Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics

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id: 11627
origination: Martínez Nazario, Manuel
date statement: 1950s-2024
key date: 1950
identifier (local_mss): 186227
org unit: Manuscripts and Archives Division
call number: MssCol 186227
b-number: b23071455
total components: 1317
total series: 0
max depth: 2
boost queries: (none)
component layout: Default Layout
Extended MARC Fields: false
Extended Navigation: false
created: 2023-08-11 19:03:19 UTC
updated: 2026-01-20 21:07:37 UTC
status note: (missing)
Display Aeon link: true

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unitid: {"value"=>"186227", "type"=>"local_mss"}

{"value"=>"b23071455", "type"=>"local_b"}

{"value"=>"MssCol 186227", "type"=>"local_call"}
unitdate: {"value"=>"1950s-2024", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1950/2024"}
unittitle: {"value"=>"Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics"}
physdesc: {"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"19 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"13.18 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
repository: {"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Manuscripts and Archives</span>"}
abstract: {"value"=>"The Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics, dating from the 1950s to 2024, contains more than 1,500 comic books, trade paperbacks, hardcover collections, and zines by Puerto Rican creators; comics about Puerto Rico or featuring Puerto Rican characters; and original comic book artwork by Puerto Rican artists. Materials in the collection, which include both commercial and independent comics, were published in Puerto Rico and the continental United States, and feature the work of such writers and artists as Martín Gaudier, George Pérez, Ricardo Álvarez Rivón, and Kenneth Rocafort."}
langmaterial: {"value"=>"Multiple languages"}

{"value"=>"Material is in English and Spanish."}
origination: {"value"=>"Martínez Nazario, Manuel", "type"=>"persname"}
bioghist: {"value"=>"<p>Manuel Martínez Nazario was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He received his Masters in Library Science from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, where he worked as a librarian from 1995 until his retirement in 2024.</p> <p>Martínez Nazario's passion for comic books was sparked while growing up between New York City and Puerto Rico. During the 1990s, Martínez Nazario began amassing a personal collection of comic books published in Puerto Rico, written, drawn, or edited by Puerto Ricans, featuring Puerto Rican characters, or about Puerto Rico. By 2022, when he donated the first part of his collection to The New York Public Library, it included over 1,400 comics published from the 1950s to the present and representing hundreds of Puerto Rican creators. Through his collecting practices, Martínez Nazario has sought to document the presence and legacy of Puerto Ricans in the comic book industries of Puerto Rico and the continental United States. Since 2019 Martínez Nazario has organized the Feria de Cómics de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, a semiannual comic book fair held at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras that showcases the work of local creators, writers, and artists.</p> <p>Martínez Nazario is also a scholarly expert on the significance and legacy of Puerto Rican comic books. His Master's thesis, <span class=\"title\">Los cómics de superhéroes en la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras: Un enfoque bibliotecológico</span>, focused on the presence of comic books about superheroes at his university's library. He curated an online exhibition related to his collection in 2020, has appeared on podcasts and in interviews with national and local media, and has authored publications on the topic.</p> <p>The collection that Manuel Martínez Nazario has created documents and reflects the almost century-long history of Puerto Ricans in comics.</p> <p>The earliest Puerto Rican comics creators worked in the United States comic book industry during the 1940s, before the establishment of an industry on the island. New York City-based pulp artist Alex Schomburg, whose work does not feature in the collection, was one of the first Puerto Ricans to work in American comics, having illustrated covers for Timely Comics (the predecessor to Marvel Comics) from 1940 to 1946. At Timely, Schomburg drew such popular characters as Captain America, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch, and was one of the publisher's go-to cover artists during the era. Ruben Moreira, also based in New York City, drew several Fiction House titles in the early 1940s before taking over writing and art duties for the <span class=\"title\">Tarzan</span> Sunday strip in 1945. Moreira went on to create the character Roy Raymond for DC Comics in 1949, and penciled and inked other DC titles including <span class=\"title\">Western Comics</span>, <span class=\"title\">House of Mystery</span>, and <span class=\"title\">House of Secrets</span>. The collection contains only two comics of Moreira's early work, a reprint of a <span class=\"title\">Western Comics</span> story in <span class=\"title\">Johnny Thunder</span>, and an issue of <span class=\"title\">House of Mystery</span>.