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The comic forms part of the collective memory of several generations who were avid, and often clandestine, readers of pages full of heroes, fantastic cities, exotic journeys and fun adventures. The ninth art, as it has been dubbed, does not only live in many people�s memories, nor is it just a childhood thing. Its social relevance and its evolution over the years has won the comic a great many dedicated followers, who still get enjoyment out of the ideas and characters which continue to emerge from the pens of the new generation of comic artists, while other fans stay faithful to their traditional heroes and the new adventures that the 21st century has in store for them.

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Made in America
Superheroes are at the heart of the American comic. And of all of them, the one which most stands out is the man famous for being neither bird nor plane, Superman. Created in the thirties, he quickly became an international phenomenon. Later the plots started to improve and the writers and artists developed a characteristic style which lasts even to this day. At the same time more characters with even greater superpowers were arriving on the scene, always just in time to save our planet from disaster: Flash, Wonderwoman, The Phantom or Batman. These superheroes died out only to be reborn in the late eighties, with some important changes: their adventures no longer take place in imaginary cities and the storylines are now ongoing.

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Euro comics
Two characters dominate the classic European comic scene: Tintin and Asterix. The adventures of the journalist and his inseparable fox terrier companion, and the trials and tribulations of the small but redoubtable Gaul, scourge of the Roman cohorts, fill the best pages of the comics of the old continent.
Tintin and Snowy, Captain Haddock, Thomson and Thompson, Bianca Castafiore, Professor Calculus and many more characters went around the world stumbling across all sorts of adventures. Herg�s characters form part of our collective memory and are responsible for the current Tintinmania phenomenon. The book Are you a Tintinologist? published in Spanish by Juventud (1991), which challenges Tintinophiles to test their knowledge of things Tintinian, is just one example of the Tintin craze.

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Meanwhile Asterix, at the ripe old age of 38, gave signs of still being in excellent health when last year the seventh Asterix story to be written and drawn solely by Albert Uderzo (after the death of his co-writer Rene Goscinny) was given a spectacular launch. The cinema world has also taken an interest in the little Gallic leader, turning him into a character of flesh and bone. And a theme park provides yet more proof of his undeniable popular appeal.

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Enfants terribles and clever pets
Other comic books take kids as their central characters. Their opinions and their everyday adventures make us see reality from another angle, while their critical view on life invites us take a wry look at our own lives. Mafalda, the most revolutionary little Argentinean girl of all time, is an example of how humour can be uncannily true to life. Quino created Mafalda more than 30 years ago but she has lost nothing with age. Charlie Brown, on the other hand, is just an ordinary kid trying to have fun with his friends and his philosophical and sententious pet dog Snoopy. This comic strip, the work of Charles Schulz, features a cast of truly loveable and laughable characters. And of course how can we forget the cheekiest, greediest of comic cats, Garfield. When Jim Davis created him he could scarcely have suspected just how successful Garfield would become. It is currently the most widely read comic strip both in the United States and worldwide with more than 220 million readers, and it is published in more than 2,500 newspapers in every corner of the planet.

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National production
Among the most loved and admired characters of the Spanish comic are Carpanta, Don P�o, the Gilda sisters, Zipi and Zape, Anacleto, Do�a Urraca and Mortadelo and Filem�n. They may be advertised as comics for children but they are really intended for readers of all ages. None of the artists who came after have come near to approaching the genius of those post war masters of the pencil, such as the late Escobar, who left behind his wonderful twins Zipi and Zape, immortalised in Ediciones B�s endless reissues. Today we still have Francisco Ib��ez, who after more than forty years is still plotting the adventures of his legendary duo Mortadelo and Filem�n, a hilarious and surrealist parody of the famous detectives Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

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FAIRS AND MUSEUMS
Here are some of the most important annual fairs; unmissable events where comic fans can find out what�s new on the market, or maybe track down that rare issue they�ve been hunting for years:

20 Barcelona International Comic Fair
Estaci� de Fran�a
Barcelona
From May 9 to 12, 2002

VI Madrid Comic Fair. Hobbyland
Madrid
November 2002

VIII Manga Fair
La Farga de L'Hospitalet
Barcelona
October 2002

Museo del C�mic
C/ Santa Catalina, 25
Barcelona
Tel. 93 3481 513

Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art
Rue des Sables, 20
Brussels
Tel. 022 191 980