José Antonio Villarrubia Jiménez-Momediano (born 17 November 1961) – known professionally as José Villarrubia – is a Spanish-American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and art teacher who has done considerable work in the American

comic book 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 ...

industry, particularly as a

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

Biography

Villarrubia was born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, moved to Baltimore, Maryland, in 1980. His fine art photography has been exhibited in the U.S., Latin America and Europe, in institutions such as the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

and the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...

. From 2011 to 2016 he was Chair of the

Illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

Department of the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of t ...

, where he is a professor. He is currently the coordinator of the Sequential Art Concentration. Before the

he had taught at

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

, the

Baltimore School for the Arts The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public performing arts high school located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. Established in 1979, The Baltimore School for the ...

and the

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

. He has lectured extensively about art at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understa ...

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

, the ICA in London, the Williem de Kooning Academy, the Naples Academy of Art, and the

MacWorld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macint ...

UK Convention. In comics, Villarrubia has done digitally manipulated illustrations for ''Veils'', ''

Promethea ''Promethea'' is a comic book series created by Alan Moore, J. H. Williams III and Mick Gray, published by America's Best Comics/WildStorm. It tells the story of Sophie Bangs, a college student from an alternate futuristic New York City in 1999 ...

'' and '' The Sentry''. As a colorist he is frequent collaborator of

Jae Lee Jae Lee (born 1972) is a Korean Americans, Korean American comics artist known for his interior illustration and cover work for various publishers, including Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, and Dynamite Entertainment. Career Jae Lee's f ...

(''Hellshock'', ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

1234'', ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

''),

Bill Sienkiewicz Boleslav William Felix Robert Sienkiewicz ( ; born May 3, 1958) is an American artist known for his work in comic books—particularly for Marvel Comics' ''New Mutants'', '' Moon Knight,'' and '' Elektra: Assassin''. Sienkiewicz's work in the 198 ...

(''

Sentry Sentry or The Sentry may refer to: Comics *Sentry (Kree) *Sentry (Curtis Elkins) * Sentry (Robert Reynolds) *Senator Ward (comics) or Sentry Vehicles *Sentry (AUV), an autonomous underwater vehicle used to measure deep-ocean data *E-3 Sentry AWAC ...

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...

'', ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

Unlimited''),

J.H. Williams III James H. Williams III (born 1965), usually credited as J. H. Williams III, is an American comics artist and penciller. He is known for his work on titles such as ''Chase (comics), Chase'', ''Promethea'', ''Desolation Jones,'' ''Batwoman'', and ' ...

(''

'', ''

Desolation Jones ''Desolation Jones'' was a bimonthly comic book series written by Warren Ellis. Art for the first six-issue storyline was provided by J.H. Williams III and José Villarrubia. The interrupted second storyline was illustrated by Danijel Zezelj an ...

''),

Paul Pope Paul Pope (born September 25, 1970, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American alternative cartoonist. Pope's work combines the precision and romance of European comics artists with the energy and page design of the manga tradition. Pope's tw ...

(''

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

'', ''Project Superior'', '' Batman: Year 100'', ''

Wednesday Comics ''Wednesday Comics'' was a weekly anthology comic book launched by DC Comics on July 8, 2009. The twelve issues of the title were published in 14" x 20" broadsheet format, deliberately similar to Sunday newspaper comics sections. Each edition f ...

''),

Jeff Lemire Jeff Lemire (; born March 21, 1976) is a Canadian comic book writer, artist, and television producer. He is the author of critically acclaimed titles including the '' Essex County Trilogy'', '' Sweet Tooth'', and '' The Nobody''. His written work ...

('' Sweet Tooth,

Trillium ''Trillium'' (trillium, wakerobin, toadshade, tri flower, birthroot, birthwort, and sometimes "wood lily") is a genus of about fifty flowering plant species in the family Melanthiaceae. ''Trillium'' species are native to temperate regions of No ...

''),

Kaare Andrews Kaare Andrews is a comic book writer, artist and filmmaker from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His work includes '' Spider-Man'', '' Iron Fist'', '' Renato Jones'', and '' Incredible Hulk''. Andrews has a diverse drawing style, which ranges from hyper ...

(''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

Doctor Octopus Doctor Octopus (Dr. Otto Gunther Octavius), also known as Doc Ock for short, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and first appeared in ''Th ...

: Year One'', ''

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

'', '' Spider-Man: Reign''),

Ryan Sook Ryan Sook is an American comic book artist, known for his work on books such as ''Seven Soldiers: Zatanna'', ''X-Factor'' and '' The Spectre''. His style has been compared to that of Mike Mignola, Adam Hughes, and Kevin Nowlan. Career Sook's fir ...

