Relatos de Presidio (‘Tales from Prison’) is a popular “sensacionales” Mexican comic with horror and crime themes aimed at adults. Published by Editorial Toukan (and running to over 800 issues), the far from politically correct artwork and stories in Relatos de Presidio feature gory scenes of death and torture involving victims from both sexes.
‘Sensacionales’ or ‘La revisit vaquero’ are very low quality black and white comics printed in tones of sepia featuring about four panels per page in a four square diagram. The pocket size books generally have approximately one hundred pages and are famous for portraying voluptuous women on their covers. Most are sold cheaply at newsstands, either new or second-hand (similar to Italian fumetti).
Adult comics have a unique place in Mexican culture. Sensacionales are trashy and exploitative, but they also represent a genuinely popular indigenous medium. The dominant role of adult comics in Mexico is relatively new. From the 1930s through the 1970s, Mexico had a thriving comic-book industry with many genres. Titles such as Pepín, Fantomas, and Memín Penguín sold millions of copies during this era. But in the 1980s, American superhero comics poured into Mexico. That, combined with the perception that comics were only for kids, nearly wiped out indigenous comic books in Mexico. The only genre to survive, and even thrive, was a unique form of adult pulp comics.
Wikipedia | Comic Vine | Related: Jacula | Secrets of Haunted House | Vampirella
