'Krazy Kat', the cat who loved to receive bricks and changed the history of the comic

Krazy Kat

arrived in 1913 to change comic book history.

The cartoons, published until 1944 in the

recounted the stormy relationship between a carefree cat with frequent sex changes named Krazy and a permanently angry mouse named Ignatz.

The mouse despised Krazy and missed no opportunity to throw bricks at the head of his adventuring couple.

Although he interpreted those bricks as a sign of affection.

In that apparently empty sentimental relationship there was an ironic background about issues of American society at the time.

In 1924, critic Gilbert Seldes called it "the most amusing, fantastic, and satisfying work of art produced in America today."

And, years later, the prestigious American publication

chose

as the best comic of the 20th century.

In September, the La Cúpula label will publish it in Spain.

More information

The comic enters the Reina Sofía

Its author, George Herriman (New Orleans, 1880-Los Angeles, 1944), was an enigmatic person who grew up in a family crossed by various racial identities that marked his life and work.

He was one of the pioneers in incorporating comics into the written press, which was remarkably successful and increased newspaper sales from the first decade of the 20th century.

In this context, his strips became popular due to their direct and irreverent tone.

"He invented a new language," says writer Michael Tisserand in a New Orleans bar, who in 2016 published

(HarperCollins), a detailed biography of the author that received critical acclaim.

Exhibition room that the Reina Sofía dedicated to Herriman and 'Krazy Kat' in 2017. Joaquín Cortés/Román Lores

The appointment with Tisserand (Indiana, 59 years old) is in a cafe in the Treme neighborhood.

The colorful venue is located on the same street where George Herriman was born and lived until he was 10 years old.

Getting to it is easy because within the cultural environments of the city everyone knows everyone, regardless of the subject they develop.

Tisserand is a professor at the University of Minnesota and combines his work life with frequent visits to New Orleans, where he lived and maintains deep ties, including to his own parade troupe at Mardi Grass.

Among his books, none of them published in Spain, there are also

(dedicated to a musical genre typical of that area of ​​the southern United States) and

(a collective work on the consequences of Hurricane Katrina).

Michael Tisserand is a friendly and smiling guy.

fanatic

who enjoys explaining that the cafe where we meet is very close to where Herriman was born.

"His work cannot be understood without his childhood in Treme until he moved with his family to Los Angeles," he enthuses.

The first African-American neighborhood in the United States left an important imprint on the character and traces of the author of

who grew up in a mixed-race Creole family and who captured that atmosphere in his cartoons, at a time when racism and segregation were suffocating. .

"You can't explain his work, his use of color, even his view on issues like race and gender, without taking into account that he was from Treme."

In October 2017, the Reina Sofía Museum exhibited part of the work of Herriman and

.

Among the references in the exhibition was Tisserand's book, an essential work to get to know one of the most important artists in the history of comics.

A line and some dialogues that also captivated some of the best subsequent cartoonists, such as Elzie C. Segar, creator of

, the famous Walt Disney, the countercultural Robert Crumb or the totemic author of

, Art Spiegelman.

“Herriman is truly the godfather of the modern graphic novel.

Spiegelman frequently refers to his debt to

just as later

whose creator, Bill Watterson, has acknowledged a profound influence from his cartoons,” says Tisserand.

But Herriman's work was also an inspiration for writers like Amiri Baraka, Langston Hughes or Jack Kerouac.

Over a huge cup of coffee, the professor addresses two crucial points for him regarding the work of the author of

“George Herriman was very active on issues that are very current today.

His family did not come from slavery, but they did not have the same rights as white people because they were Creoles, and in this context his use of black and white and color in the strips or the sexual ambiguity of his characters are quite a loaded statement. of meaning”.

In that

is included the third protagonist, the dog Offisa Pupp, a police officer who tries to protect Krazy from the bricks of the mouse Ignatz, with whom a strange love triangle is established.

View of the room of the George Herriman exhibition 'Krazy Kat is Krazy Kat is Krazy Kat', which was presented in 2017 by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. Joaquín Cortes / Román Lores

Tisserand's expression achieves even greater satisfaction if the debate moves to the field of music.

Tisserand wrote a book dedicated to zydeco, a reference text for lovers of a musical genre little known outside of Louisiana.

“It sits at a crossroads between Cajun music,

, blues, rock, rap, gospel,

, and

... all mixed and matched through the accordion.

It is a mix of traditional music performed for generations with the latest popular sounds.

Always has been.

It defines the uniqueness of a culture generation after generation”, he maintains.

And he adds: “It is a sound that encourages its followers to dig deep into life's problems, to come out with the most joyful and festive music you can imagine.

With roots in West Africa, the Caribbean, and the traditions of indigenous peoples, it is one of the great discoveries of Louisiana musical greatness.”

In relation to the symbol of New Orleans, jazz, Tisserand returns to

Herriman's cartoons already with the finished coffee.

“One of the first times the term 'jazz' appears in newspapers is in

, as a sound effect from one of Ignatz throwing bricks at Krazy's head.

When it was adapted for the stage in 1922 by John Carpenter, the show was retitled

In that sense, the comic was also a pioneer”.

Tisserand ends the conversation by emphasizing a fact: “George Herriman was related to Jelly Roll Morton”, one of the pioneers of New Orleans jazz, “in a self-portrait he appears with a radio playing near his drawing table, so! there was music inside and outside his work!”

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