</p> <p>Another stateside artist, Ernie Colón, began his career in 1955 inking backgrounds for the <span class=\"title\">Joe Palooka</span> newspaper strip before moving to Harvey Comics, where he penciled many of its children's series, notably <span class=\"title\">Richie Rich</span> and <span class=\"title\">Casper the Friendly Ghost</span>. Colón created the character Amethyst for DC, drew the original run of <span class=\"title\">Damage Control</span> for Marvel, and produced two comics about the September 11th attacks with writer Sid Jacobson. Colón is well-represented in the collection, particularly his Marvel work from the 1970s to the early 1990s.</p> <p>Martínez Nazario's collection holds titles created by some of the best-known and most successful Puerto Rican comics artists, including George Pérez, whose career took off at Marvel in the 1970s with his multi-year work on <span class=\"title\">The Avengers</span> and <span class=\"title\">Fantastic Four</span>. While at Marvel in 1975, Pérez co-created White Tiger (Hector Ayala), the first Puerto Rican and Hispanic protagonist in mainstream comics. Later, at DC Comics, Pérez penciled <span class=\"title\">The New Teen Titans</span>, and wrote and penciled the 1987 relaunch of <span class=\"title\">Wonder Woman</span>. Other Puerto Rican artists who have drawn for DC and Marvel include Mark Texeira, José Marzán Jr., Kenneth Rocafort, Joe Quiñones, Chris Sotomayor, Wilfredo Torres, and Rags Morales.</p> <p>The collection also documents the earliest years of comic book production in Puerto Rico itself. While Puerto Rican newspapers published comic strips as early as the 1920s, the island's comic book industry began in 1960, when artist Ismael Rodríguez Báez was commissioned to draw educational comics for various government agencies. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Rodríguez Báez produced dozens of these comics on topics such as voting, local history, and travel. His government-commissioned comics, featured in the collection, differ from later mainstream commercial titles in tone, illustration, and subject.</p> <p>Puerto Rico's independent scene took hold in the 1980s and 1990s, and is heavily documented in Martínez Nazario's collection. José \"Pepe\" Vázquez's <span class=\"title\">Ventana</span>, debuting in 1985, featured the first Puerto Rican superhero published in a comic on the island. Vázquez also conceived the adult anthology series <span class=\"title\">Voodoo Ink</span> in 1991, which became the first internationally distributed Puerto Rican comic. In 1986, Javier Martínez and Pedro Cortés published <span class=\"title\">Mundo Comics</span>, an anthology that highlighted the work of numerous artists and writers. Other Puerto Rico-based creators who began their careers during this era include Dave Álvarez (<span class=\"title\">Changay</span>, <span class=\"title\">Yenny</span>); Martín Gaudier (Perrera Comics); and John Rivas (<span class=\"title\">Bonzzo</span>). Art studios arose throughout the 1990s, many of which produced comics influenced by American superheroes from the continental United States. Several comic book stores opened during the 1990s and aided distribution on the island as well.</p> <p>Martínez Nazario has collected comics that honor the island's Indigenous communities and legacies. <span class=\"title\">Turey el Taíno</span>, by writer-artist Ricardo Álvarez Rivón, is among the best-known Puerto Rican comics. Debuting in 1989, the series follows the exploits of a Taíno man in 1490, and showcases Taíno culture before European colonization of the Americas. <span class=\"title\">Turey el Taíno</span>'s popularity has inspired licensed educational materials featuring the titular character published both in and outside of Puerto Rico.</p> <p>Since the 2000s, a number of independent presses and publications have emerged on the island, aided by computer drawing programs and increased distribution through the Internet. Soda Pop Comics, formed in 2007 by Rosa Colón and Carla Rodríguez, is the first female-run studio in Puerto Rico, producing both print material and webcomics about contemporary Puerto Rican life; Colón and Rodríguez also founded the Tintero comics festival in 2014. Xpin-Off Creative Group, Razor Blade Apple Studios, and Silver Island Studios emerged during this time, while independent releases such as Rosaura Rodríguez and Omar Banuchi's <span class=\"title\">Días</span>, Miguel Ángel Sanjurjo's <span class=\"title\">Jíbaro samuraí</span>, and Pernicious Press' <span class=\"title\">Nocivo Comix</span> have garnered widespread recognition.