venezuela Archives - Graphic Policy

Fantoons’ Tío Simón ABC Raises Money for Venezuelan Children’s Charities

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Graphic Policy Team

Musician Simón Díaz, known throughout Venezuela as “Tío Simón” remains a vital part of the country’s cultural legacy, and forever in the memory of all who knew his musical work. To celebrate his immense cultural impact, Fantoons will release a bilingual children’s book of Spanish and English words with a Venezuelan twist, to encourage children to both learn the words themselves, as well as the culture behind them.

In this beautiful book, Tío Simón—beloved Venezuelan folk musician and children’s TV personality—will teach you words of every letter in both English and Spanish! Children will be able to learn with Tío Simón about his home, Venezuela, as well as traditional food like Arepa! with a beautiful full-color illustration on every page that will spark joy in families of every kind.

Assembled by Fantoons’ David Calcano, the Venezuelan-born creative director, recognized for his work with Disney Channel, alongside projects in publishing and animation with Rush, Frank Zappa and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Calcano, and his Fantoons team of illustrators and designers, assembled 60 beautifully illustrated pages inspired by images of Venezuela.

$1 for every book sold will be donated to charities dedicated to help Venezuelan children in starvation. It’s a small gesture to help a country, and its children, in need.

Simón Díaz, a.k.a. Tío Simón, has been a cultural fixture for Venezuelan and Latin culture worldwide since the 1960s. His children’s TV show, Contesta por Tío Simón, aired for a decade, and its messages and popularity earned him the unofficial title of “the Mr. Rogers of Venezuela.” His music has been covered more than 200 times in a dozen languages, and Diaz is a known influence on artists such as Julio Iglesias, Plácido Domingo, the famous Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and The Gipsy Kings. He was awarded a lifetime achievement Grammy from the Latin Grammys in 2008.

Features a foreword about his life and legacy by Tío Simón’s (Simón Díaz) daughter Bettsimar Díaz.

Tío Símon ABC will be released in finer bookstores everywhere on October 15, and is available for preorder now through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and will carry a cover price of $12.99.

Venezuela’s Constitution as a Graphic Novel

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Brett

Hugo Chávez, draped in the Venezuelan flag surrounded by children adorns the cover of 5 million copies of a comic book version of the Venezuelan constitution. The comic will be given to every child in the country in the next weeks, blurring the line between entertainment and propaganda. The current President Nicolás Maduro called the comic “a beautiful gift to our nation’s children.” In full disclosure I was involved in the latest election for the losing side (though on the outskirts of it).

The goal of the comic book features Chávez and his “revolutionary brothers” act out the various constitutional provisions within while fending off “imperialist agents garbed in black trench coats.” Some have described those sinister villains as a barely veiled jab at America. The comic’s goal is to indoctrinate children. With the use of Chávez, the comic falls into more of a cult of personality we see in other nations, where political figures are raised to mythic levels.

These 5 million comics ironically also are coming out during a nationwide paper shortage which has lead many newspapers to stop printing due to lack of paper. Books can run for as high as $80 and toilet paper runs thin (as in hard to get a hold of, the paper itself isn’t thin, though it could be I guess). This illustrated version clocks in at 320 pages, that means 1.6 billion sheets of paper used, plus the cover.

The latest version of the constitution has been around since 1999, and the country has a habit of going through a lot of them. This latest version has lasted twice as long as the average of the 25 versions that came before. There was an attempt to change this one in 2007, so we’ll see how long this version lasts.

The graphic novel is also already looking at a second edition. The artists behind it, Omar Cruz is looking to make it more of a panel comic as opposed to stand-alone illustrations as seen in the first edition.

No matter your opinion of the country, it’s an interesting use of comics in education and politics.