Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press; 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020 - Tuesday, October 7, 1997; 1:37 p.m. EDT
Donna De La Cruz, Associated Press Writer
The macho Julio is distraught after learning his old girlfriend has the AIDS virus. Could he be infected too? Will he call the AIDS hot line he saw advertised on the subway? And will he tell Marisol, his new love?
New York City's favorite subway soap opera has returned. The comic-strip characters and their efforts to find love in the age of AIDS reappeared this month after a two-year absence.
"It's back! I wondered what happened to it," said Maria Ochoa, 26, as she rode the B train. "My friends and I used to talk about it -- it's pretty cool and has a good message. I hope Julio and Marisol can get together."
Straphangers were left dangling in 1995 when the comic strip -- which began in 1989 -- was yanked because of a bureaucratic tangle. The city Health Department, which sponsors the campaign, felt Julio and Marisol were being squeezed out by a policy encouraging fewer but larger subway ads, and decided to pull the strip entirely.
Popular demand brought the couple back. Health officials say Julio and Marisol's story proved such an effective way to spread the word about safe sex that they decided not to quarrel over space.
The Health Department estimates there were 128,700 cases of HIV infection in the city last year and nearly 5,000 people died from AIDS.
The black-and-white strip appears in English and Spanish, each version about the size of a folded-over newspaper.
"When it first debuted, there was a remarkable response and that response continued each time a new episode appeared," said the project's manager, Ann Sternberg, of the Health Department.
"We had volumes of calls to our hot lines. People would write in and suggest storylines, some wonderful ones. Most people were very romantic -- they wanted Julio and Marisol to get together."
It was at a rider's suggestion that the strip's authors gave Julio a younger brother. (The character, Luisito, uses condoms.)
The first strip, back in 1989, showed Julio refusing to use a condom. A tearful Marisol insisted: "I love you, but not enough to die for you!"
Subway rider George Henry, 49, remembers the early episodes.
"It was only in Spanish in the trains I took and I always had to get it translated," Henry said. "I always wondered what happened to Julio and Marisol."
The 10th and latest installment -- "The Decision: Julio and Marisol" -- began going up last week in 1,140 of the city's 5,800 subway cars. The soap also debuted on four radio stations.
The couple's relationship remains in limbo, and it will be about three months before the next episode appears.
For those needing a refresher on Julio and Marisol, the Health Department has put together a comic book featuring the first nine episodes.
Annette Ramirez, executive director of the Hispanic AIDS Forum, said the comic strip has especially helped spread AIDS awareness among Hispanics.
"Gender relations take a different tone and tenor with Hispanics," Ramirez said. "Machismo is prevalent and women are not taught to talk about sex, and also are not socialized to being confrontational to ask their partner to wear a condom."
But with Julio and Marisol, she said, "People can relate to this. There's something in it for everybody. And it's very popular."
Copyright 1997/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1997 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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