''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.

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

History and profile

See also

References