Salvador Larroca () is a Spanish comic book artist, primarily known for his American work on various ''
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 ...
'' titles for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
.
Career
After several years of working as a
cartographer
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
, he began working as a comic artist at
Marvel UK, the
Britain-based imprint of
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. Larroca was working at Marvel UK when he contributed to ''Dark Angel'' and ''Death's Head II.'' At some point, Larroca began to work on mainstream
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n comics, such as
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
' ''
Flash
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Barry Allen)
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Wally West, the first Kid ...
''. Afterwards, Larroca did a three-year run on
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
' ''
Ghost Rider'', during the mid-1990s. It was not until after his run on ''Ghost Rider'', that Larroca would gain the exposure needed to become known as one of the most prominent comic book artists in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
Following Marvel's experiment with the various "
Heroes Reborn" titles, editor
Bobbie Chase
Barbara "Bobbie" Chase (born August 21) is an editor and writer in the comic book industry. She worked for Marvel Comics throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1994–1995, she was one of Marvel Group's Editors-in-Chief, the highest level a female edi ...
gave Larroca the task of penciling the return of
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 ...
,
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
,
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 ...
, the
Avengers
Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to:
Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe
* Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes
**Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
, and several other superheroes, in the ''Heroes Return'' miniseries. After the departure of
Alan Davis
Alan Davis (born 18 June 1956) is an English artist and writer of comic books, known for his work on titles such as ''Captain Britain'', ''The Uncanny X-Men'', ''ClanDestine'', ''Detective Comics'', ''Excalibur'', '' JLA: The Nail'' and '' JLA: ...
on ''Fantastic Four'', Larroca was given the reins along with writer
Chris Claremont
Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is a British-born American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Claremont, Chris. ''Marvel ...
. Larroca and Claremont had a three-year-long run on the title.
Larroca left the title penciling chores in the hands of new writer/penciler,
Carlos Pacheco, while Larroca went on to do several issues of ''Uncanny X-Men'', after the departure of
Adam Kubert
Adam Kubert (; born 1959) is an American comics artist known for his work for publishers such as Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including work on ''Action Comics'', '' Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine'', ''The Incredible Hulk'', ''Ultimate Fantas ...
, who left to work on ''
Ultimate X-Men''. Larroca then proceeded to rejoin with writer Chris Claremont, on ''
X-Treme X-Men
''X-Treme X-Men'' is the name of two comic book series published by Marvel Comics, the first from 2001 through 2004, and the second from 2012 through 2013. All 46 issues of the first series were written by Chris Claremont, and featured a glo ...
''. Larroca stayed on the title for twenty-four issues, at which point he was asked to work on the initial run of Marvel's new
Tsunami imprint title, called ''
Namor''. Meanwhile, Larroca worked on various miniseries projects, including ''Ultimate Daredevil & Elektra'' and ''Ultimate Elektra''.
Larroca was asked to draw fill-in issues of ''
Uncanny X-Men'' and ''
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 ...
''. These issues led up to the "X-Men Reload" event, as the titles gained new writers, artists, and story direction. Larroca joined with writer
Chuck Austen on ''X-Men''. During his run of ''X-Men'', Larroca took a side job drawing ''
Spider-Man: House of M'' miniseries. Larroca was drawing ''X-Men'', but with a new writer on the title,
Peter Milligan. He left X-Men in June and was announced to be joining Warren Ellis on
newuniversal
''newuniversal'' is a comic book series by writer Warren Ellis, artist Salvador Larroca and colorist Jason Keith. The book series was published by Marvel Comics. The series is a re-imagining of Marvel's New Universe concepts, launched to coincid ...
, a remake of Marvel's
New Universe.
From 2008 to 2012, Larroca illustrated writer
Matt Fraction
Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', ''Uncanny ...
's run on ''
The Invincible Iron Man''.
In December 2020, Marvel announced that Larroca would be teaming up with writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson on an ''
Alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'' comic book series, with the first issue released in March 2021.
