Instituto Ciência na Rua launches comic book for children and young people to celebrate the bicentenary of Brazil’s independence

The story of Brazil’s independence has already been told and retold in prose, poetry, film, theater, music, and in all kinds of real and virtual mediums and methods. Creatively, in color and in retrospect, the Instituto Ciência na Rua launched on November 29 the comic book “Against Time: A Journey of 200 Years”. The project, intended primarily for children and young adults, will consist of 84 pages and will be published weekly on the Institute’s website, with the expectation of producing a printed book following the online publishing cycle.

The comedy’s proposal about the bicentennial of independence is to have the reader actively experience the story with the central character, spurred on by the words, colors, graphics and, above all, the minute details of each historical period.

Initially, still in the process of coordinating ideas for building stories, the project’s creator, journalist, researcher and president of the Ciência na Rua Institute, Marilos Mora, conducted several surveys with historians and designers. After many recommendations and careful organization, he then gathered some of the most famous professionals and specialists on the final team to integrate the Bicentennial HQ project: São Paulo João Paulo Jarredo Pimenta, Professor in the Department of History at the University of São Paulo (USP), who specializes in the history of Brazil’s independence, and the Igor miners Marquez (screenwriter), Anna Cardoso (drawer), and Hina Crimson (colourist).

time travel
Against Time: A 200-Year Journey begins a historical journey, starting with the present to go back to the past and (re)telling the history of Brazil’s independence. The central character in the comic is a young black woman and a student of modern history. The fictional ‘time capsule’ made its ground in 1817, in the middle of the Pernambuco revolution, passing the year 1822, after the centenary of independence (1922), and progressing to 1972, the year of the next centenary and the most difficult period of the military dictatorship, in the full government of General Emilio Garastazo Medici.

“When he returns to his starting point, in 2022, the character brings with him a new understanding of the history of Brazil. It seems to suggest a dystopian vision, but in fact it is very modern and real”, reveals historian Joao Pimenta. “The goal was to show the effects of violence, racism, and other factors that ended up shaping and shaping the Brazilian state, nation, and national identity as it is today,” he adds.

For screenwriter Igor Marquez, the bicentennial comedy puts the character “in position” to take a fresh look at parts of the story, by actively participating and experimenting, and because of this, she has been able to demystify some traditional narratives by comparing “” The “real” and “official” story.

Igor worked with the idea of ​​enumerating facts that are not well known, and reconnecting them with others, in such a way as to interest children and adolescents, based on bibliographical and historical references, based on the knowledge and studies of Professor João Pimenta.

“My inspiration was to act out the scenario of that time, to bring the facts to the first person – the time-traveling character – but not in an educational, but fun way, for the reader to learn (and teach). In other words, indirectly, the character can report on events And to show how our history now, in current times, is reflected in our customs and identity,” says Igor.

Strokes, colors and tones
To translate the story and script into pictures, harmony between artist Anna Cardoso and colorist Hina Crimson was essential. Cardoso argues that in order to bring all the contexts of the story closer together, he printed a more popular view into each graphic. “The big challenge was to create a visual translation of the story through lines, colors, and tones, even to enhance the real historical points that are told on a journey through time. This is essential when considering a comic book for children and young adults, highly adapted to the colors and tones of screens, and different from the content shown in print.

The project
Marilos Mora, the creator of the project and current president of the Instituto Ciência na Rua, drew her powerful inspiration from her own experience of wonderful reading of picture books, since childhood, when she consumed everything at her fingertips, from Bolinha, Luluzinha, Os Sobrinhos do Capitão, even Rubber Man and Superman And all Marvel.

“Since I created Ciência na Rua, my goal has been to approach science in broad aspects, and this also includes the humanities and social sciences, to contribute particularly to the development and education of children and adolescents. Although our comic book approach has a fictional aspect, the great asset is The strong historical foundation, in the co-creation with people who think and study the history of Brazil, from new perspectives and contexts,” says Marilos.

With a total of 84 pages, the Ciência na Rua comic book will be launched online with four main pages. Then it will be twice a week, from mid-December to the end of May 2022, and from June there will be three pages per week, until the end of September 2, on the eve of the official bicentennial date of history. Brazil’s independence.