More Thievin' Mesicans! Graphic Reminders of Popular Culture Visions of the "Mexican" in America

I really enjoy the remarkable archive-work being done over at Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine--bloggers like Pappy are our 21st century librarians, sharing a graphic hoard that reveals a gnarly, complicated past. Pappy's words from the post where I gleaned the comics below are well-chosen and apt: "Some of the artwork is very good, but some is crude, some of the stories even cruder. There are racist depictions of Mexicans and at least one ugly page of caricatured black people. For those I apologize, with the excuse that it was the way things were done in those days, without regard to any offense they might cause." While appreciated, the excuse here is unnecessary--in my view, for what it is worth, it's only by understanding how racist representation infuses popular entertainment that one arrives at a fuller understanding of our nation's legacy and destiny. On with the comics!

Tricky "Mexicans" in "Stolen Gold"

 "Mexicans" Enslave Shirtless Caucasians in "Valley of Living Death"