'Pessoa & Cia'.
Laura Pérez Vernetti has been part of Spain's alternative comic scene since the 1980s. An early contributor to the comics monthly El Víbora, Pérez Vernetti's comics often deal with eroticism, experimentation and social themes. Her later works were often related to classic works of great literary masters and poets. Her comics have been published in Spain, France, Italy, Sweden, Portugal and Argentina. Up until 2008 she simply signed her work with "Laura".
El Víbora and other early work
Laura Pérez Vernetti-Blina was born in 1958 in Barcelona. After graduating in Fine Arts, she began her fruitful collaboration with the alternative comics monthly El Víbora, which lasted from 1981 to 1991. The magazine was one of the prime examples of a new boost in adult-oriented Spanish comics, freed from the censorship of the Franco era. Initially simply signing her work with 'Laura', she too delved in graphical experiments, in cooperation with writers like Antonio Altarriba, Joseph-Marie Lo Duca and, most notably, Felipe Hernández Cava. Publisher La Cúpula released her first book collections, which were mostly of an erotic nature. 'El Toro Blanco' (1989), made in cooperation with Lo Duca, was based on Greek mythology and graphically referred to ancient Minoan art. It told the story of the mad passion of a woman called Parsifae for a white bull. 'La Trampa' (1990) collected several of her black-and-white stories. Between 1993 and 2000, Laura's art also appeared in five issues of Max and Pere Joan's irregularly appearing comix review Nosotros Somos Los Muertos.
'Emma Zunz' (El Víbora).
Graphic novels
Since 1999, most of her Spanish books have been published by Ediciones De Ponent, such as the erotic and lustful works 'Las Habitaciones Desmanteladas' (1999), 'Las Mil y una Noches' (2002, with Lo Duca), 'Amores Locos' (2005, with Antonio Altarriba) and 'El Brillo del Gato Negro' (2008, with Antonio Altarriba). For Amaníaco Ediciones, she experimented with a manga style for 'Susana' (2004), a story about a female journalist researching the secret world of sex in her city. A notable collaboration between Laura and Felipe Hernández Cava was 'Macandé' (Ikusager, 2000), a graphic novel about the extraordinary gypsy singer and street candy vendor Gabriel Díaz Fernández (1897-1947). The duo later collaborated on 'Sarà Servito' (2010), a story about the moral decay of Venice through the painter Marina, who becomes a courtesan at night.
'Amores Locos'.
Graphic contributions
With Hernández Cava, she also contributed to collective books dealing with more engaged and humanitarian subject matter. The French anthology 'Nous Sommes les Maures' (Amok, 1998) dealt with the relationship between Europe and the Mahgreb region throughout the ages. '11 M, Once Miradas' (De Ponent, 2005) contained stories dedicated to the victims of terrorism. 'De Ellas' (2006) reinvented and celebrated the role of women in comic books. 'Nuestra Guerra Civil' (Ariadna Editorial, 2006) commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War, while 'Guadalajara sera la Tumba del Fascismo' (De Ponent, 2007) featured art inspired by war propaganda posters to illustrate the text of Leonardo Sciascia's 1960 book 'El Antimonio'.
'El Caso Maiakovski'.
Literary works and poetry
Pérez Vernetti has furthermore made graphical adaptations of works by literary masters such as Guy De Maupassant, Franz Kafka, Dylan Thomas, Jack London and Colette. While many of her early works have dealt with eroticism, she has been mostly steering away from the subject since 2011. From then on, she has been pioneering the genre of "graphic poetry" in her country. She has published books about the life and works of different poets with the publishers Luces de Galibo and Reino de Cordelia S.L., including 'Pessoa & CIA' (about the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, 2011), 'El Caso Maiakovski,' (about the Russian poet Vladimir Maiakovski, 2014), 'Poémic' (about the contemporary poetry of Ferran Fernandez, 2015), 'Yo, Rilke' (about the Czech poet Rainer Maria Rilke, 2016) and 'Viñetas de Plata' (2017, about the Spanish poet Luis Alberto de Cuenca). For the Provincial Council of Malaga, she adapted poems by eight Spanish contemporary poets in 'Ocho Poemas. Novela Gráfica' (2016).
Recognition
In 2018 Laura Pérez Vernetti won the Grand Prix for her career achievements at the 36th Salón Internacional del Cómic in Barcelona.
'Guadalajara sera la Tumbo del Fascismo'.