(''

Unlimited'', ''

X-Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...

'' ''

The Return of Bruce Wayne ''Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne'' is a 6-issue American comic book Limited series (comics), limited series published by DC Comics beginning in May to November 2010, written by Grant Morrison and featuring a team of rotating artists starting wi ...

'') and

Richard Corben Richard Corben (October 1, 1940December 2, 2020) was an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in '' Heavy Metal'' magazine, especially the ''Den'' series which was featured in the magazine's first film ada ...

(''

CAGE A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayin ...

'', ''

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

'', '' Conan the Cimmerian'', ''

Starr Starr may refer to: People and fictional characters * Starr (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Starr (given name), a list of people and fictional characters Places United States * Starr, Ohio, an unincorporated comm ...

''). He has won the 2006 Comicdom Award for best colorist for his work on ''

'', has been nominated twice for the

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for best colorist and has been included in The Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition. With writer

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

, he has produced two illustrated books, both published by

Top Shelf Productions Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. Now an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Shelf pu ...

: '' Voice of the Fire'' and '' The Mirror of Love''. The latter is a love poem and a detailed history of homosexuality, prominently featuring famous figures in art and literature. It originally began as a part of the '' AARGH!'' Anthology in 1988. ''AARGH!'' rtists Against Rampant Government Homophobiawas a comic book protest against Britain's proposed anti-gay

Section 28 Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

. It was translated and published in French as ''Le Miroir de l'amour'' (November 2006), by Carabas Revolution, in Italian as ''Lo Specchio dell'Amore'' (September 2008) by Edizioni BD and in Spanish as ''El Espejo del amor'' (November 2008) by Editorial Kraken. In 2020 Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editori published a new edition with a new Italian translation by Marco Rosary. In 2006 he worked with

in the series '' Batman: Year 100'', which won the 2007

for "Best Limited Series". The longest running project in which Villarrubia has been involved has been the comics series ''Sweet Tooth'', where he colored almost all 40 issues (written and drawn by

from 2009 to 2013).

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

is producing a live-action series based in the comic. Netflix's '' Sweet Tooth'' will star Christian Convery and

Nonso Anozie Nonso Anozie (; born 17 November 1978) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Tank in '' RocknRolla'', Sergeant Dap in ''Ender's Game'', Abraham Kenyatta in ''Zoo'', Captain of the Guards in ''Cinderella'', Xaro Xhoan Daxos in t ...

. The show itself will be managed by co-showrunners

Jim Mickle Jim Mickle (born 1979) is an American director and writer, known for such films as '' Mulberry Street'', '' Stake Land'', '' We Are What We Are'' and '' Cold in July''. He also co-developed the SundanceTV series '' Hap and Leonard'', and the Net ...

and

Beth Schwartz Beth Schwartz is an American television writer. She is known for her work as showrunner on the seventh and eighth season of '' Arrow'', and as a co-showrunner on the Netflix series '' Sweet Tooth''. Career She began her career as a production ...

. In 2020 Lemire and Villarrubia returned to the character in a new series published under DC Comics' Black Label Imprint. The series is titled ''Sweet Tooth: The Return''. In 2010, he worked in the story featured in ''Unknown Soldier'' issues #13-14, with

Joshua Dysart Joshua Dysart (born June 21, 1971) is an American comic book writer. He has done work for DC Comics, Vertigo Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Valiant Entertainment, IDW Publishing, Penny-Farthing Press, Virgin Comics and Random House ...

and Pat Masioni. The story won the prestigious Glyph Comics Award for Story of the Year. The Glyph Comics Awards recognize the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color. Villarrubia won the 2011

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...

for Best Colorist for his work on '' Cuba: My Revolution''. From 2012 to 2018, Villarrubia colored the three graphic novels by Anthony Bourdain: ''Get Jiro!'', ''Get Jiro: Blood and Sushi'' and ''Hungry Ghosts''

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

is currently developing ''Hungry Ghosts'' as an animated series. In 2013 he worked with

Reginald Hudlin Reginald Alan Hudlin (born December 15, 1961) is an American film screenwriter, director, producer, and comic-book writer. Along with his older brother Warrington Hudlin, he is known as one of the Hudlin Brothers. From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was P ...

and artist

Denys Cowan Denys B. Cowan (born January 30, 1961) is an American comics artist, television producer, media executive and one of the co-founders of Milestone Media. Early life Denys Cowan was first inspired by superheroes as a child from reruns of the 1950s ...

on the graphic novel adaptation of ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis Ch ...