Criticism
James Whitbrook, reviewing the "Ashes of Jedha" storyline in
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
' ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' series for
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History
...
, took issue with what he felt was Larroca's heavy reliance on tracing stills from ''Star Wars'' films when rendering the characters, which imbued the characters' faces with an "awkward hyperrealism" that he felt evoked the effect of the
uncanny valley. While Whitbrook did not observe this problem in his work on other ''Star Wars'' arcs, and praised Larroca's work in rendering large-scale elements such as starships or planets, he felt that in many closeups of the three main characters in "Jedha," the illustrations too closely mirrored the images from the films, often from scenes in which the actors' facial expressions did not match the tone or dialogue of the characters in the comic. Charlie Hall, reviewing the same storyline for
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
, expressed the same viewpoint, and like Whitbrook, compared these renditions to the work of Angel Unzueta and Arif Prianto on the ''
Poe Dameron'' series, which they felt rendered the characters to sufficiently resemble or recognizably evoke the actors who played them, without exhibiting the sense that they were
"pasted" from reference materials.
Bibliography
Marvel
*''
Alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'', #1-9 (2021-2022)
*''
Avengers: The Initiative'' Annual #1 (2008)
*''
Avengers
Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to:
Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe
* Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes
**Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
'', vol. 5, #25–28 (2014)
*''
Cable'' #24 (1995)
*''
Cable and X-Force
''Cable and X-Force'' was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that began in February 2013, as part of Marvel NOW! The series finds Cable awakening after '' Avengers vs. X-Men'' and on the run with his new team of X-Force from ...
'' #1–14 (2013)
*''
Darth Vader'' #1–25 (2015–2016)
*''
Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X'' #1–3 (2014)
*''
Doctor Aphra
Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, or simply Doctor Aphra, is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise. Created by writer Kieron Gillen, artist Salvador Larroca, and editors Jordan D. White and Heather Antos, she first appeared in Marvel Co ...
'' #1 (2016)
*''
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
/
Punisher'' (published on Marvel website; not for sale) (2009)
*''
Excalibur'' #107–110 (1997)
*''
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 ...
'', vol. 3, #4–34 (1998–2000)
*''
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 ...
2000'' (2000)
*''
Fear Itself'' ("Iron Man") #7.3 (2011)
*''
Gambit and the X-Ternals
"Age of Apocalypse" is a 1995 comic book crossover storyline mostly published in the X-Men franchise of books by Marvel Comics. The ''Age of Apocalypse'' briefly replaced the universe of Earth-616 and had ramifications in the main Marvel Comics ...
'', miniseries, #3–4 (1995)
*''
Generation X
Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...
/
Gen 13
Gen may refer to:
* ''Gen'' (film), 2006 Turkish horror film directed by Togan Gökbakar
* Gen (Street Fighter), a video game character from the ''Street Fighter'' series
* Gen Fu, a video game character from the ''Dead or Alive'' series
* Gen l ...
'' (1997)
*''
Ghost Rider'', vol. 3, #51–69, 72, 75–81 (1994–97)
*''
Heroes Reborn: The Return'', miniseries, #1–4 (1997)
*''
Incredible Hulk'' Annual #20 (1994)
*''Iron Man'', vol. 3, #15 (among other artists) (1999)
*''
Invincible Iron Man'' #1–33, then continued from #500–527 (2008–12)
*''
Mighty Avengers
''The Mighty Avengers'' is a comic book Ongoing series, series that was published by Marvel Comics. Originally written by Brian Michael Bendis, also the writer of ''The New Avengers (comics), New Avengers'', the title first featured an officially ...
'' vol. 2, #13 (2014)
*''
Monsters Unleashed'', vol. 2 #4 (2017)
*''
Namor'', miniseries, #1–6 (2003)
*''
Newuniversal
''newuniversal'' is a comic book series by writer Warren Ellis, artist Salvador Larroca and colorist Jason Keith. The book series was published by Marvel Comics. The series is a re-imagining of Marvel's New Universe concepts, launched to coincid ...
