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Copyright by Samuel Scott Cannon 2017 The Dissertation Committee for Samuel Scott Cannon Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Drawing Crime and Justice in Latin American Crime Comics and Graphic Novels 1970-2015 Committee: Jossianna Arroyo-Martínez, Supervisor Jason Borge Gabriela Polit Lorraine Moore Ana Merino Drawing Crime and Justice in Latin American Crime Comics and Graphic Novels 1970-2015 by Samuel Scott Cannon, A.A., B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May, 2017 Dedication To CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES, for teaching me how to teach and for teaching me what it means to raise a strong feminist daughter and for your love of reading To OVELIA DE LA AURORA INLAKECH, for teaching me what unconditional love is and for all your abrazos and meows Acknowledgements This dissertation represents the support, work, and sacrifice of many individuals beyond myself. Like the creation of a comic book, there are many more people involved than the reader may suppose: writers, editors, artists, inkers, colorists, and letterers. This work would not be possible without the investment of so many amazing and caring contributors. I am certain that I will be unable to identify and name everyone who has impacted my thinking, my coping, my ideas, and my survival, so I beg for forgiveness if I omit anyone’s generous contribution, however larger or small it may have been. Jossianna Arroyo-Martínez has supported my research and interests since my arrival at the University of Texas at Austin in 2010. Her enthusiasm and trust made this project possible. She has been brave enough to delve into the world of comic studies with me and her insight and direction have made this project a reality. Beyond that, her friendship has made the most trying time of my life something I can be proud of. I am likewise grateful to Jason Borge for always noticing the weaknesses in my writing and for pointing them out to me, as well as for making sure I have a good reason for writing about Mexico and Chile in the same project. His approach to popular cultures has been formative in my professionalization. Lorraine Leu’s guidance in regards to the analysis of urban spaces has been essential to this project, and I will always respect her amazing shoes. Gabriela Polit’s way of writing about crime and violence in Mexico has been an inspiration for my efforts, and her hugs in the hall when she could tell I needed one will not be forgotten. Finally, I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with Ana Merino on this project. Her work on Hispanic comics has served me as a needed springboard for my vi work. Beyond the amazing committee that has influenced my work, I would like to thank Sergio Villalobos-Ruminott for his support and for teaching me that I don’t always have to agree with other scholars. His writings and guidance have led me to where I am today. This project would be impossible without the generosity of the Chilean comic writers and artists who invited me into their homes, showed me their work, and told me the history of comics in Chile. The kindness of Gonzalo Martínez and Carlos Reyes cannot be expressed in these lines. The time they spent with me in San Diego and Santiago made this research a reality. Likewise, I would like to thank Rodrigo Elgueta, Bernardita Labourdette, María José Barros, Gabriel Rodríguez, Miguel Angel Ferrada, Francisco Ortega, Patricio Urúza, Álvaro Bisama, Carla Mc-Kay, Rodrigo López, Cristian Docolomansky, Germán Valenzuela, Gabriel Aiquel, Melina Rapimán, Kote Carvajal, and Gonzalo Oyanedel. It is very likely that I have missed a name and I apologize if I have. Finally, I have to specifically thank Ramón Díaz Eterovic for taking me on a stroll through the Barrio Mapocho and showing me all of Heredia’s favorite haunts – together we stood outside the closed down City Bar Restaurant, I will never forget it. Likewise, I must thank the exhaustive work of Moisés Hasson, without his time and efforts this project would not be complete. The fellow graduate students that I have been honored to work with made the creation of this project not only bearable, but, even sometimes, enjoyable. The conversations, road trips, meals, depressions, fears, and successes that I have shared with James Staig, Stephanie Malak, Ignacio Carvajal, Carlos Amador, and Hannah Alpert- Abrams have sustained me and helped to hold me up when I thought this endeavor may have been a mistake or even impossible. I thank you all with a sincerity that these words vii cannot convey. I am honored to be considered your friend and even more so to be considered