Today, while I was doing my online newspaper round, I found the Spanish newspaper "La Vanguardia" featured this cover. I love comics, so imagine how flattered I am to find this article about comics on the very cover of the online version of this newspaper, a respected liberal publication from Barcelona that has been around since 1931.

This article isn't a mere introduction to the genre of "serious comics". The author of this long article (available for a week on http://www.lavanguardia.es/web/20040602/51156334979.html ), mentions Art Spiegelman's latest work (The New Normality), and takes it as a starting point to analyze about the situation of "serious" comics, with special emphasis on those comics "willing to redefine sequential art as an instrument to explore historical memory and stimulate ethical reflection."

I'm delighted with this article, deep and ample, and it made me realize that here in Europe, or at least on certain zones of this old continent, comics are already perceived by public as a valid means of communication, as respectable as literature, with creators and creations worthy of high praise. And it also makes me wonder if there are chances to make the comics as respectable in other parts of the planet, like, for instance, the United States, where, in my opinion, comics are still "stuff for kids".

I want to translate the article to English and publish it here whenever I've got the chance. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did.