Jesús Blasco
Encyclopedia
Jesús Blasco was a Spanish
author and artist of comic books, whose career covered most of the conventional history of comic strips. He worked extensively in British comics in the 1960s and 1970s.
'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
and Noel Sickles
. He created strips for various audiences, including Anita Diminuta
, a girl strip.
In the 1960s, he landed a deal with Fleetway
that brought him continental exposure. With the strips Steel Claw
and Buffalo Bill
, events lead to a collaboration with Pat Mills
to create Invasion!
in the first issue of 2000AD
(1977). The 1970s saw more Alex Toth
-esque Westerns such as Tex Willer
. Blasco also co-created the strip Capitán Trueno
, which has influenced the look of many other Japanese and Euro creations, such as The Mysterious Cities of Gold
. 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
's Creepy, which were all miscredited to other artists.
Footnotes
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
author and artist of comic books, 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 (Cutter). Originally a strip in the vein of Percy CrosbyPercy Crosby
Percy Leo Crosby was an American author, illustrator and cartoonist best known for his popular comic strip Skippy. Adapted into movies, a novel and a radio show, Crosby's creation was commemorated on a 1997 U.S. Postal Service stamp...
's Skippy
Skippy (comic strip)
Skippy was an American comic strip written and drawn by Percy Crosby that was published from 1923 to 1945. A highly popular, acclaimed and influential feature about rambunctious fifth-grader Skippy Skinner, his friends and his enemies, it was adapted into movies, a novel and a radio show. It was...
, 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 Caniff
Milton Arthur Paul Caniff was an American cartoonist famous for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon comic strips.-Biography:...
and Noel Sickles
Noel Sickles
Noel Douglas Sickles was an American commercial illustrator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Scorchy Smith....
. He created strips for various audiences, including Anita Diminuta
Anita Diminuta
Anita Diminuta is a comics character created in 1941 by Jesús Blasco for the feminine magazine Mis Chicas, where it held the forefront throughout the decade. In the stories creation, his brothers also collaborated, constituting the Factoría Blasco....
, a girl strip.
In the 1960s, he landed a deal with Fleetway
Fleetway
Fleetway, also known as Fleetway Publications and Fleetway Editions, was a UK publishing company which mainly produced comic magazines. For a time owned by IPC Media, they are now a division of Egmont Publishing....
that brought him continental exposure. With the strips Steel Claw
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....
and Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
, events lead to a collaboration with Pat Mills
Pat Mills
Pat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a 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....
to create Invasion!
Invasion! (2000 AD)
Invasion! was a series created by Pat Mills and mostly written by Gerry Finley-Day that appeared in the first 51 editions of the weekly comic 2000 AD....
in the first issue of 2000AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
(1977). The 1970s saw more Alex Toth
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth was an American professional cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but is known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Space Ghost, The...
-esque Westerns such as Tex Willer
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 of Italian comics, with translations to numerous ...
. Blasco also co-created the strip Capitán Trueno
Capitán Trueno
El Capitán Trueno was the hero of a series of Spanish comic books, created in 1956 by the writer Víctor Mora and illustrated mainly by Miguel Ambrosio Zaragoza . The comics were published continuously between 1956 and 1968, eventually becoming the most popular Spanish hero comic of all times: at...
, which has influenced the look of many other Japanese and Euro creations, such as The Mysterious Cities of Gold
The Mysterious Cities of Gold
abbreviated MCoG, is a Japanese-French animated series co-produced by DiC Entertainment and Studio Pierrot. The series premiered in Japan on NHK on May 1, 1982 and ran weekly for 39 episodes until its conclusion on February 5, 1983...
. 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
Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
's Creepy, which were all miscredited to other artists.
Sources
- Jésus Blasco publications in Le Journal de Spirou BDoubliées
- Jésus Blasco albums Bedetheque
- Jésus Blasco 2000 AD credits
Footnotes
External links
- Jésus Blasco biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia
- Jésus Blasco biography on Dan Dare