their own magazine, but with much less successful results than the Image founders. Long story short: asshole publisher screws over creators who are either powerless or at least feel that way. Same old, same old, alas.

Unfortunately for me, I feel the Paco Roca assumed the reader would have some knowledge about the events and persons involved, leaving me lost in the large cast and chronologically jumbled narrative. I didn't discover until I was halfway through the book that there is a roster of the people involved included in the back of the book. If you decide to read the book, I suggest you review that material first, especially since it is hard to distinguish between the characters since names are not used frequently enough in the script. Without the cast list, full names are especially hard to suss out when only first names or only last names are tossed out in various scenes.

I usually like Roca's art, but his thick lines and spare style made it difficult for me to distinguish between characters sometimes, especially since almost everyone depicted is a middle-aged man dressed in either a suit or a white, long-sleeved shirt. ( )

A nice, simple, short story about a group of cartoonist friends in the grey Barcelona of the late 50's, their work at Bruguera (the leading publishing house in Francoist Spain), and their attempt to break free of their abusive contracts to launch their own company and weekly magazine.

Many names that are very dear to Spanish readers appear here (eg: Ibáñez, creator of Mort & Phil). That nostalgic aroma, and the beautifully drawn scenes of everyday life in Barcelona, are the main appeal of this 120-page-long volume. It's an honest homage to a bunch of artists and to the childhoods of two or three generations of Spaniards. Not much beyond that. ( )