To celebrate the twelfth of October (día de la Hispanidad), I’d like to share some of my favorite and most influential creators in the Spanish language. From better to lesser known:
- Héctor Germán Oesterheld. The Argentinian writer is best known for writing the science-fiction classic “El Eternauta” (“The Eternaut” in English), which is one of, if not the best sci-fi comic I’ve ever read.
That said the rest of his work is no less impressive; from “Mort Cinder”, a sci-fi/horror collaboration with artist Alberto Breccia to his “Ernie Pike” and “Sergeant Kirk” military/historical collaborations with Italian Hugo Pratt. Sadly, Oesterheld and his family were reported missing in 1977, during the last civil-military dictatorship in Argentina, which Oetserheld had long been opposing.
- Quino. Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón, better known by his pen name “Quino” was an Argentinian-Spanish illustrator, responsible for the most famous strip in Spanish-speaking countries, Mafalda. Similar to Charles Schulz’s Peanuts but focusing on six-year-old Mafalda, the strip provided strong social commentary around fascism, the military etc. This titan of comic-strip-cartooning was praised worldwide, receiving numerous awards from both critics and fellow cartoonists. He died earlier this year, on the 30th of September.
- Francisco Ibáñez. The man responsible for almost every single famous comic character in Spain, Ibáñez was born in 1936 in Barcelona. He has created some of the most iconic pop-culture characters in Spain, from the goofy super-agents “Mortadelo & Filemón” to the lazy “El botones Sacarino” (“Sacarino the bellboy”), the sloppy repairmen “Pepe Gotera y Otilio” and the near-sighted “Rompetechos” (“Ceiling-breaker”). His iconic style is unmistakable and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone in Spain who hasn’t heard of one of his tebeos (comics). Another great series by him is “13, Rue del Percebe” a collection of independent one-page strips on a building and the idiotic things happening there.
- Juan Giménez. Another Argentinian, Juan Giménez delved in the Metal Hurlant style of comics, working with the likes of Jodorowsky and continuing Moebius’ legacy in the “Metabarons” prequel to “The Incal”. His unmistakable style is spectacular when focusing on spaceships and landscapes and reminds me of both Moebius and Bilal. Other comics by him include his solo “Fourth Power” and “Ciudad” (“City”), written by Ricardo Berreiro.
- Juan Díaz Canales. The writer of the multi-award-winning “Blacksad” (with artist Juanjo Guarnido) and of the “Corto Maltese” revival (with Rubén Pellerejo) is one of the most relevant figures in the Spanish comic landscape. Born in Madrid, but working in French comics (it hasn’t quite gotten there in Spain), he’s recently published a collaboration with fellow writer Teresa Valero and artist Antonio Lapone called “Gentlemind” (a contemporary drama/romance) which is only available in French as of today.
- Guarnido. This artist and animator was born in Granada and would go on to work on several Disney movies (like “Tarzan”) until his departure in the year 2000. He would then go on to create the comic series “Blacksad” with writer Díaz Canales. His unique style, which mixes penciling and watercolors gave birth to the best anthropomorphic art I’ve seen. This was especially notable in the last two stories in the series “A silent Hell” and “Amarillo”, which had warmer palettes that really favor his style. In the last few years he has worked with Alain Ayroles on “El buscón en las Indias” (which I don’t know how to translate), a series that draws inspiration from Quevedo’s “El Buscón” and narrates the adventures and misfortunes of a rogue-like character in the Americas in the early XVII century.
- Paco Roca. One of the most famous Spanish graphic-novelists currently working, Eisner-Award-winning Paco Roca is the author of “Arrugas” (translated to “Wrinkles”, which follows two elderly men dealing with Alzheimer’s)
“La casa” (translated to “The House”, which tells the story of three siblings and their memories of their father’s country-house)
“El invierno de un dibujante” (translated to “The winter of a cartoonist”, which tells the story of five Spanish cartoonists who left their publisher to fund their own and their eventual return after they failed)
“Los Surcos del Azar” (which I don’t know how to translate, and is about the brigade of Spanish soldiers fighting in the Second World War against the nazis)
and “El Tesoro del cisne negro” with Guillermo Corral (which could be translated to “The treasure of the black swan” and is a seafaring adventure).
