Superlópez

Superlópez is a Spanish comic book character created by Jan. Created in 1973, Superlópez is a parody of Superman. Born "Jo-Con-Él" (roughly translated as "Damn-the-brat") on the planet "Chitón" (Spanish slang meaning something like "Shut it") much like Superman's home planet of Krypton, he leaves his planet when he entered in a Spaceship and presses a button, an accident that drive him to Earth, he was raised by his adoptive parents in Barcelona and concealed himself under the identity of office-worker "Juan López" (which is actually author Jan's real name). He works with his girlfriend, the bad-tempered "Luisa Lanas" (notice the similarity to Lois Lane); "Jaime González Lidenbrock" (Superlopez's not so pally Jimmy Olsen); and his demanding, unnamed boss (a reference to Perry White).

This was revealed in the 8-page origin story in the first issue of his magazine. Other stories in the first issue reveal his "Fortress of Solitude", the "Villa Soledad" in the Arctic and have him fighting a rubber robot, the Galactic Galdiator, a sorceress from another dimension, La Incredible Maza (The Incredible Hulk), an atomic monster and a metal robot.

Other recurring characters include "Inspector Hólmez" (a reference to Sherlock Holmes), an excessively bureaucratic police officer who suspects everyone; "Martha Hólmez", the Inspector's daughter, and computer geek "Chico Humitsec".

Recurring villains

Recurring villains include the evil professor "Escariano Avieso"; "Lady Araña" (“Lady Spider”); the gangster "Al Trapone" (a reference to Al Capone; he is accompanied by goons like "Carasucia", "Caracortada", "Carapincho", gun-wielding "Pistolet", etc.); and the mob boss "Refuller D'Abastos".

El Supergrupo (The Supergroup)

In Issue No. 2 and 3 (“El Supergrupo”), Superlópez served as a member of a group of superheroes, all of which were Jan’s creations. These included "El Mago" ("The Wizard", a parody of Dr. Strange); "Capitán Hispania" ("Captain Spain", a parody of Captain America); "Latas" ("Tin-guy", a parody of Iron Man); "Bruto" ("The Brute", a parody of The Thing); and "la Chica Increíble" ("Incredible Girl", a parody of the token generic superheroine). These spent more time fighting one another over the leadership of the Supergrupo than fighting evil (a parody or reference from the internecine strife that is part of Spain's history). They also made a short appearance in issue 6 where instead of going after the outlawed Superlopez, they argue then fight each other.

Superlópez began his career as a single-page comic strip without text before expanding into full albums with adventures involving supervillains and criminal organizations, later evolving into longer, more complex stories concerning social topics affecting contemporary Spain (drug dealing and youth, political issues, pollution and environmental threats, etc.). Original writer "Efepé" (pseudonym of Francisco Pérez Navarro) left the character after the early issues and, from that point on, artist Jan took over the writing as well.

Other storylines

Juan travels around the world after stories with Luisa and Jamie and encounters lost races, treasures and so on. He also encountered assorted aliens, monsters, robots, mad scientists, wars, Aztec gods and even had a trip to Hell. The stories are full of gags with him burning his large nose whenever he uses heat vision, of him getting a bump on the head when Luisa hits him, of him hurting his fist when he hits a metal robot. As well as bees, odd looking little yellow creatures feature in the background in some panels and are revealed as aliens in the "Los Petisos" story. He even becomes a popstar and meets the ghost of the Prado Museum. "Vamos a ver elefantes" is a story of Superlopez as a little boy. Nothing was too way out for the strips as the characters went from one crazy scenario to another.

Complete issues

# "Aventuras de Superlópez" (1980)
# "El supergrupo" (1980)
# "¡Todos contra uno, uno contra todos!" (1981)
# "Los alienígenas" (1981)
# "El señor de los chupetes" (1981)
# "La semana más larga..." (1981)
# "Los cabecicubos" (1983)
# "La caja de Pandora" (1984)
# "La gran superproducción" (1985)
# "Al centro de la Tierra" (1987)
# "Cachabolik Blues Rock" y "El fantasma del museo del Prado" (1988)
# "En el país de los juegos, el tuerto es el rey..." (1988)
# "El génesis de Superlópez" (1989)
# "El asombro del robot" y "Una vez, en una ciudad..." (1989)
# "Los petisos carambanales y otras petisoperías" (1989)
# "Los cerditos de Camprodón" (1990)
# "Periplo búlgaro" and "El tesoro del conde Arnau" (1990)
# "La banda del dragón despeinado (Yakuza)" and "La bomba" (1990)
# "Hotel Pánico" and "La cosa del pantano, el flautista de Hamelín y otras soserías"(1991)
# "Un camello subió al tranvía en Grenoble y el tranvía le está mordiendo la pierna" (1991)
# "El tesoro de Ciuacoatl" (1992)
# "Los ladrones de ozono" (1992)
# "El castillo de arena" (1993)
# "La aventura está en la esquina" (1993)
# "Tyrannosaurus sect" (1994)
# "Los gemelos Superlópez" (1995)
# "La acera del tiempo" (1995)
# "El infierno" (1996)
# "Los gemelos Superlópez: Vamos a ver elefantes..." (1996)
# "Los cybernautas" (1997)
# "El supercrack" (1997)
# "Las minas del rey Soplomón" (1998)
# "25 años de Superlópez" (1999)
# "Otra vez lady Araña" (1999)
# "La guerra de lady Araña" (2000)
# "Adiós lady Araña" (2000)
# "El dios del bit" (2001)
# "El caserón fantasma" (2002)
# "Nosotros los Papino" (2002)
# "El gran botellón" (2003)
# "El patio de tu casa es particular" (2003)
# "Monster chapapote" (2004)
# "Las montañas voladoras" (2004)
# "Tras la persiana..." (2005)
# "Gritad, gritad, malditos..." (2005)
# "La casa amarilla" (2006)
# "La feria de la muerte" (2006)
# "Politono Hamelín" (2007)
# "Hipotecarión" (2007)
# "Iba caminando..." (2007)
# "En busca del templo perdido..." (2008)
# "La brújula esdrújula..." (2008)

In other languages

*Catalan: "Super Llopis" (In Andorra: "Superlópez")
*Danish: "Superdan"
*German: "Super-Meier"
*Norwegian: "Superegon"
*Swedish: "Super Nilsson"

External links

* [http://www.cachislamar.com/ Cachis la Mar!]
* [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/6134/ Comic book covers]
*http://www.superlopez.net/