''El Víbora'' (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
: ''The Viper'') was a Spanish language monthly alternative
comics magazine published in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Spain, between 1979 and 2005, with a peak monthly circulation of 80,000 copies.
[ The magazine was subtitled "Comix for Survivors".][
]
History and profile
''El Víbora'' was established in December 1979.[ The founders were a group of Spanish ]cartoonists
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary a ...
led by Josep Maria Berenguer. Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
comics publisher Josep Toutain financed the establishment of the magazine[ which was published by La Cúpula.
Josep Maria Berenguer wanted to name the magazine as GOMA 3, a reference to ]Goma-2
Goma-2 was a type of high explosive manufactured for industrial use (chiefly mining) by Unión Española de Explosivos S.A.
It was a gelatinous, nitroglycol-based explosive widely used within Spain and exported abroad.
It was used by ETA in the 1 ...
, an explosive notoriously used by the Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
terrorist/nationalist organization ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
during the 1970s.[ However, the name was rejected by the Spanish authorities.][
''El Víbora'' was published monthly and had its headquarters in Barcelona. The contributors included not only Spanish but also French and American authors,][ including ]Peter Bagge
Peter Bagge (pronounced , as in ''bag''; born December 11, 1957) is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics ''Hate'' and ''Neat Stuff''. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced ...
, Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...
and Charles Burns.[ Native contributors were Max, Nazario, Mariscal and Pons.][ Of them, Max created the characters of Gustavo, Peter Pank, Gallardo and Mediavilla.] Hernán Migoya served as the editor-in-chief of the magazine from 1992 to 1998.[ The last editor was Sergi Puertas.]
''El Víbora'' sold 45,000 copies in 1983.[ Its circulation was 6,000 copies in 2004][ just before its last issue in January 2005.][ The magazine ran over 300 issues during its existence.]
During the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, the magazine was revived online, free of charge, as ''El Víbora para supervivientes'' (~ for survivors) for the duration of the lockdown in Spain. It contained mostly material from the original issues plus articles about coronavirus, with a cover about COVID-19. This revival lasted for six weekly issues.
See also
* List of magazines in Spain
Magazines in Spain are varied and numerous, but they have small circulation. In terms of frequency, the Spanish magazines are mostly weekly and monthly. Although there are news magazines and political magazines in the country, they mostly focuse ...
* Spanish comics
Spanish comics are the comics of Spain. Comics in Spain are usually called ''historietas'' or ''cómics'', with ''tebeos'' primarily denoting the magazines containing the medium. ''Tebeo'' is a phonetic adaptation of ''TBO'', a long-running (1917 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vibora
1979 comics debuts
2005 comics endings
1979 establishments in Spain
2005 disestablishments in Spain
Alternative magazines
Comics magazines published in Spain
Defunct magazines published in Spain
Magazines established in 1979
Magazines disestablished in 2005
Magazines published in Barcelona
Monthly magazines published in Spain
Spanish-language magazines