- Re-imagining the conquest in comics: adoption of colonial Spanish American narrative and image in contemporary comic books. Jones, Braeden https://iro.uiowa.edu/discovery/delivery/01IOWA_INST:ResearchRepository/12782142290002771?l#13782142280002771 Jones, B. (2020). Re-imagining the conquest in comics: adoption of colonial Spanish American narrative and image in contemporary comic books [University of Iowa]. https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.005286 https://iro.uiowa.edu Copyright 2020 Braeden Jones Downloaded on 2021/09/24 11:52:32 -0500 - Re-Imagining the Conquest in Comics: Adoption of Colonial Spanish American Narrative and Image in Contemporary Comic Books by Braeden Jones A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Spanish in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa May 2020 Thesis Committee: Amber Brian, Thesis Supervisor Ana Merino, Thesis Supervisor Ariana Ruiz Brian Gollnick Brittany Tullis Copyright by BRAEDEN JONES 2020 All Rights Reserved To Loki and Liza, peas in a pod; to Bonnie and Jack, safe from harm; to Lilly, sister in arms; to Lisek, may he rest in peace; and most of all, to Cassi, without whom this would’ve been impossible. I love you all. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the people who made this possible. To Dr. Amber Brian, whose support over the last decade has been instrumental to this project, who helped guide my interests to Colonial Spanish America, and who has bolstered me through the changes in direction that this dissertation project has taken. To Dr. Ana Merino, who listened to me talk about my love of comics and my background in Colonial Spanish American Studies and found the nucleus where the two met, handed me La interminable conquista de México, and has supported me along the way. To the other scholars who have supported me and lent me their ears and their shoulders over the years. To those who helped me acquire the materials to produce this dissertation. To my parents, Becky and John, who supported me through decades of learning. And to my wife Cassandra: here it is, finally. iii ABSTRACT This project analyzes contemporary comic books that focus on the conquest and colonization of Spanish America (with a particular focus on the conquest of the city-state of Mexico-Tenochtitlan) by examining the alphabetic and pictorial sources that these comics creators draw from in order to create their works. Addressing comics artists from Latin America, Spain, and the U.S., the analysis is divided into three groups: first, works whose focus is didactic or pedagogical; second, works whose focus is political; and, third, works whose focus is fantastical or dystopian. Didactic comics engage with the legacy of conquest by presenting highly mediated, sanitized versions that reflect the cultural standpoint of the publisher and intended audience. Political comics engage with conquest by directly tying their present-day political milieu to a continuing project of colonization and subjugation by external powers. Dystopian comics engage with this legacy by appropriating the concept itself as fodder for developing impossible versions of events to entertain and dialogue with the history of conquest without focusing on its real-world effects. Major creators included in this study are: Antonio Hernández Palacios, Oski, Rius, Edgar Clément, Javier Hernandez, and Sam Humphries. iv PUBLIC ABSTRACT In this project, I discuss the ways in which comics creators draw from and build off of Colonial Spanish American documents – both narrative and image – in order to retell the story of the conquest of the Americas in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I divide these comics into three main groups: didactic comics, which focus on teaching the story of the conquest from a particular point of view, while ignoring or erasing certain parts of the historical record; political comics, which draw a direct line from the sixteenth- century processes of conquest and colonization to contemporary political consequences; and dystopian comics, which use the conquest as a playground in which to create fantastical, impossible versions of events. Each, however, is indebted to the Colonial-era documents and uses them as the framework through which they retell their tale. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION: APPROACHING THE QUINCENTENARY OF THE FALL OF TENOCHTITLAN .............................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 01. HEGEMONIC HISTORIES AND EXPERT ELISION: DIDACTIC COMICS OF CONQUEST FROM THREE COUNTRIES .................................... 33 CHAPTER 02. CARICATURE AND CONDEMNATION: POLITICAL REINTERPRETATIONS OF CONQUEST NARRATIVES .................................... 