The Tex[t]-Mex Galleryblog: classic comics

Showing posts with label classic comics. Show all posts

Sunday, November 06, 2016

1950s Era Comic Book Meditations on Human Smuggling, Mexicans, the Border and More! Headline Comics #63 January-February 1954

Every now and then I get lucky. Meandering the back alleys of the internets can turn up some compelling artifacts--particularly where your interests are focused on all things Mexican. It had not occurred to me until after finishing Tex[t]-Mex (better price here!) that some of the best materials on "Mexicans" in America would be in pulp fiction from the 1930s-1950s. And that some of the "best" (most garish, most racist, most provocative) materials would appear in genre books--westerns, crime fiction, etc.

That's the case today with Headline Comics #63 from 1954--I am in debt the Bristol Board Tumblr site, a treasure trove of comic book artifacts, for the find. "Slave Peddlers" is a tale of Mexicans and Americans at the border/on the border--with n'ere-do'-wells, crooks, coyotes, "Mexicans" and more. According to Comic Books Plus, the artist credits for this issue are: "Pencils: Marvin Stein?; Inks: Marvin Stein?; Letters: Ben Oda."

Check out the whole story here--like most images on the Textmex Galleryblog, they get bigger when you hit them with your cursor or your finger.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Ugly, Fat, Corrupt, Mexican Bandits! Another Chapter in the History "Mexican" Stereotypes from Atlas Comics

Pappy's Golden Age Blogzine continues to emerge as the premier treasure trove for stereotypes-seeking cultural studies workers probing the backstory for anti-Mexican loathing--enjoying a Trump-led renaissance these days.

Turns out the fat, corrupt, racist/rapist (Trump, not the "Spider"), did not have to dig too deep to conjure frightening hallucinations of swarthy, scary ethnic criminality. Below appear some choice page selections--the whole epic tale is available here.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Jimmy Olsen and his Mexican Stereotypecasting Problems

PostModernBarney is replete with comic book lore, pop-culture, and movie screen icons of both female siren and hunky men persuasion. Here's his take on a found Jimmy Olsen comic book adventure.

"Oh, man…a “sleepy” latino, complete with poncho and sombrero. All he’s missing is a little burro on a string to complete the racist stereotype trifecta." by postmodernbarney.com

No Sombrero? Not a Mexican peon.

Rosita is a lying Mexican vixen of course. She calls poor sappy Jimmy Olsen a "Stupid Gringo." (According to the set up premise of stereotypes, readers should assume she pronounced it Es-tiuped Grringo).

Check out the end when Jimmy Olsen's creators cast a nice generalization on the Roma too. If justice was served, the slap he got in the end was for the tired portrayals and caricaturizations, not for being a two-timing Ese.

For the whole postmodernbarney experience and the original post go here.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Yet Another Classic American Comics Introduction to the History of Racialized Representation in America or Golden Age Anthropology 101

I love classic comics. I loathe what comics did to my mind.

There's my problem--the technicolor paper fantasy worlds of comics provided and provide a world of escape and entertainment; but this entertainment trains the mind to move/think/react/judge/hate/love/lust in specific ways that are inescapable (Warner Brother's cartoons, documented in the Speedy Gonzales chapter of Tex[t]-Mex, work in a similar fashion--I love them, too.).

In any event, blogger at Golden Age Comic Book Stories does a madly talented job curating provocative representations of covers (and sometimes stories) from the comic book golden age... Here are some, just posted in three categories that I have devised: World Cultures; Knowing the Enemy; and, because you've asked for it, another installment of Bizarre Caucasians in Print.