Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, spain

'Offensive' Cover Cartoon Sees 60,000 Copies Pulped By Publisher

El Jueves is a Spanish satirical magazine published for 39 years, weekly every Wednesday. Which is why it translates as "The Thursday".

Except this weeks issue, because it featured the story this week's abdication of  King Juan Carlos I, after four decades on the throne, and the anticipated coronation of new King Felipe VI on the cover. It was a rather topical story and inspired the cartoon above featuring the old king passing on a shit filled fly-ridden crown to his successor, a cover drawn by Manel Fontdevila.

For context, in recent years there has been much scandal regarding the king, such as the outrage during the pits of Spanish recession and bank collapse that he took a luxury elephant-hunting trip to Botswana in 2012 with a suspected mistress. Then his daughter, Princess Cristina was suspected of involvement with her husband's alleged corrupt business dealings. And two suspected illegitimate children had their cases thrown out against him because the court considers the King unable to be tried. And this week, in ill health, the king declared he was stepping down, amidst much anti-royal rhetoric.

But that's not rhetoric shared by the owners of the publishers, RBA, it seems. After seeing the printed cover, they demanded RBA pulp all 60,000 printed copies of the publication.

After the decision was handed down, a number of cartoonists and writers quit the magazine in protest… including the cover artist.

La Despulpadora Loco strikes again… The quitters include, so far, Albert Monteys, Manel Fontdevila, Paco Alcázar, Bernardo Vergara, Manuel Bartual, Luis Bustos, Isaac Rosa and Guillermo Torres y Malagón.

It's worth pointing out that without this action, 60,000 people would have seen the cartoon. Now that it has been pulped, millions will now see it instead…

Here are a couple of the cartoonists' reactions to the news.

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