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 enters a spaceship and presses a button, an accident that sends him to Earth. He was raised by 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, the not-so-pally Jaime González Lidenbrock; and his demanding, unnamed boss.
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 Gladiator, 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.
Contents |
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.
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.
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 Superlópez as a little boy. Nothing was too way out for the strips as the characters went from one crazy scenario to another.
Often Superlópez not only parodies Superman but also popular literature. This is the case in "El Señor de los Chupetes" ("Lord of the Pacifiers", a parody for Lord of the Rings) or "Al centro de la Tierra" (after Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth)
From the 90's Superlópez adventures take place in real scenarios that are drawn using a realistic style. Famous buildings and monuments in Barcelona are often portrayed in detail, as well as those in other cities of Catalonia (Camprodon), Europe (Andorra, Grenoble, Bulgaria) or Japan. As an internal joke, Superlópez says once that his adventures are evolving into simple traveling guides.
Last Superlópez books leave the caricaturesque tone of his first adventures to deal with current social issues: illegal drug trade, smuggling, tax haven, gunrunning in Africa or illegal immigration in Europe are some themes of the last books.