His latest work (still unpublished) is “Los héroes siempre vuelven”, which could be translated to “The heroes always come back”. Valencia-born Roca has written many more comics but I should probably move to the next author so…
- Alberto Breccia. Uruguay-born, Breccia is famous for his iconic use of the absence of color and his truly spectacular black-and-white art. His most relevant works are collaborations with Héctor Germán Oesterheld, writer supreme, which include “Ernie Pike” (yes, him too), “Mort Cinder”, a renewed version of “El Eternauta”, “Sherlock Time” etc. His solo work includes “Los mitos de Cthulu” (translated to “The miths of Cthulu, which adapts some of H.P. Lovecraft’s work). His collaboration with Argentinian Juan Sasturain brought “Perramus”, a story which follows a person without name who goes by Perramus and whose job is to bury the people killed by the dictatorship in power (a reference to both the Chilean and the Argentinian dictatorships of that time). Also worth mentioning are his collaborations with Carlos Trillo with works like “Nadie” (“Nobody”), “Buscavidas” (something like “Life-searcher”).
- Francisco Solano López. The illustrator of “El Eternauta”, Argentinian Solano López worked on various projects with Oesterheld, including the more politically-critic “Eternauta II”, his “Ernie Pike” collaboration with Hugo Pratt and the “Bull Rocket” series. Other notable works by him are his collaborations with Ricardo Berreiro like “Slot-Barr” (sci-fi) and “El Prostíbulo del terror” (an erotica which could be translated to something like “the brothel of horror”). Another series worth mentioning is his police/crime series “Evaristo” with Carlos Sampayo (also Argentinian). He died in 2011 in Buenos Aires.
- Esteban Maroto. Madrid-born Maroto worked primarily in the American market, though he did take part in the “Spanish Invasion” with the likes of Pepe González and José Ortiz. His work includes “Savage Sword of Conan” with Marvel Comics, the 1993 “Zatanna” four-issue-miniseries, “Cadillacs and Dinosaurs 3” “Wolff” with Dracula magazine and, most importantly, his work with warren, “Vampirella”, “Eerie” and “Creepy”.
- José “Pepe” González. This artist was born in Barcelona, would later be a part of the “Spanish Invasion” of British comics and become world-known for his realistic and sensual drawings of “Vampirella” (for publisher Warren) as well as other commissions and his iconic Marilyn Monroe pieces. Ironically, he was openly gay and didn’t like drawing, especially as he felt companies took advantage of artists like him. To start reading his work I’d recommend “The art of José González” by David Roach. He passed away in March 2009.
- Luis García. Another member of the Spanish Invasion, Luis also made his name drawing “Vampirella”, as well as other Warren series like “Eerie” and “Creepy”. His art is very realistic but also presents a very noticeable horror/creepy vibe which is why he was such a good match for those Warren publications. To start reading his work I’d recommend “The art of Luis García”, also by David Roach, coming out later this year.
Of course, there are many great creators who I couldn’t include, mainly because I haven’t yet gotten to read their work. Some of these are:
- Rubén Pellerejo (artist of the “Corto Maltese” revival with Canales and “Dieter Lumpen” with Argentinian Jorge Zentner”).
- Ana Miralles, artist of “Eva Medusa” with Antonio Segura and “Dijinn” with Jean Dufaux.
- Santiago García. Writer of “Beowolf” with David Rubin, “La cólera” (“The rage”) and “Las meninas” with artist Javier Olivares and “El vecino” (“The neighbor”) with Pepo Pérez.
- David Rubin, artist of “Beowolf” with Santiago García, “El Héroe” (“The Hero”) by himself and “Ether. La muerte de la Llama Dorada” (pffff, something like “Ether. The death of the Golden flame”, “The rise of Aurora West” and “The fall of house West” with Paul Pope.
- Carlos Giménez, author of the series Paracuellos (on the life of children during the dictatorship of General Franco) as well as “Los Profesionales” (“The professionals”) and, recently, a multi-tome biography of José “Pepe” González.
- Álvaro Ortiz, author of “Cenizas” (which could be translated to “Ashes”).
- Enrique Sánchez Abulí, author of “Torpedo” with Eduardo Risso as well as “Kafre” with Das Pastoras.
- José Ortiz, artist of the series “Hombre” (“Man”), “Burton & Cyb” and “Morgan” with Antonio Segura as well as various Warren tittles (“Eerie” and “Vampirella”) as well as British tittles such as “Judge Dredd”
Of course, there are many Hispanic creators I did not mention, many out of ignorance, so if you know someone worth reading, please leave a comment so that we can discover them. That said, have a great day and a happy twelfth of October!
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