''. It was nominated that year for the Eisner Award. In 2015, among other artists, José Villarrubia brought inner illustrations to the core rulebook of a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

, '' Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of'', first published in 2016 by

Modiphius Entertainment Modiphius Entertainment is an RPG and tabletop game publisher based in Fulham, London. Modiphius was founded in 2012 by husband-wife team Rita and Chris Birch to publish their first game ''Achtung! Cthulhu''. The company have since published a n ...

. The art team of Tomás Giorello and Villarrubia won the 2016 Rankin Award from the Robert E. Howard Foundation for their work on '' King Conan: Wolves Beyond the Border''. He won the 2017 Carlos Giménez Award for Best Colorist. He colored the first five issues of ''America'', the first LatinX LGBT+ Marvel superhero. It was written and drawn by an entire Hispanic team that included two members of the LGBT+ community, the writer

Gabby Rivera Gabby Rivera is an American writer and storyteller. She is the author of the 2016 young adult novel ''Juliet Takes a Breath'', and wrote the 2017–2018 Marvel comic book ''America'', about superhero America Chavez. Her work often addresses issue ...

and Villarrubia. It was nominated for a 2017

GLAAD Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their l ...

. Also, in 2017 he worked with writer Sarah Vaughn and Filipino artist

Lan Medina Rolando Medina, commonly known as Lan Medina (born December 22, 1961), is a Filipino comic book artist best known for his work on '' Fables, Aria, District X'', and '' The Punisher: MAX'' imprint. Awards In the 2007 Glyph Comics Awards, the Fan ...

in ''Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love''. It featured the first non-binary African-American character in a DC Comics publication. It was also nominated for a

. In 2018 he edited and colored the comic series ''Infidel'', published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

Michael Sugar Michael Sugar is an American film and television producer and principal at Sugar23, best known for producing ''Spotlight'', ''13 Reasons Why'', '' Maniac'' and ''The Knick''. Life and career Sugar attended the Armand Hammer United World Coll ...

and TriStar optioned the rights to turn it into a film.

Hany Abu-Assad Hany Abu-Assad ( ar, هاني أبو أسعد; born 11 October 1961) is a Palestinian-Dutch film director. He has received two Academy Award nominations: in 2006 for his film ''Paradise Now'', and again in 2013 for his film ''Omar''. Early life ...

signed on to direct the film adaptation. In 2019

Casterman Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Brussels, Belgium. History The company was founded in 1780 by Donat-Joseph Casterman, an editor and bookseller ...

published the first French language graphic novel completely colored by Villarrubia. A new chapter of the series ''

Le Transperceneige ''Snowpiercer'' ( French: ''Le Transperceneige'', ) is a post-apocalyptic, climate fiction graphic novel first published in French by Casterman and created by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette. The graphic novel was first published in 1982 und ...

'' (''Snowpiercer: Extinctions''), the comic was written and illustrated by series co-creator

Jean-Marc Rochette Jean-Marc Rochette (born 23 April 1956) is a French painter, illustrator and comics creator. He is best known and recognized for the comic book series '' Edmond le Cochon'' and '' Le Transperceneige'', as well as for his illustrations of the lit ...

. The publishing of this new volume was timed originally to coincide with the release of the new ''Snowpiercer'' TV series that adapts this comic. The series was produced by

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and premiered on May 17, 2020. DC Comics' prestige imprint Black Label published two series colored by Villarrubia launched in November 2020, ''Sweet Tooth: The Return'', where he reunited with collaborator Jeff Lemire and the long delayed ''The Other History of the DC Universe'', written by

John Ridley John Ridley IV (born 1965) is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for '' 12 Years a Slave'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the a ...

. In 2021 he edited ''Hércules 1417'', published in Spanish by Nuevo Nueve, written Pedro Víllora and illustrated by Das Pastoras. It's a book based on the writings of

Enrique de Villena Enrique de Villena (1384–1434), also known as and , was a Spanish nobleman, writer, theologian and poet. He was also the last legitimate member of the House of Barcelona, the former royal house of Aragon. When political power was denied to ...

describing the

Labors of Hercules The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles ( grc-gre, οἱ Ἡρακλέους ἆθλοι, ) are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised as ...

Interviews

The DVD of the documentary feature film '' The Mindscape of Alan Moore'' contains an interview with Villarubia about his collaboration with Alan Moore.

References

External links

* *
The Gay Men Project, November 21012Clyde Fitch Report, September 2012GayCities, November 2008Slush Factory, March 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villarrubia, Jose 1961 births Living people Artists from Madrid Comics colorists Harvey Award winners for Best Colorist Gay artists LGBT comics creators Spanish LGBT artists Maryland Institute College of Art alumni Maryland Institute College of Art faculty Spanish comics artists Spanish illustrators Spanish photographers Towson University faculty