Gilbert Tonner

Although Le Zinglin was not the first comedic journal to appear in Haitian history (Le Cancanier and Oswald Durand's Les Bigailles predated it by a few decades), the short-lived journal (1890-91) included Henri Chauvet, who would make history through Le Nouvelliste. What struck me, however, was the ample use of illustrations in Le Zinglin, mostly comic strips satirizing local news, social mores, gender roles, and, although never directly, the state. The journal's cartoonist, Gilbert Tonner (a pseudonym, according to Jean Desquiron), produced most of the comics, usually written in French or French and Haitian Creole. 

Considering the low literacy rate in the city during the 1890s, presumably the journal was mostly addressed to upper-class and educated middle-class readers, and the use of Creole in the comics is usually restricted to characters from the lower classes (who are also depicted with darker skin, it would seem). Nevertheless, the journal also published a play by Henri Chauvet which extensively used Creole, and, as the name of the paper would suggest, local themes occupy an important role.

For these reasons alone, Le Zinglin is an interesting paper in the history of Haitian journals. Amply illustrated, use of Creole, it also appears to have been the first satirical journal to use cartoons. Considering the intended audience for the journal, some of the writers and readers must have traveled to France and absorbed influences from Western comics and caricatures. Indeed, the negative portrayals of Haiti in Cham's caricatures must have been known, 

Although the quality of the papers when digitized by the Center for Research Libraries has blurred or damaged some of the cartoons, I think Gilbert Tonner's style improved over time, particularly in its depiction of the human form. His cartoons also depict road scenes, pathways to Petionville or other areas of Port-au-Prince, and animals, restaurants, domestic scenes, or ships. He, like most 19th century cartoonists, places dialogue below the panels or at the bottom of the image, while relying on physical humor or absurd satire to convey comedic effect. For example, the lack of ice in Port-au-Prince heat fuels more than a few of the strips.

Unfortunately, I am not yet able to identify Gilbert Tonner. And no other newspapers, with the expection of Haiti illustrée, during this time used several pictures. So, I am unable to identify any other 19th century Haitian cartoons. However, by at least the 1930s, comics appear in Le Nouvelliste and caricatures almost certainly did not disappear complete from Haitian newspapers. Tonner's mixture of French and Creole might have been unique, however, and in some cases, quoted proverbs or hinted at a critique of dominant social relations. 

In the future, I hope to explore the history of comics and cartooning in Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean. In between Gilbert Tonner (or is it Toner?) and Zobope, a comics journal from the 1940s launched by Georges Remponneau and other artists (including Bloncourt, according to an article from Conjonction), what else transpired in the development of the comic strip in this Caribbean republic?