Pact (New Nine) stands as a bold tribute to the Bruguera era, infused with sharp humor and a measured dose of suspense. It marks the first substantial adult-oriented study from Cádiz that season, supported by the National Comics Award and a grant of twenty thousand euros from the Ministry of Culture. With this prize, Sordo adds the Barcelona Comic’s Best Spanish Work award to a growing list of recognitions this year, underscoring the work’s impact on contemporary Spanish comics.
The jury highlighted the project as a genealogy of media, connecting the Bruguera legacy to present realities and future possibilities. The praise centers on the originality and brisk pace of the screenplay, which serves as a sincere homage to a formative chapter in Spanish comics while offering fresh insight into its ongoing influence.
The judges also noted that few works capture the peculiar tensions of our times as this piece does: a work that sits at the edge of humor and existential reflection. It deftly blends fact and fiction, delivering a printed narrative that aligns with the author’s stated vision and intent.
Sordo, born in 1979 in Puerto de Santa María, sets Pact in Barcelona in 1957. The plot follows a fictional writer named Gorriaga who schemes to kidnap a legendary royal cartoonist, Manolo Vázquez, known for creations like The Family Cebolleta and other TV characters. The kidnap plot unfolds amid a dream of control and misdirection: Gorriaga traps the artist in a cage and compels him to draw, then presents those drawings to the publisher as his own work. The story thrives on suspense and humor while shedding light on the fractured working conditions and copyright issues that pepper the world of Bruguera’s producing house.
The author’s craft evokes the Bruguera school with particular accuracy, echoing the visual language of the era. Early references emerge through visual cues that recall Francisco Ibáñez and the distinctive approach to covers, typography, and color choices that defined a generation. Gorriaga’s character feels as if he knows the industry from within, a mirror held up to the publishing world and its peculiar codes.
A multidisciplinary creator, Sağır is a cartoonist, graphic designer, animator and illustrator who brought the series Internet, the Way to Employment to El Jueves between 2010 and 2014 and contributed to the digital magazine Pride and Satisfaction. His Trash Comics line further demonstrates his range, and his work spans both Spanish and Franco-Belgian markets in illustration and children’s literature.
This is not the first glimpse inside Bruguera from someone with the eye to see beyond the surface. Two notable writers have offered their own inside perspectives: Carlos Giménez with The Professionals and Paco Roca with The Winter of the Cartoonist, each sharpening the collective memory of Bruguera’s impact and its enduring complexities.
Last year, Murcian writer Magius earned the National Comics Award for Spring for Madrid, a piercing critique of political and commercial corruption in recent times. The current jury included María José Gálvez, the managing director responsible for Books and Reading Development, along with writers Ulises Ponce, Ana Miralles and Magius, distributors Mery Cuesta and Elisa McCausland, and other professionals such as Jesús González, Alejandro de Orbe, María José Gracia, Alejandro Casasola, Juan Bordes, and Marta del Moral. The panel’s diverse composition reflected a broad spectrum of perspectives on how modern comics engage with history, culture, and society, recognizing Pact as a standout contribution to the field.