Over 200 Batman fans line up in Málaga to get the autograph of their illustrator

It's four thirty in the afternoon and about two hundred Batman fans are overflowing Trinidad Grund street on both sides of the store ... Comic Store Málaga Soho. They are waiting for Jorge Jiménez, the Granada-born artist who made history signing the new #1 of the regular Batman series, a comic that sold half a million copies in the United States in just two weeks and that the Panini publishing house has just released in Spain.

"You are the Peter Parker of the SOUTH," says Benji, who has ticket number 23 out of the 100 that the store has distributed to the lucky ones who will surely get the artist's signature on their 'staple'. The anticipation was so great that the store ran out of the hundred tickets by 9:40 in the morning. "My wife, Marina, got mine for me, I couldn't because I was working." She confirms it, proudly showing the ticket.

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The first ticket went to José Manuel. He is 52 years old, a pensioner, and comes from Marbella. He claims that he was waiting at the doors of the store since 5:45 in the morning. "I wanted him to sign at ComicCon but it was impossible due to the organization." Tickets 9 and 10 are for Lander Amets and Marco, two young men who have come from Granada and Córdoba respectively. Lander holds a huge illustration of Batman, drawn and inked by himself, which he wants to give to Jiménez. "The new Batman is, by far, the best," he says of the Granada artist’s work.

Minutes pass and more fans keep arriving, also in the line of those who do not have a ticket and, therefore, do not have a guaranteed signature. This line is led by Jose Antonio Martín. He is a taxi driver, 53 years old, and has an overwhelming knowledge of American comics. He arrived at 1:13 PM. "I finished yesterday at six in the morning from working," he explains resignedly, "and I went to sleep, I couldn't be here earlier." He shows more excitement than fatigue. He opens his satchel and takes out about 30 comics by Jorge Jimenez, most of them in their American version, although he knows he can only get three signed. "For me, he is the best artist, the most representative, the most famous in the USA."

In that line, there are also people who prefer not to be identified. "Don't put my name, I should be working." After failing in the morning to get a number, he hopes that Jiménez will stay long enough to sign for everyone. Alberto González, a store employee, sums it up: "Today Messi has come to Comic Store."

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And at five o'clock sharp, Messi arrives, that is, Jiménez. He is in good shape, could wear a superhero suit with dignity. His black shirt is appropriate for a signing related to the dark knight and he shares smiles among the fans. Málaga is the fourth stop on a crowded tour that took him through Madrid, Barcelona, and Zaragoza in February, and will continue in Alcázar de San Juan, Sevilla, and Granada. "Do you have markers? I've brought a few," he asks González as he sits down at the table where, at least, he will be signing the six alternative covers with which the new #1 of Batman was released until 7 PM.

It's almost a mechanical job. Signing and taking a photo takes him a couple of minutes per person. For José Manuel, the pensioner, the wait was worth it: "It was brutal, he's very nice." Lander manages to give his illustration to Jiménez, "the drawing is very cool, keep it up," Jiménez encourages him. Gradually the store swallows up the line outside and Alberto González takes the opportunity to offer plastic covers to keep the comic signed by the artist. "Three for one euro," he alerts the crowd. Most buy, knowing it will become a collector's item.