El Rrollo – Nasti de Plasti (Nazario, Mariscal, Ceesepe, Montesol, etc) (1976)

El Rrollo was an illustration group that had behind it some of the most innovative minds during the last years of the dictatorship in Spain and the transition to the so called democracy. Their style was varied, but it was very influenced by Robert Crumb and the rest of the underground comix movement. Some years after the first Zap Comix there was some space in Spain to do a similar thing, based in a completely different culture and very close to the jokes, fantasies, interests and the daily life of the average citizen: using the street slang, talking about taboos like sex, drugs, and why not rock n roll too.

During the same time of the Spanish history the counter culture movement was a big influence in the society, specially among the youth. Ajoblanco and Star were the most known magazines, but there were many (also fanzines) and their pages needed illustrators. The El Rrollo participants and other groups of creators ended up in many houses of the country, getting partly the attention they deserved even after battling the censorship. Besides counterculture publications also some specialized magazines started; the most known example is El Víbora, a magazine that started in 1979 and had to finish their activity in 2005.

All these authors had some good years until the early 00’s when these projects started to decline and those illustrators disappeared from the first row of underground art in Spain (with some exceptions like Mariscal). Some museums tried to put their material together in their recent years and a few of their names got back in track for the newer generations and also have been remembered by those who did read them fourty years ago.

Madrágora, 1976. Softcover, 100 pages. ISBN: 0802134386.

First edition. Condition: Loose central page, considerable foxing stains and yellow pages. Totally readable copy, no pen marks, no lacking pages. Normal condition for a cheap printed comic from 1976.