Ricardo Álvarez-Rivón
(born c. 1950) is the creator of ''
Turey el Taino'', Puerto Rico's most successful locally produced
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
-
magazine.
Early life
Álvarez-Rivón, who drew comics since his childhood years, was born in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...
and studied art and drawing in the
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...
. Álvarez-Rivón wanted to come up with a different concept in comics, a comic which would entertain as well as educate children and adults alike. He then worked on an idea about a
Taino and his adventures.
Turey el Taino
On October 26, 1989, ''Turey el Taino'', published by Editorial Manos, made its debut in the news and magazine stands in stores all over Puerto Rico. ''Turey el Taino'' is what is known as a "comic magazine". Instead of the regular comic format, this comic comes in the form of a magazine. It was first printed in black and white. Turey is a lovable chubby guy with two sons and a very dominating wife. Turey goes on all kinds of adventures, accompanied by his best friend "Batu", the tribe witchdoctor "Baracutey" and "Tureycito", one of his sons. They either face the "ferocious"
Caribs
“Carib” may refer to:
People and languages
*Kalina people, or Caribs, an indigenous people of South America
**Carib language, also known as Kalina, the language of the South American Caribs
*Kalinago people, or Island Caribs, an indigenous pe ...
or fight evil spirits. The comic book is education-oriented, as it teaches how the Tainos must have lived before the arrival of the Spaniards. The comic book also contains a section where the letters and drawings from the fans are published. The first newspaper to publish the adventures of Turey was "
El Mundo" of Puerto Rico. Soon, the adventures of Turey were being published in color in the Sunday newspaper pages of ''
El Nuevo Día
''El Nuevo Día'' (English: ''The New Day'') is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1909 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and today it is a subsidiary of GFR Media. Its headquarters are in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
...
''.
Recognitions and honors
The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture honored "Turey" by publishing a book on the character, which included a collection of the comic strips. "Turey" is also the principal figure on an educational pamphlet published by "ENDE" (''El Nuevo Día Educador''). The
U.S. Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...
honored "Turey el Taino" and his creator in 1999, by presenting a cancelled postal stamp and renaming the postal station in "Plaza Las Americas" in Puerto Rico, the "Turey Postal Station".
On November 10, 1999, The Puerto Rican House of Representatives, honored "Turey's" creator Ricardo Álvarez-Rivón and presented him with a plaque. Álvarez-Rivón continues to write and illustrate the "Turey" comic strips with the collaboration of his wife, Magali Álvarez-Rivón.
The Puerto Rican Experience in the United States
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Note
See also
* List of Puerto Ricans
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez-Rivon, Ricardo
1950s births
People from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Living people
Puerto Rican comics artists
American comics artists
American comic strip cartoonists