BOOK / "THE MEN IN BLACK." Helio Flores

Art / Critique / History

Helioflores is one of the greatest Mexican cartoonists of all time. At the end of the tumultuous year of 1968, the master from Veracruz brought to life one of the most eccentric and dark characters in Mexican cartoon history: the Man in Black. His appearance took place in the first issue of "La Garrapata. El azote de los bueyes," a biweekly magazine founded by the legendary Eduardo del Río "Rius," Rogelio Naranjo, AB, and Helioflores himself. This was a group of great masters of critical journalism, advocates for political analysis distinguished by their extraordinary sense of humor and astounding graphic intuition.

The Man in Black is perhaps the best example of this ingenious exercise in radical criticism during a time of censorship and repression. Few works in the history of Mexican cartoons stand out as much for their neo-graphic experimentation in balance with their poetic and political impact as the Man in Black throughout all of its episodes. To see this, one only needs to leaf through any chapter featuring this dark character who faces hardships and abuses of authority, taking on all the virtues and misfortunes of being just a comic book character.

Alias offers its audience a compilation of over ninety comic strips created between 1968 and 2018, forming the most comprehensive collection published to date about this enigmatic character. This edition, with a prologue by Helio Flores himself, concludes the tribute that Alias pays to the master after the publication of "Helioflores. Nuestra democracia," a volume containing 246 cartoons that trace a journey through more than five decades of political events in Mexico and the world.

"I am what you see on these pages, the illustration of an anecdote that is a point of view, that is the chronic suffering or joy of the species." - Carlos Monsiváis

Title: 17. El hombre de negro
Author: Helio Flores
Publisher: Editorial Alias
Binding: Paperback
Format: 22.5 x 30 cm
Number of Pages: 240
Weight: 1,200 gr.
Genre: Art
Language: Spanish
Printing: One and four inks
Printed in Mexico