"Keep going and don't fall down. They'll think were from the opposition!"

Rius got started in 1963 with “Los Supermachos,” a monthly comic about a little town called Saint Scribbles. The inhabitants mock various injustices in Mexico. Later, in “Los Agachados” (The Stooped), he did the same thing. The comics were recently reprinted in Mexico.

In the ’60s and ’70s, he wrote a number of novel-length comics about the virtues of communism. He wrote about “Marx for Beginners” (published in Spanish and English) as well as comics about Cuba, Che, and Lenin. He mixed high contrast photos with caricatures and commentary. Later, Larry Gonick would use the same technique to write similar books relating to the sciences.

In the ’80s, he continued to write, although he abandoned his communist leanings for more moderate positions, admitting that communism hadn’t worked. He wrote several novel-length comic books critical of the Catholic church, including “Would Christ Be a Catholic?” and “A Manual for the Perfect Atheist.” Additionally, he wrote comic histories and political commentaries in comic form. Recently, he wrote “Love in the Time of AIDS” and “Osama Uncle Sam,” criticizing US foreign policy.

Of interest to comics scholars is his 1983 book “The Life of Boxes,” which described the art of comics before Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics.” McCloud’s book follows the exact same format as the book by Rius. I would like to know whether or not McCloud credits Rius in the book (if anybody knows, please tell me!), although it could be a case of Leibniz and Newton simultaneously documenting calculus. Perhaps McCloud was unaware of Rius given that he is Latin American.

Even for all his mid-life political craziness, Rius is a master cartoonist. His fictional characters are lively and colorful while his storytelling flows. His nonfiction is concise and opinionated. He is definitely worth more attention in the US-dominated world of comics.

It would seem that Kyle and Barry are locked outside. This happened to my brother and I a couple of times. We usually just broke the screen and pried open a window. I guess that’s what Barry is starting to think.

Ferzat’s cartoons used to be critical of the military leaders and elites who run many countries in the Arab region. The Syrian government, which was supposedly modernizing human rights, allowed Ferzat to start “The Lamplighter” in 2000. “The Lamplighter” was too popular for the Syrian elites and was thus shut down. When protests against Bashar Al-Asad’s government began earlier this year, Ferzat criticized Al-Asad through his cartoons (like the second example). So worried were the secret police that they pulled Ferzat from his car and bludgeoned him earlier today.

Ferzat’s website is currently down with a message saying that it received too much traffic. He is a master of the silent cartoon.

Thanks to Omar al-Issawi for the translations from the cartoons.

I made this script and drawing for my Dad. The text is Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.” I spent a long time with the calligraphy, so I am proud of it. The picture is from a statue that the British stole from the Egyptians so that school kids can look at it on field trips.

I bought an old frame and painted it with a crackling technique. My Dad proudly displays it on his bookshelf, wedged between his copies of “Bartlett’s” and a library book he borrowed in 1993. I think he really likes the way I crackled the frame, since that’s the only part that is visible.

Sarcasm aside, “The Spirit” is an awful movie. It’s all sizzle and no steak. And the sizzle gets annoying. Starring a guy I’ve never heard of as the title character, the action is hackneyed. Typical punch-and-kick stuff. The villain is some kind of cowboy samurai who dresses up in a Nazi SS uniform. The writing comes straight out of bad comic books, with one-liners like “shut up and bleed” and “she provides for me, my city does. She gives me everything I need.” The “dames” spend the movie striking pin-up poses and showing off their cherry red lipstick against a black and white background.

I’ve read the comic strip, by Will Eisner, a few times. It’s not as good as Eisner’s New York City stuff, but it’s fun entertainment. Between the newsprint and the celluloid, a lot of people dropped the ball to make this awful movie.

The good thing is that I checked this out from the library. It was due back at the same time as the book I got about decorating, so luckily I didn’t have to make a special trip back to return “The Spirit.”

I think “chamuco” is a word used to describe a cute little devil in slang.