Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

price, and the simplicity of reading and understanding them, with their combination of
colourful images and enjoyable simple texts, made them perfect vehicles for dissent.
Although these comic books were not the only ones that portrayed Mexican
reality at the time, their ‘sugar-coated jokes’ made it possible to discuss even the most
horrendous topics. It facilitated wider discussion and consideration of these issues.
Also, because of the nature of the medium, the authorities found it easier to allow their
criticism, despite the fact that some authors were subjected to pressure from the
authorities. For example, Rius suffered violent abuse because of his opposition to the
government, and Óscar González, was required to stop making his comic book
Brujerías.
Despite their criticism, comic books enjoyed a certain freedom. They are a
relevant public record, and serve as a social barometer for the study of social history.
Through humour we point to situations that generate anxiety or that we would like to
change, not only in our personal lives, but also in our society. Even if we are unable to
change them, at least we find relief highlighting faults and seeing them ridiculed by the
comic characters. Thus, the comic character becomes a playmate who enunciates those
things that we believe but dare not say. Even when we disagree with the comic
character, we find satisfaction, because we enjoy his/her misfortune. As discussed,
comedy has no happy endings.
Comic books became a microcosm which represented the world for those
readers with similar perspectives. The comics were not a source of propaganda, but they
were a means through which readers found the world represented in the way they
conceived it. If the reader was not familiar with the topics or the social critique, then the
act of true humour would not emerge. The reader might understand the situation as
comical without understanding the social complaint. In this case, the comic books
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