</p> <p>A few Puerto Rican comics characters introduced in the 2010s have gained popularity with the wider public. Miles Morales, an Afro-Puerto Rican Spider-Man, debuted in 2011 and was the protagonist of the film, <span class=\"title\">Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse</span>. Another Marvel character, America Chavez, debuted in 2011 and was featured in the film, <span class=\"title\">Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness</span>; Puerto Rican author Gabby Rivera wrote a 2016 to 2017 series starring Chavez. These titles are well-represented in the collection.</p> <p>Since the 2010s, creators have tackled the political, social, and environmental challenges facing Puerto Rico. In 2016, writer Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez launched the series, <span class=\"title\">La Borinqueña</span>, about an Afro-Puerto Rican superhero who confronts economic, sociopolitical, and environmental issues. Miranda-Rodriguez also spearheaded the 2018 anthology, <span class=\"title\">Ricanstruction: Reminiscing & Rebuilding Puerto Rico</span>, which raised funds for the island after Hurricane Maria. A similar book published the same year, <span class=\"title\">Puerto Rico Strong</span>, features the work of Vita Ayala, Sabrina Cintron, Eliana Falcón-Dvorsky, Naomi Franquiz, Ronnie García, and others. All three of these works have received international media attention, and are included in the collection.</p> <p>--</p> <p>Bibliography:</p> <p>Fuentes, Ángel. \"Investigación sobre los cómics en Puerto Rico.\" <span class=\"title\">La revista latinoamericana de estudios sobre la historieta</span> 8, no. 32 (December 2008): 185–206. http://rlesh.mogno.com/pdf/RLESH_32.pdf.</p> <p>Martínez Nazario, Manuel. \"La carencia de cómics en las bibliotecas universitarias: Estudio de caso del Sistema de Bibliotecas de la Universidad de Puerto Rico.\" <span class=\"title\">Biblios Journal of Librarianship and Information Science</span>, (59), 55–63 (2015). https://doi.org/10.5195/biblios.2015.205</p> <p>\"Sembrando la novela gráfica en Puerto Rico.\" <span class=\"title\">Diálogo</span>, June 20, 2010. https://dialogo.upr.edu/sembrando-la-novela-grafica-en-puerto-rico-2/.</p> <p>Taboas, Gabriela. \"Voodoo Ink and the Future of Puerto Rican Comics.\" <span class=\"title\">Her Campus</span>, September 21, 2014. https://www.hercampus.com/school/upr/voodoo-ink-and-future-puerto-rican-comics/.</p>"}
scopecontent: {"value"=>"<p>The Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics holds more than 1,500 comic books, trade paperbacks, hardcover collections, and zines by Puerto Rican writers, pencilers, colorists, inkers, letterers, cover artists, and editors; and comics that are about Puerto Rico or feature Puerto Rican characters. The collection dates from the 1950s to 2024, with most items dating from the 1990s to 2024. It reveals the beginnings of Puerto Rico's comic book industry, documents the work of many independent creators, and chronicles the contributions of Puerto Ricans in American comics.</p> <p>Items are arranged alphabetically by title, with forty pieces of original comic art ordered after the alphabetical listing. All comics, save for hardcover collections and most trade paperbacks, are housed in individual bags and boards. Boxes 1 to 11 and 16 contain all comics housed in 7\" x 10\" bags and boards; boxes 12 to 14 and 17 contain all comics housed in 8.5\" x 11\" bags and boards. Comics are ordered alphabetically within both sets of boxes, and alphabetical dividers are present in boxes 1 to 11 and 12 to 14.</p> <p>Puerto Rican creators and their creative roles are recorded in the container list for every item in the collection. In cases where no Puerto Rican creators contributed to a comic, a reason for its inclusion is provided, usually that the comic is about Puerto Rico or features a Puerto Rican character. Also recorded are publisher information; printing and edition information if relevant; signature information; number of copies if more than one is present; and additional materials included with the comics. Comics with variant or virgin covers are noted in the container list as well. A variant refers to cover art that is unique from the standard cover, often drawn by a different artist; a virgin cover refers to a cover with no text or logos.</p> <p>The vast majority of items in the collection are single issue comic books that were published in Puerto Rico and the continental United States. Self-published comics and zines are also present, most of which are by Puerto Rico-based creators from the 1980s forward.</p> <p>The content of the comics varies widely. There are many superhero comics in the collection, including those published by the industry's two largest publishers, DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Some comics are geared towards children, while others are for adult readers. There are memoirs and other nonfiction works, as well as comics that span the genres of comedy, horror, action, science fiction, fantasy, romance, erotica, satire, slice-of-life, and historical fiction.