82 CHAPTER 03. DRUGS, DOG PEOPLE, AND DINOSAURS: CONQUEST AND DYSTOPIA IN FANTASY COMICS ................................................................. 132 CONCLUSION: THE ENDURING LEGACY OF CONQUEST AND FURTHER AVENUES FOR INVESTIGATION ................................................................. 169 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................... 175 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Hernández Palacios, Antonio. El primer viaje de Colón: Una candela lejana. pp. 18 ................................................................................................ 40 Figure 2: Hernández Palacios, Antonio. El virreinato de Colón: La luz y la espada. pp. 53 .............................................................................................. 41 Figure 3: Hernández Palacios, Antonio. La conquista de Nueva España: El oro y la sangre. pp. 22 ................................................................................... 42 Figure 4: Hernández Palacios, Antonio. El primer viaje de Colón: Una candela lejana. pp. 44 ................................................................................................ 44 Figure 5: Hernández Palacios, Antonio. El virreinato de Colón: La luz y la espada. pp. 17 .............................................................................................. 46 Figure 6: Hernández Palacios, Antonio. El virreinato de Colón: La luz y la espada. pp. 16 .............................................................................................. 48 Figure 7: Andrea M. Gaudiano. Azteca: La historia de un guerrero jaguar / The story of a jaguar warrior. pp. 14 .............................................................. 53 Figure 8: Andrea M. Gaudiano. Azteca: La historia de un guerrero jaguar / The story of a jaguar warrior. pp. 15 .............................................................. 54 Figure 9: Andrea M. Gaudiano. Azteca: La historia de un guerrero jaguar / The story of a jaguar warrior. pp. 52 .............................................................. 55 Figure 10: West, David, Jackie Gaff and Jim Eldridge. Hernán Cortés: The Life of a Spanish Conquistador. pp. 8 ............................................................. 61 Figure 11: West, David, Jackie Gaff and Jim Eldridge. Hernán Cortés: The Life of a Spanish Conquistador. pp. 14 ........................................................... 62 Figure 12: West, David, Jackie Gaff and Jim Eldridge. Hernán Cortés: The Life of a Spanish Conquistador. pp. 14 ........................................................... 65 Figure 13: West, David, Jackie Gaff and Jim Eldridge. Hernán Cortés: The Life of a Spanish Conquistador. pp. 29 ........................................................... 67 Figure 14: Abnett, Dan and Q2A. Jr. Graphic Biographies: Hernán Cortés and the Fall of the Aztec Empire. pp. 15 ......................................................... 70 Figure 15: Abnett, Dan and Q2A. Jr. Graphic Biographies: Hernán Cortés and the Fall of the Aztec Empire. pp. 10 ......................................................... 70 vii Figure 16: Abnett, Dan and Q2A. Jr. Graphic Biographies: Hernán Cortés and the Fall of the Aztec Empire. pp. 6 ........................................................... 71 Figure 17: De la Mora, Francisco, Rodrigo Santos, Ricardo Peláez and José Luis Pescador. La Conquista: Nueva historia mínima de México. pp. 17-18 ..... 76 Figure 18: De la Mora, Francisco, Rodrigo Santos, Ricardo Peláez and José Luis Pescador. La Conquista: Nueva historia mínima de México. pp. 27 ........... 77 Figure 19: Oski. Vera historia de Indias. Front Cover ..................................... 85 Figure 20: Oski. Vera historia de Indias. pp. 71 ............................................. 87 Figure 21: Oski. Vera historia de Indias. pp. 61 ............................................. 89 Figure 22: Hansen, BCN. Escudo de Hernán Cortés completo ......................... 91 Figure 23: Oski. Vera historia de Indias. pp. 61 ............................................. 92 Figure 24: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata. Aztec Sun Stone, at National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, Mexico.................................................. 93 Figure 25: Oski. Vera historia de Indias. pp. 61 ............................................. 93 Figure 26: Oski. Vera historia de Indias. pp. 63 ............................................. 96 Figure 27: Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe. Nueva corónica y buen gobierno. pp. 155. / Oski. Vera historia de Indias. pp. 33 ............................................. 98 Figure 28: Rius. La interminable conquista de México. Front Cover ..............