Turey El Taíno is a Puerto Rican publication that remains the most long-standing local comic to date. Originally available in stand-alone magazines and in a strip featured on the now defunct El Mundo newspaper, Turey debuted in news stands on October 26, 1989. Published by Editorial Manos and written and drawn by Ricardo Álvarez-Rivón, Turey shows its readers the way the Taínos used to live before Puerto Rico was discovered by Christopher Columbus and his crew. It also depicts the many different words and instruments they used and how they battled their arch-enemies, the Caribs. Between 1991 and 2006, Turey strips were published in El Nuevo Día. Álvarez-Rivón continues to write and illustrate the Turey comic strips with the collaboration of his wife, Magali Álvarez-Rivón.

In 1999, the USPS's Hato Rey station honored the magazine by nicknaming the station the Turey station.

Publication history

Puerto Rican artist Jorge Rechani first instructed Álvarez Rivón in basic illustration at Colegio San José, from where he graduated in 1968. During this timeframe, he had become heavily invested in comics, avidly following the work of Will Eisner and other authors. Despite emphasizing in his professional career, Álvarez Rivón continued to practice and refine his illustration abilities. In 1979, he became the Art Director of a magazine named Torito y sus amiguitos (lit. "Torito and friends") and worked along José Miguel Agrelot, where he first published what he later referred to as a "precursor to Turey". Approx. 10,000 of each issue were printed monthly and sold in several businesses, including pharmacies and other unorthodox places. Initially, around 5,000 or 6,000 remained unsold, which were then stored by advertising agencies and later

redistributed as promotional material.

Afterwards, Álvarez Rivón made an effort to bring the character to contemporary relevancy. In its original run, the Turey comic book magazines published 35 issues, with the last one being released in June 1995. However, this also led to wildly fluctuating and contrasting art styles. In its initial form, Álvarez Rivón employed an art style that heavily incorporated textures and emphasized lighting and shadowing which has been described as "attractive [and] dynamic".

The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture honored Turey by publishing a book about the character, which included a collection of the comic strips. Turey is also the principal figure on an educational pamphlet published by El Nuevo Día Educador ("ENDE"). The United States Postal Service honored Turey and his creator in 1999, by presenting a cancelled postal stamp and renaming the postal station in Plaza Las Americas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the "Turey Postal Station". On November 10, 1999, The Puerto Rican House of Representatives, honored Álvarez Rivón and presented him with a plaque. The titular character received a recognition during the 2013 San Sebastián Festival, an annual cultural event celebrated in the vicinity of Old San Juan.

References

  • Ricardo Álvarez Rivón's Turey webpage (in Spanish)