Dissenting Voices?

The installation of the Franco dictatorship sparked an inadvertent boom inthe production of comics. While many cartoonists hailing from Barcelona’srich satirical tradition went into exile or clandestine publication, still moreturned to the children’s comics market that had become firmly rooted in theCatalan capital since the 1920s. Until the 1950s, comics remained relativelyfree from censorial intervention, and the development of characters such asLa Familia Ulises, Carpanta and Doña Urraca offered cartoonists an outletfor covert critique. However, in 1952, the Junta Asesora de la Prensa Infantilwas established to police children’s publications for ‘inappropriate’ content,marking a turning point in the history of Spain’s comics genre. Thisarticlediscusses the implications of specific legislation for editors, artistsand their comic strip characters, focusing on the publications Pulgarcito,TBO and DDT.