The historic graphic humorist Jordi Amorós, the subversive Ja, dies

BarcelonaOne of the pillars of graphic humor in our country, Jordi Amorós (Barcelona, 1945), known by the pseudonym Ja, master of satire and pioneer filmmaker, has died at the age of 82. He was one of the great names of the mythical El Papus, with which he faced about eighty lawsuits and even a court-martial, and remained active in magazines such as El Jueves and Mongolia. Publicist, screenwriter, animator, and producer, he directed the State's first animated film for adults, Historias de amor y masacre; the animated series Mofli, el último koala, and the film Despertaferro!It was in the first satirical magazines, such as Mata Ratos, Pacha, Barrabás, El Cuervo and especially El Papus, in which he collaborated in all issues, where he already displayed his irreverent, biting, and anti-system humor, which was fodder for complaints and censorship. Some of his most subversive series and characters were born in this magazine, such as Sor Angustias de la Cruz, an anticlerical nun, and Encuesta Papus. "I became a regular at the courts. A judge would come out who basically dedicated himself to insulting me and threatening me with sanctions, and then, when the reprimand was over, the same judge would ask me for a drawing for his children," he explained to ARA. The attack on Carrero Blanco caught him at the courthouse. In 1975, his book  Humor sexual sano was also censored and withdrawn from the market. In 1977, he was arriving at the editorial office of El Papus, on Tallers street, when the bomb exploded by a right-wing faction against the weekly, killing the building's doorman and injuring seventeen people.

In 1977 he was arriving at the editorial office ofHistorias de amor y masacre, produced by Equip, which he had founded with Víctor Luna. It was the first adult animation film made in Spain, a transgressive project that brought together independent stories created by top figures in satirical comics of the time: Chumy Chúmez, el Perich, Ivà, Fer, Gila, Óscar Nebreda and Amorós himself. At the premiere, in A Coruña, he already had to leave before the end of the screening because his portrayal of a primitive Spain infuriated the public. The film was marginalized by cinemas and misunderstood by critics, but the cartoonist considered the investment well spent. "It was a film ahead of its time. Besides, comics have always been 20 years ahead of the industry," he recalled to ARA when he was celebrated at Animac in 2017. when he was celebrated at Animac in 2017.

Afterwards, he continued directing commercial animation projects such as the shorts Gugu and Prima Donna, the television series Mofli, el último koala (1986) and the film Despertaferro! (1990). The Catalan Film Academy named him an honorary member in 2020.

Amorós also maintained his activity as a cartoonist, more irreverent and unbridled than ever. The theorist Francisca Lladó places him, along with Gin, Ivà, and Óscar, among the "ugliest" cartoonists, influenced by Jean-Marc Reiser, with a quick and spontaneous line in service of the story. He was one of the iconic signatures of El Jueves, with the wild series El Obispo Morales and Hombre pobre, hombre rico, in which he attacked capitalism, and later at the magazine Mongolia. , in which he attacked capitalism, and later in the magazine