your colleague. I must thank the one individual who has been the greatest influence on my education: my mother, Kitty Cannon. She educated me in her home until I left for college. The years of dedication she put into my education, on a daily basis, have made this project possible. She instilled in me a love of reading, writing, and critical thinking that has stayed with me my whole life. Thank you, mom. I am proud of the education you gave me at the kitchen table and on the couch. I didn’t really learn everything in seventh grade, I learned most of it from you, and some of it from going to college for fifteen years. My father, Daniel Cannon, made my education possible by his tireless work and infinite generosity. He made it possible for me to pursue my education and have a family at the same time. I cannot express my gratitude enough for the long hours he has worked his whole life for me and my siblings to have the opportunity to follow our dreams. I am happy to thank Andi Flores for keeping me on task, for all the meals, and for working by my side over the long days and nights it took to finish this project. I hope that I can be the person she sees me as. Thank you for the joy. There’s no way to say it all. The three people who made the hardest and longest investments in my work have been Christine Rivera, Charlotte Sometimes Rivera-Cannon, and Ovelia Rivera-Cannon. I cannot say, no matter how many words I use, how much your support and dedication have meant to me. They shared in the late nights, the days I wanted to give up, and all the happiness, and the great sadness that have been part of this process. Christine, thank you viii for watching late-night Televisa with me and for taking me to San Diego Comic-Con where I learned you could have a job reading comic books, and for everything else… I am forever grateful to Charlotte and Ovelia for loving me through all of this and for believing in their Nene’s work. I love you so so much. Thank you for letting me do this for me and for you. ix Drawing Crime and Justice in Latin American Crime Comics and Graphic Novels 1970-2015 by Samuel Scott Cannon, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2017 SUPERVISOR: Jossianna Arroyo-Martínez Abstract: This project investigates contemporary Latin American crime comics in order to interrogate how these popular culture texts represent concepts of crime and justice. This study looks to crime comics that fall into the detective or private investigator genre between 1970 and 2015 from Mexico and Chile, precisely because they confront crime directly. In particular, the Mexican comic character El Pantera, created by Daniel Muñoz, and Ramón Díaz Eterovic’s detective Heredia from Chile are the primary focuses of this investigation. These two characters have formed a part of their respective cultural imaginaries over the last four decades and as such they serve as reference points for how concepts of crime and justice have evolved in Mexico and Chile. The investigation of these comic narratives brings to light that economic and political policies related to neoliberalism are seen as sources of crime and violence. This investigation proposes that Mexican and Chilean comics reveal that neoliberalism is criminal through the lens of popular criminology and x that these comic texts are means of processing neoliberal violence and disappearance in the realm of popular culture. This research proposes new approaches to the study of Latin America comics by putting Mexican and Chilean crime comics into dialogue with comic theories by Scott McCloud, Thierry Groensteen, and Nick Souanis, as well as Latin American comic research by Bruce Campbell, Ana Merino, Anne Rubenstein, Harold Hinds and Charles Tatum. In addition, these comic texts are investigated through critical theories by Giorgio Agamben, Michel De Cearteau, Pierre Nora, Slavoj Žižek, and Sergio Villalobos- Ruminott. This research represents a unique approach to Latin American comics that take the contextual realities of contemporary neoliberal practices into consideration, and offers new comic theories such as the multibraid network, new gutter spaces, and the idea of “Ashes in the Gutter” to bring McCloud’s writings in touch with Mexican and Chilean realities. In addition, this dissertation provides one of the only histories of the Chilean comic industry written in English. xi Table of Contents List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………..xvii Introduction: How to Survive Neoliberalism: A Comic Guide to the Symptoms of Latin America’s Uneven Modernity………………………….………1 I. Why Mexico and Chile? Unflattening Neoliberalism from the Pages of Crime Comics……………………………………….………….5 II.