Patoruzú is a

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

character created in 1928 by

Dante Quinterno Dante Quinterno (Buenos Aires, October 26, 1909Buenos Aires, May 14, 2003) was an Argentine comics artist, agricultural producer, and prolific editorial businessman, famous for being the creator of the Patoruzú, Isidoro Cañones and Patoruzito c ...

and is considered the most popular hero of

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

comics. Patoruzú is a wealthy Tehuelche ''

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

'' with great estate properties in

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

, and possesses both superhuman physical strength and a charitable yet naive heart. He was originally only a side character in Quinterno's series "Don Gil Contento", but became so popular with readers that the comic was renamed after him.

History

Patoruzú first appeared on October 19, 1928, in the ''Las Aventuras de Don Gil Contento'' strip in the ''Crítica'' newspaper, under the name of ''Curugua Curuguagüigua''; ''last cacique of the giant Tehuelches'', of whom ''Don Gil'' becomes tutor. The name was deemed too difficult to pronounce and was soon changed to Patoruzú, after the then-popular candy ''Pasta de Orozú''. Nevertheless, the strip was canceled by the newspaper after only a few days. Later that year Dante Quinterno started working for '' La Razón'' newspaper with the strip ''Don Julián de Monte Pío'' (predecessor of another of Quinterno's popular characters: the playboy

Isidoro Cañones Isidoro Cañones is a fictional character from Argentine comics, created by Dante Quinterno. He was created as a supporting character of Patoruzu, but got his own comic book afterwards, which is periodically reprinted. The character is often refere ...

). In September 1930, Patoruzú was again introduced into the strip when Don Julián became his tutor. Slowly, Patoruzú assumed greater importance in the strip, which on December 11, 1931, was renamed to ''Patoruzú''. In 1935 Quinterno sold the publication rights to ''El Mundo'' newspaper, and the first compilation of the adventures of the ''cacique'' was published. The strip was also published in newspapers in other Argentine cities outside of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. In November 1936 the first Patoruzú monthly magazine was released and completely sold out the same day. The magazine was then published fortnightly, and then weekly. The magazine reached a record circulation of 300,000 copies, soon requiring a team to create its scripts and drawings, under the supervision of Quinterno. On April 30, 1977, the 2,045th and last issue of Patoruzú was released. Slightly adapted versions of the original have been published, as well as the comic ''Patoruzito,'' about the life of young Patoruzú. In 1942 the 12-minute short film ''

Upa en apuros ''Upa en apuros'' is a 1942 Argentine short animated colour film written and directed by Dante Quinterno. The film premiered on November 20, 1942 at the Ambassador cinema in Buenos Aires. At the 1943 Argentine Film Critics Association Awards, ...

'' was the first Latin-American animated film produced in colour. The series also inspired French comics writer and artist Rene Goscinny who grew up in Argentina from 1928–1945 to create the characters Oumpah-pah in 1958, and Asterix and Obelix a year later in 1959 with artist

Albert Uderzo Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo (), was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the '' Astérix'' series in collaboration wit ...

Characters

; Patoruzú :Patoruzú is the last descendant of the fictional Tehuelche ''Patoruzek'' dynasty. The source of his uncommon strength seems to be related to what he was fed as a child—soup made from the bones of an extinct giant animal—but also to the strength of all his ancestors, which he receives whenever he faces injustice. He is extremely generous and charitable but is often deceived by greedy characters, who in the end are always properly punished. Patoruzú uses many native expressions that give his speech an aboriginal flavor; however, they derive from different tribes of Argentina and so are not consistent with each other (e.g. Guaraní ''gurí'', Guaraní ''Che'', etc.). ; Isidoro Cañones :An incorrigible

playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

and stereotypical ''

porteño (feminine: ''Porteña'', in Spanish) is mainly used to refer to the residents of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is also used for other port cities, such as El Puerto de Santa María, Spain; Valparaíso, Chile; Mazatlán, Veracruz, Acapulco and ...

'', he is supposed to be Patoruzú's tutor and look after him, but he spends most of his time trying to find new ways of getting more ''patacones'' bills out of him, to spend on parties, cars, and horses. ; Upa :Patoruzú's teenage brother is shy and naive, yet more aware of modern ways than his older brother. He has a big belly that he uses as a weapon whenever injustice is to be fought. ; Patora :Patora is the youngest sister; she lives in a convent in

because her obsessive desire to get married makes her fall for the first man she sees. ; La Chacha :Patoruzú's nanny and wet nurse lives on the ''estancia'' (ranch), far from any city. In spite of her age, she is vigorous and hard-working. Her

empanada An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover (food), turnover consisting of pastry and stuffing, filling, common in Culture of Spain, Spain, other Southern European countries, North African countries, South Asian countries, Latin American c ...

s are highly appreciated by the other characters. ; Ñancul :The foreman of Patoruzú's ''estancia,'' he is often in a bad mood, but Patoruzú respects and trusts him. ; Coronel Cañones :The Colonel, the quintessential retired military man, is the uncle and tutor of Isidoro. A very correct and respected person, he is always trying to straighten out his nephew. ; Pampero :Pampero (''from the

Pampa The Pampas (; from Quechuan languages, Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, provinces of Buenos Aires Pro ...

'' and also the name of a strong southern wind, meaning in essence that he "runs like the wind") is Patoruzú's faithful horse, one of the fastest, if not ''the'' fastest, in the world. He responds only to Patoruzú's call. ; Patoruzito :This modern comic is set during the early years of the life of Patoruzú, with ''Isidorito'' (young Isidoro), ''Patoruzito'' (young Patoruzú) and his horse ''Pamperito'' (young Pampero).

History

Characters

References

External links