</p> <p>Most Puerto Rican creators represented in the collection are artists, whether pencilers, inkers, colorists, or cover artists. Often, a creator is credited simply as \"artist\" in a comic book, which typically indicates either all artistic roles or penciler. In such cases, or when specific artistic roles are not defined, creators are identified as \"artist\" in the container list.</p> <p>Prominently represented creators in the collection include Dave Álvarez (<span class=\"title\">Changay</span>, <span class=\"title\">Looney Tunes</span>, <span class=\"title\">Yenny</span>); Ricardo Álvarez Rivón (<span class=\"title\">Las aventuras de Yosi</span>, <span class=\"title\">Calidmán & Peliquín</span>, <span class=\"title\">Turey el Taíno</span>); Ángel Fuentes (<span class=\"title\">Gunbreed</span>, <span class=\"title\">Parallel Zero</span>); Rangely García (<span class=\"title\">NonPack</span>, <span class=\"title\">Saving Point</span>); Martín Gaudier (<span class=\"title\">Sato</span>, <span class=\"title\">Tato y Kenepo</span>); Juan Lapaix (<span class=\"title\">Cazadores esotéricos</span>, <span class=\"title\">Deadgods</span>, <span class=\"title\">Ventura</span>); Carlos M. Mangual (assorted DC Comics titles, <span class=\"title\">Society's Myth</span>); Efraín \"Franchy\" Morales (<span class=\"title\">Isleño</span>); George Pérez (<span class=\"title\">The Avengers</span>, <span class=\"title\">The New Teen Titans</span>, <span class=\"title\">Wonder Woman</span>); Kenneth Rocafort (<span class=\"title\">Action Comics</span>, <span class=\"title\">Detective Comics</span>); Rosaura Rodríguez (<span class=\"title\">Días</span>); Miguel Ángel Sanjurjo (<span class=\"title\">Algaro!</span>, <span class=\"title\">Jíbaro samurái</span>, <span class=\"title\">Picabúú</span>); Joel Vázquez (<span class=\"title\">Aliendox</span>, <span class=\"title\">Jíbaro samurái</span>); and José \"Pepe\" Vázquez (<span class=\"title\">Ventana</span>, <span class=\"title\">Voodoo Ink</span>).</p> <p>Martin Gaudier's work is especially prominent, with nearly complete runs of <span class=\"title\">Sato</span> and <span class=\"title\">Tato y Kenepo</span>. Numerous comics by Ricardo Álvarez Rivón with the Turey el Taíno character feature in the collection, including licensed educational works. Additionally, the collection holds early, largely self-published comics by José \"Pepe\" Vázquez, Joel Vázquez, and Carlos M. Mangual. These comics reveal the beginnings of Puerto Rico's independent scene during the late 1980s and 1990s.</p> <p>The earliest comics in the collection are <span class=\"title\">Leyendas de América</span> #34 (Editorial Novaro, 1958) and an issue of <span class=\"title\">Coquí cómic</span> dating from the 1950s that features comic strips. Also present are three comics by Ismael Rodríguez Báez, Puerto Rico's first comic book artist.</p> <p>Other items of interest include a collected edition of Lionel Valentín Calderón's <span class=\"title\">Filito</span>, a Puerto Rican newspaper strip published during the 1970s and 1980s; several zines and fold-out strips by Soda Pop Comics; three issues of <span class=\"title\">Super Defenders</span>, a bilingual Puerto Rican superhero comic published in the early 1990s; and a series of propaganda comics, <span class=\"title\">Los muñequitos</span>, published by the Puerto Rican Socialist Party in 1973 and 1974.</p> <p>The forty pieces of original art are mostly for comic books that exist in the collection. The artwork is for individual pages, covers, or strips. There is original art for comics such as <span class=\"title\">Bonzzo</span> (John Rivas); <span class=\"title\">Coquí</span> (Matteo Illuminati); <span class=\"title\">Dokyo: Batalla de los Reinos</span> (Jonathan Collazo Galíndez); <span class=\"title\">Guailí: el pequeño Taíno</span> (Alice Vanessa Falto Ayala); <span class=\"title\">Isleño</span> (Efraín \"Franchy\" Morales); <span class=\"title\">Jíbaro samurái</span> (Miguel Ángel Sanjurjo); <span class=\"title\">Sharky Tunas</span> (Héctor \"Tico\" Jiménez); <span class=\"title\">Turey el Taíno</span> (Ricardo Álvarez Rivón); and <span class=\"title\">Voodoo Ink</span> (José \"Pepe\" Vázquez).</p>"}
arrangement: {"value"=>"<p>Items are arranged alphabetically by title, which preserves the order in which Manuel Martínez Nazario has historically organized his collection.</p>"}
acqinfo: {"value"=>"<p>Donated by Manuel Martínez Nazario in 2022. Martínez Nazario donated additional material in 2024.</p>"}
processinfo: {"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Nathan Evans</span> in <span class=\"date\">2023</span>.</p>"}
revisiondesc: {"value"=>"Boxes 16-19 processed by Nathan Evans in", "date"=>"2025."}
date_start: 1950
keydate: 1950
date_end: 2024
date_inclusive_start: 1950
date_inclusive_end: 2024
extent_statement: 13.18 linear feet (19 boxes)
prefercite: {"value"=>"Manuel Martínez Nazario Collection of Puerto Ricans in the World of Comics, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library"}

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