This work intends to discuss the relation between laughter and tragedy by means of an analysis based on the Peircean semiology of a comprehensive collection of cartoons about Aids. This analysis assumes the conception of cartoon as a graphic speech and its inherent delimitations, focusing on the necessity of making laugh. The cartoon about Aids also provides the definition of the cartoonist's activities and intentions and, indirectly, provides an overview of the social imaginary of the disease. At last, the study deepens on the subject of laughter and humor as communicative or pedagogical means.
humor; laughter; cartoon; tragic laughter; Aids; semiology