In the Culture Note of today’s Learning Guide, we talk about the comix movement. 
A major figure (important person) in the comix movement is R. (Robert) Crumb, who is an American artist and illustrator (a person who draws pictures for magazines, books, advertisements). He had a unique and easy to recognize style of drawing and he often wrote satirical (using humor to criticize or expose other people) and subversive (undermining or getting around authority) stories.
A few years ago, I saw the movie Crumb (1994), which was a documentary about the life of Robert Crumb. It was considered a very good film and it won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, a well known and prestigious (high status; highly respected) film festival in the U.S.
Are there well-known or well-respected comics and comic artists in your country? Are there any that have become popular outside of their own country?
~ Lucy
Here in Brazil, among children maybe the most known comic is called Gang´s Monica wrote and illustrated by Mauricio de Souza. Although to be for children I enjoy his comics and strip.
Among younger there are several comic one very famous here is the Marvel Comics with own super heroes like X-Man, Spiderman and so forth.
in France we had have many famous satirical illiustrators from a very long time such as DAUMIER,DUBOUT,SINE then SEMPE etc but magazines and people say R.CRUMB is the BEST
Yes, here in Spain there are a great team of very good drawers, also there are some comic magazines and one of the most significant is “El Jueves” ….the magazine that appears on fridays.
This a satirical and corrosive magazine that it is made all with comics and drawings. On it everything may be critizice and their staff and drawers have got some law problems.
Some years ago I used to read the comic magazine “1984” it was quite good and the title was in honor of George Orwell the English writer.
But I always love MAFALDA, the best for me, made by the genius argentine creator QUINO who died some years ago. It was really a pity……….but Mafalda and her friends always will be real persons. If you do not know Mafalda I recomend it for everyone, I think that she is universal.
Another spanish genius here in Spain is IBAÑEZ, so great artist with quite a lot of characters like MORTADELO Y FILEMON, Pepe Gotera y Otilio, etc……….I think he is one of the best authors and drawers all over the world.
Sorry, I need to write more about comics and have to say that I grew up reading comics. I was my first touch with reading and it was essential to iniciate my great habit of reading books later on.
On that years we haven’t television, we have so few money that all our imagination was developed around the comics. We call them TEBEOS, and all the children changed them in some places for some coins. If you bought a new one, afterward you may changed it several times and so it was possible to read a lot more.
Our heros of those times were:
El Guerrero del Antifaz, El Capitan Trueno, Roberto Alcazar y Pedrin, Flash Gordon, El Jabato, El Zorro, Diego Valor, and so many of them that should be an interminable list.
We also read Superman and other different comics from U.S., but they were very expensive.
Thank you to all of them because growing up was more easy on that difficult times here in my country, I’ll be always gratefull to the heros creators and the publishers.
Thak you to you Lucy by touching this them so important to my childhood, also as I think about it I am emotioned remembering home, sisters, friends and my parents, a piece of my life.
Well, Spain is plenty of superheroes. I want to say, there are many and great drawers. Do you know Carlos Pacheco, Salvador Larroca, etc?. They are now in Marvel, drawing X-Men, Fantastic Four and others comics books. I am 50 and i read comics books for 30 years, since i was 12 years old.I think, Spain is, after USA, the country with more readers of superheroes comics books. I have to give my regards and thankfull to Stan Lee, te Man, and Jack Kirby, tjhe king.
I loved to read comic books when I was little. My favorite comic book was a group of young KungFu Fighter whose fought with some bad guys. I even collected them from beginning. Some of them have an extremely fantastic graphic, colorful and so realistic. I even imitated to draw some of my favorite characters when I was young.
Best ever regards!
Henry L.
Edgewater, NJ
In Italy there’s many comic writers, bu my best are Fanco Bonvicini with his very funny Sturmtruppen joking about a german army in a second war, and Sergio bonelli who is the editor of Tex Willer a texas ranger in a old west. When I was young I read a lot of comic books, but now I have no time to make it because I have to study english with esl. 🙂
Hello to everybody!