ABSTRACT
While the graphic novel is difficult to define generally, the label of the Latin American graphic novel is more problematic still, as it bears the danger of simplifying a genre that comprises such a wide range of countries and nations, each with its own histories, cultures, and languages – and its own set of popular, artistic, and experimental works. The Spanish expressions used in the context of graphic novels often overlap with the words traditionally used to designate comics – as in historieta, tebeo, serial or album ilustrado. In Latin America, the graphic novel quite the same impact as it had had in the US, Europe, and Japan. The incentives for editors seem to have been smaller, given that there had not been quite as substantial an industry of sequential art as elsewhere. Latin American graphic novelists have also shown interest in “classic” genres and themes including horror, pornography, as well as fantasy/science fiction with aliens, zombies, and other strange beasts.
