Brazilian Cartoonist J. Bosco Turns the Devil Into a Mirror for Human Failings
Brazilian cartoonist J. Bosco has published a new book of cartoons in which the Devil becomes less a source of evil than a convenient figure to blame for human behavior.
O Diabo Tem as Costas Largas – Cartuns Infernais was launched on August 20 at the Centro Cultural Banco da Amazônia in Belém, Pará. It is the seventh book of Bosco’s career and includes dozens of previously unpublished cartoons produced over roughly two years.
The title comes from the Portuguese expression “ter as costas largas,” literally “to have broad shoulders.” In everyday use, the phrase can describe someone who ends up carrying the blame for what others have done.
Bosco uses that idea throughout the book. The Devil appears as a character onto whom people project their own faults, while the cartoons deal with subjects including racism, prejudice, corruption, violence, war, environmental destruction, fanaticism, consumerism and intolerance.
Bosco has said that he selected cartoons without speech balloons for the collection, leaving the drawings to carry the message on their own.
The Devil is not a new character in his work. Bosco has explored the subject in earlier cartoons, some of which have received recognition at humor exhibitions in Brazil and abroad. The new book brings a large group of those ideas together with unpublished work.
The volume includes a preface by Brazilian writer and humorist Carlos Eduardo Novaes and an introductory text by Pará journalist Regina Alves.
Bosco has worked at the Belém newspaper O Liberal since 1988 as a cartoonist, caricaturist and illustrator. His career also includes awards and distinctions from international cartoon competitions, among them the Niels Bugge Cartoon Award in Denmark, the International Humor Exhibition of Piracicaba in Brazil and Belgium’s Kartoenale.
The book launch took place during another project involving Bosco at the same cultural center. He is curator of Futebol – Exposição Nacional de Humor do Banco da Amazônia, an exhibition devoted to football and graphic humor.
Created by Bosco and Leonardo Dressant, the exhibition includes 69 works by 23 Brazilian artists, ranging from cartoons and editorial cartoons to caricatures and drawings. It also features a tribute to Biratan Porto, the Pará cartoonist known for his work in Brazilian graphic humor.
Futebol – Exposição Nacional de Humor do Banco da Amazônia remains on view through September 13.
Sources
Centro Cultural Banco da Amazônia – Official Cultural Program
https://www.bancoamazonia.com.br/centrocultural
O Liberal – J. Bosco Launches O Diabo Tem as Costas Largas
https://www.oliberal.com/cultura/j-bosco-lanca-livro-o-diabo-tem-as-costas-largasquereune-cartuns-ineditos-sobre-conduta-humana-1.1158816
J. Bosco – Lápis de Memória
https://jboscocartuns.blogspot.com/2026/08/livro-de-jbosco-o-diabo-tem-as-costas.html
Holofote Virtual – J. Bosco’s New Book of Cartoons
https://holofotevirtual.com/posts/2026/literatura/bosco-transforma-o-diabo-em-espelho-das-contradicoes-humanas-em-novo-livro-de-cartuns/
Ponto de Pauta – Futebol National Humor Exhibition
https://pontodepauta.com/2026/05/13/futebol-exposicao-nacional-de-humor-reune-artistas-de-todo-o-pais-no-centro-cultural-banco-da-amazonia/
