Jesús Blasco (3 November 1919 – 21 October 1995) was a Spanish author and artist of
comic books
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
, whose career covered most of the conventional history of comic strips. He worked extensively in British comics in the 1960s and 1970s.
Career
Blasco debuted in 1935 in the Spanish magazine ''Mickey'', at the age of fifteen.
For the magazine ''Boliche'', however, he created the series and character named ''
Cuto'' (translation: ''Cutter''). Originally a strip in the vein of
's
Skippy, the character became a globe trotting and time-travelling boy adventurer, casually handling firearms and hot wiring sportscars, and romancing adult women.
Blasco's art veered from cute animal cartoons to the shadowplay realism of
Milton Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an People of the United States, American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates (comic strip), Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips.
Biography
...
and
Noel Sickles
Noel Douglas Sickles (January 24, 1910 – October 3, 1982) was an American commercial illustrator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip '' Scorchy Smith''.
Sickles was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. Largely self-taught, his career beg ...
. He created strips for various audiences, including ''
Anita Diminuta'', a girl strip.
In the 1960s, he landed a deal with
Fleetway
Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that merg ...
that brought him continental exposure.
[ In 1968, he co-created the cartoon ''Los Guerilleros'' for the Belgian publication Spirou, With the strips '']Steel Claw
The Steel Claw was one of the most popular comic book heroes of British weekly adventure comics of the 1960s and 1970s. The character was revived in 2005 for ''Albion'', a six issue mini-series published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics.
P ...
''Buffalo Bill
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...
'', events lead to a collaboration with Pat Mills
Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfather o ...
to create '' Invasion!'' in the first issue of 2000AD (1977). The 1970s saw more Alex Toth
Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...
-esque Westerns such as Tex Willer
Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series ''Tex'', created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on 30 September 1948. It is among the most popular characters ...
. Blasco also co-created the strip ''Capitán Trueno
El Capitán Trueno (lit. "Captain Thunder") is the hero of a series of Spanish comic books, created in 1956 by the writer Víctor Mora and illustrated mainly by Miguel Ambrosio Zaragoza (Ambrós). The comics were published continuously between ...
'', which has influenced the look of many other Japanese and Euro creations, such as ''The Mysterious Cities of Gold
''The Mysterious Cities of Gold'', originally released in Japan as and released in France as ''Les Mystérieuses Cités d'Or'', is an animated series which was co-produced by DiC Audiovisuel and Studio Pierrot.
Set in 1532, the series foll ...
''. Blasco also did fairy tale illustrations and tarrocci cards.
His work is relatively unknown in the United States, with his main exposure being three appearances in Warren Publishing
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren (publisher), James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include ''After Hours (magazin ...
's ''Creepy'', which were all miscredited to other artists.
References
External links
Jésus Blasco biography
on Lambiek Comiclopedia
on Dan Dare
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasco, Jesus
1919 births
1995 deaths
Spanish comics artists
Spanish comics writers
People from Barcelona
Artists from Barcelona
Spanish writers