'', miniseries, #1–6 (2007)
*''
Point One
Point or points may refer to:
Places
* Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States
* Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
* Poin ...
, one-shot, ("Yin & Yang") (2012)
*''
Psylocke
Psylocke is the name of two connected fictional Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutant superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men.
The first character to use the Psylocke moniker, Betsy Braddoc ...
&
Archangel
Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...
: Crimson Dawn'', miniseries, #1–4 (1997)
*''
The Sensational Spider-Man'' Annual #1 (2007)
*''
Secrets of the House of M'', one-shot (along with other artists)
*''
Spider-Man: House of M'', miniseries, #1–5 (2005)
*''
Stan Lee
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
Meets
Dr. Doom
Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fict ...
'' (2006)
*''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'', vol. 2 #26–55 (2017–2018)
*''
Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra'', miniseries, #1–4 (2003)
*''
Ultimate Elektra'', miniseries, #1–5 (2004–05)
*''
Ultimate Fallout
''Ultimate Comics: Fallout'' is a comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in July 2011 as part of the second re-launch of the Ultimate Universe. The story itself deals mainly with the aftermath of the " Death of Spider-Ma ...
'', miniseries (
Reed Richards)#4 (2011)
*''
Ultimate X-Men'' #88–93, Annual #2 (2006–08)
*''
Uncanny Avengers'' #12, 24 (2013–2014)
*''
Uncanny X-Men'' #387–392, 439–443, 487–491 (2000–07)
*''Uncanny X-Men'', vol. 5 #11–16, 20–22 (2019)
*''
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 ...
'', vol. 2, (then ''New X-Men'') #69, 155–179, 182–187 (1997–2006)
*''
X-Men: No More Humans'', graphic novel, (2014)
*''
X-Men Unlimited
''X-Men Unlimited'' was the title of three comic book series published by Marvel Comics.
The purpose of this title was to run stories that fit between the main X-Men comics. The stories included all characters (heroes and villains) from the X-tit ...
'' (
Kitty Pride
Kitty or Kittie may refer to:
Animals
* Cat, a small, domesticated carnivorous mammal
** Kitten, a young cat
Film
* Kitty Films, an anime production company in Japan
* ''Kitty'' (1929 film), based on the Deeping novel; the first British talk ...
) #36 (2002)
*''X-Men: Declassified'' (among other artists) (2000)
*''
X-Treme X-Men
''X-Treme X-Men'' is the name of two comic book series published by Marvel Comics, the first from 2001 through 2004, and the second from 2012 through 2013. All 46 issues of the first series were written by Chris Claremont, and featured a glo ...
'' #1–24, Annual 2001 (2001–03)
Other publishers
* ''
Dark Angel'' #11–16 (Marvel UK, 1993–94)
* ''
Death's Head II'' #12–15 (Marvel UK, 1993–94)
* ''
Flash
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Barry Allen)
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Wally West, the first Kid ...
'' #95–98 (full art); #99–100 (along with
Carlos Pacheco) (DC, 1994–95)
* ''
Speed Demon'' (
Amalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics was a collaborative publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones (e.g., DC Comics'
Batman and Marvel Comics' Wolverine become the Amalgam C ...
, Marvel/DC, 1996)
* ''Stormwatch'' #18 (Image, 1995)
References
External links
*
Salvador Larroca in 'Guia del comic'profile/bibliography about the artist
Salvador Larroca: Drawing to the X-Treme interview the artist at ''The Pulse'', around the time that he was working on X-Treme X-Men and Namor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larroca, Salvador
Spanish comics artists
Living people
Spanish cartographers
20th-century Spanish artists
21st-century Spanish artists
People from Valencia
Year of birth missing (living people)