Rius (1934–)

Rius (pen name of Eduardo del Río; b. 20 July 1934), Mexican comic-book writer and cartoonist. Eduardo del Río, more popularly known to millions of his readers by his pen name Rius, is the creator of the most explicitly political comic books and illustrated books in Mexico and perhaps in all of Latin America. As a young man he worked briefly as a cartoonist for the Mexico City newspaper Ovaciones, but was dismissed because of the controversial nature of his political cartoons. During the 1950s and early 1960s, he alternately was unemployed and worked for several Mexico City publications. He soon became known to his readers for his outspoken criticism of social customs and prominent political figures, including the Mexican president.

In 1966, Rius made the switch from cartoonist to comic-book writer with the creation of his first comic book, Los supermachos, for Editorial Meridiano. Unable to tolerate the censorship of his publisher, he abandoned that series. In 1968, Rius created a second comic book, Los agachados, which he continued to write and illustrate until 1977. Since the early 1970s he has also written and illustrated over thirty-five books.

Rius's overtly political criticism of Mexican institutions has frequently angered government officials, even to the point of threatening his life. Nonetheless, he has continued to issue sharply satirical attacks against some of Mexico's most sacrosanct beliefs and institutions: the Catholic Church, the Revolution, and machismo. Rius is an unabashed admirer of socialism and has devoted many comicbook issues and books to instructing his readers about its basic tenets.

See alsoCartoons in Latin America; Journalism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Paula K. Speck, "Rius for Beginners: A Study in Comicbook Satire," in Studies in Latin American Popular Culture 1 (1982): 113-124.

Harold E. Hinds, Jr., and Charles M. Tatum, Not Just for Children: The Mexican Comic Book in the Late-1960s and 1970s (1992).

Additional Bibliography

García Flores, Margarita. "Embalsamo vivos: Entrevista con Eduardo del Río (Ruis)." Entorno: Revista Cultural del la Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, (Winter 1993): 30-31.

Proctor, Phyllis Ann Wiegand. Mexico's Supermachos: Satire and Social Revolution in Comics by Ruis. Austin: University of Texas, 1973.

                                          Charles Tatum