Inca prepares to become the comic book capital

Palm"Now we're showing the trailer and, if all goes well, we'll soon be able to premiere the film." That's how collector Jaume Vaquer sums up the exhibition Great comic book classicswhich can be visited from Friday, November 28th at Cas Metge Cifre, in Inca, on the occasion of the new edition of Comic Nostrum festivalThis is the first exhibition to be held at the headquarters of the future Comic Museum, a project that began last May with the signing of an agreement between the Comic Cluster, the Inca City Council and Caixa Colonya Pollença, owners of the building intended to house the first public museum dedicated to comics in the entire State.

City Hall sources confirm that they are currently working on the basic project for the renovation and adaptation of the building, which will determine the necessary investment and the timeline for its implementation. They add that the Ministry of Culture has expressed interest in the project. However, before starting the work, they wanted to offer a first glimpse. "Only a small part of the ground floor will be opened to display a small sample of the collection," says Jaume Vaquer, "but we think it will serve to demonstrate the full potential of the future Comic Museum."

Pioneers and benchmarks

It was in the early 1990s when this Mallorcan pharmacist, then a pharmacy student living in Barcelona, ​​began the extensive collection that today includes more than 1,500 original artworks and 70,000 comics, and which will become the cornerstone of the museum. "They're all very well kept at home, all these works, but I've loaned them out on numerous occasions for exhibitions both here and abroad, and I'd always thought it was worthwhile to have a place to share them permanently, where people could come and discover the history of comics and their artists, and I'm very happy to have achieved it after many attempts and many years of dedication."Inca City Council "He's very involved, and it's appreciated," Vaquer shares. A good example of this is the fact that, after 18 years, the bulk of the Còmic Nostrum program, the now-historic festival initially organized by the Association of Friends and Victims of Comics, a Mallorcan cultural event, has been moved to the capital of the Raiguer region. "It's an ambitious project that aims to make Inca the comic book capital," sources from the Cluster confirm.

include one of the first pages of Mortadelo and Filemón and originals ofThe Valiant Prince, Superlópez and Mafalda, among many others, as well as a page of Batman...a work by the legendary cartoonist Neal Adams. Even so, for Vaquer there are two works that could overshadow everything else. "On the one hand, there will be a Little Nemo"It's by Winsor McCay," the collector explains enthusiastically, "who was one of the pioneers of the comic book world, and it's not easy to find originals in good condition. The piece we'll be showing is over a hundred years old and absolutely brilliant," he points out, adding that, for those in the know, the other gem of the exhibition will be a cover of 'Mundo Mutante' by Richard Corben. "Although it was somewhat 'underground' in the United States during the 70s and 80s, it's suddenly going to become popular in Spain. And the exhibition will feature one of the most representative covers of his work, because you can really appreciate the unique, inimitable colors he used."

However, among the hundreds of original pieces he has acquired over these more than thirty years are other historical examples that the collector is reserving for the inauguration of the future museum. "For example, I have a Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond, who was the creator, or a strip from the series Sky Masters, drawn by Jack Kirby, who is one of the most important names in American comics, creator ofThe Fantastic Four, Thor and X-Men"...among many others," he says. For Vaquer, looking at one of these originals serves both to appreciate the identifying characteristics of each artist and to learn about and delve deeper into the history and significance of the world of comics. "An original allows you to see the agility, the lightness, the clarity... The techniques and processes of the artists, basically, but also, basically, but also the size: all those from the Spanish post-war period are small because there was a paper shortage, so the artists knew they had to make the most of them."

In this sense, Vaquer acknowledges that it is increasingly difficult to obtain originals and that a collection like his would not have been possible today, "on the one hand, current drawings, on the other, the entry of investment funds into the buying and selling market after the 2008 crisis drove up all their prices. For example, I know I will never have an original of TintinAlthough I'd love to, because there are few on the market and they cost hundreds of thousands of euros. Now, in fact, the first one is due to be auctioned. Superman And the estimate is that it will reach a sale price of 5 million. There's nothing we can do about that," he laments.

In any case, beyond the extensive collection of this comic book enthusiast, the idea is that the future museum will also be a meeting point for professionals and fans, taking advantage of the strength of the sector in the Balearic Islands, with a large number of nationally recognized artists. Joan, Guillem March, and Paco Díaz. "The joint work with the Comics and New Media Cluster guarantees a solid project, with specialized content and a broad network of collaborations at the national and international levels," assures Andreu Caballero, Delegate for Urban Planning, Housing, Mobility, and the Conservatory of the City Council