El Capitán Trueno

Origin

El Capitán Trueno is the archetypal medieval hero adapted to the idiosyncrasy of the 50’s spanish society. Nevertheless, the recreation of foreign cultures isn’t simplified. The main characters find both friends and enemies wherever they go and some characters are neither a hero or a villain. For example, the viking Ragnar Loghbroth is a pirate who attacks merchant ships but he also fights against slavery. Another aspect that adds realism to the comic is how the authors try to explain “magic” as scientific achievements. The authors also try to humanize the invincible hero adding some humour. At that time it was very unusual to see a hero roaring from laughter. All this moved El Capitán Trueno away from similar characters and made his adventures a huge sucess in Spain, remembered for generations. 

Creation

El Capitán Trueno was created in the 50’s based on similar characters like Prince Valiant or Ivanhoe. It was published in various formats, including a version of french and belgium magazines in wich long stories are published within two or three issues. It was a sucess since the very start. Due to the growing amount of work, a lot of writers and artist have worked on it, always trying to maintain the original style. During the spanish dictatorship some details of the stories were cut by the censorship. For example, the appearances of Queen Sigrid were cut to avoid promoting the idea of living as a couple without being married. 
 

Other Media

Disney bought the rights to make a film, and might release it in the US too.