Saturday, June 28, 2008

Road Story. Comment by Ari Pliskin.


Here is one gem that I found at convention Viñetas Sueltas in Buenos Aires in May. Published in 2007, Road Story is a comics adaptation of a short story by Chilean Alberto Fuguet (whose accomplishments include translations into several languages and one movie). As in David Mazzuchelli’s adaptation of City of Glass, cartoonist Gonzalo Martínez uses the unique language of comics. While collections of serialized political or humorous comics are common in Chile, it is less usual to publish a longer narrative story, in this case 127 pages.

Click on the link to read the entire critic.

Ladrón de Mediodía





Proyecto de adaptación de un cuento de José Santos González Vera. Uno de mis autores chilenos favoritos.

Geek Girl


This is a pinup I did based on Geek Girl, the character created by Sam Johnson.

Horacio y El Profesor de vuelta por un rato.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Road Story on sale in U.S.A.

If you live in the New York area and you're curious about my recent graphic novel "Road Story" wich is mainly located in the american/mexican border in cities like El paso, Tucson, Roswell or Ciudad Juarez, you can buy it at:

"The Latin American Bookstore"
204 North Geneva Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Tel: 607 273-2418
Fax: 607 273 6003

Or you can order it from anywhere in the U.S.A. at their web site.. Scroll down a bit and you'll find it.

The graphic novel is in spanish but you can read the first ten pages HERE, translated into english by Words without borders, The On Line Magazine for International Literature,meanwhile we're searching for an english language publisher.

You can learn more about "Road Story" at the following critic written by Bruce Jensen and published at "Criticas Magazine"

Road Story.
Fuguet, Alberto & Gonzalo Martínez (illus).
Chile/ U.S.: Alfaguara. 2007. 127p. illus. ISBN 978-956-239-538-0. pap. $16.99. GRAPHIC NOVEL

Groundbreaking and influential, Chilean author Alberto Fuguet hooked up with countryman Gonzalo Martínez to produce what is by their reckoning the first graphic novel issued by a major Chilean publisher. An homage to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, this story is emphatically North American. Raised in Southern California, Fuguet has been working with the motif of an alienated Chilean drifter traveling near the U.S.-Mexico border for many years. An early draft, "La verdad o las consecuencias" ("Truth or Consequences"), appeared in the McOndo anthology in 1996, and another version was included in his 2005 collection Cortos (Shorts). In this small-format, black-and-white graphic novel, an introspective thirtysomething man from Santiago travels to escape a soured marriage and other failures, using cash embezzled from his employer. Paired with the narrative, Martínez's strong, richly atmospheric artwork depicts the southwestern United States along parts of Route 66, with interludes in Tucson, Roswell, and Truth or Consequences, NM, and a climactic episode in El Paso/Juárez. The illustrations bring a proper touch of darkness to the story, carrying such cinematic weight that the author can advance the plot with few words. Recommended for all libraries and bookstores serving readers capable of dealing with pictures of explicit sex scenes.

Road Story comentada en revista Capital.

Me sorprendió gratamente encontrarme con este comentario en la revista de actualidad política y económica por excelencia.

Hace poco leí un artículo acerca de los autores de literatura infantil en Chile en la misma revista y me pareció bastante bueno y atinado. Bien por ellos.

Los dejo con el texto acerca de la novela gráfica publicada el año pasado:

"Es extraña la escasa difusión que ha logrado Road Story (Alfaguara, 127 páginas) novela gráfica de Gonzalo Martínez basada en un relato de Alberto Fuguet. Al parecer la crítica chilena aún no se espabila ante uno de los géneros más vitales de la narrativa actual, que cruza la novela y el cómic, con exponentes tan destacados como Daniel Clowes o el maestro Will Eisner. En Road Story las viñetas de Martínez son notables, su trazo es expresivo y riguroso, sin elementos que sobren, logrando una atmósfera eficaz que se apropia de la historia de un tipo que se divorcia, estafa al padre y vaga por el sur de Estados Unidos, donde conoce a una chica tan vacía como él. No pasa mucho más, pero no hace falta, porque la narración vuela con alas propias a ese territorio sin fronteras tan propio de Fuguet, la zona muerta de los que se pierden."

Aquí, el link al artículo--->