Cómics durante la Guerra Civil Española: Entre la propaganda y el humor de vanguardia

Abstract

The article examines the relation between the avant-garde, propaganda, and comics during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). It considers comics targeted at adults as a form of propaganda during the war, highlighting not only the specific political functions of such publications on the Republican side (La Hora, Trincheras, L’Esquella de la Torratxa) and the Francoist side (La Ametralladora), but also the often problematic way in which artists of all affiliations drew on the aesthetics of the prewar avant-garde. Looking at intellectuals such as Ramón Gómez de la Serna, José Ortega y Gasset, Pío Baroja, and Henri Bergson, the concept of humor is linked to the development of avant-garde aesthetics in prewar Spain. The article investigates how and in what circumstances humorismo survived in certain magazines, with reference to the stubbornness of artists such as Miguel Mihura and Tono in La Ametralladora.

Keywords:

• comics
• Guerra Civil Española
• humorismo
• propaganda
• vanguardia