Carlos Ezquerra facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Carlos Ezquerra |
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Ezquerra in 2005
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| Born | Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra 12 November 1947 Ibdes, province of Zaragoza, Spain |
| Died | 1 October 2018 (aged 70) |
| Pseudonym(s) | L. John Silver |
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Notable works
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Judge Dredd Strontium Dog Just a Pilgrim The Stainless Steel Rat |
| Awards | Inkpot Award National Comics Awards |
| Children | 2 |
Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra (born November 12, 1947 – died October 1, 2018) was a famous Spanish comics artist. He mostly worked on British comics. He is best known for helping create the popular character Judge Dredd.
Contents
Who Was Carlos Ezquerra?
Carlos Ezquerra was born in Ibdes, a town in Spain, on November 12, 1947. He started his career drawing exciting western and war stories for publishers in Spain.
Starting His Art Journey
In 1973, Carlos began working for the UK comics market. He drew for girls' romance comics like Valentine and Mirabelle. He also drew westerns and adventure comics for other publishers. Working in the UK was good for Spanish artists because of the money exchange rate. Carlos even moved to London with his wife to be closer to his work. They settled in Croydon.
Creating Comics for Battle and 2000 AD
In 1974, Carlos was asked to draw for a new comic called Battle Picture Weekly. He helped create a character called "Major Eazy," who was a relaxed anti-hero. Carlos drew almost 100 episodes of this character, basing his look on the actor James Coburn.
In 1976, Carlos was asked to imagine a new character: a future lawman named Judge Dredd. This character was for a new science fiction comic called 2000 AD, which started in 1977. Carlos's detailed drawings of futuristic cities helped decide that the comic would be set far in the future.
However, there were some disagreements about who owned the character. Because of this, Carlos left 2000 AD for a short time. He went back to Battle and created another character called "El Mestizo." This character was a gun-for-hire during the American Civil War.
In 1978, Carlos and writer John Wagner created "Strontium Dog" for a comic called Starlord. This was a sci-fi western about a bounty hunter in a future where mutants were treated unfairly. Starlord later joined 2000 AD, bringing "Strontium Dog" with it. Carlos drew almost all of the "Strontium Dog" stories for many years.
Later, the character "Johnny Alpha" from "Strontium Dog" was brought back to life in new stories. Carlos's son, Hector, helped him by inking and coloring his drawings for "Strontium Dog" between 2008 and 2012.
Carlos also drew other popular comics for 2000 AD. These included Fiends of the Eastern Front, a vampire story set during World War II. He also drew adaptations of the Stainless Steel Rat novels, where the main character looked like James Coburn again. In 1982, he returned to "Judge Dredd" to draw a long story called "The Apocalypse War". He continued to draw "Judge Dredd" often, including big stories like "Necropolis" in 1990 and "Origins" in 2006–07.
A character named Stogie in the 2000 AD comic Robo-Hunter was given the full name Carlos Sanchez Robo-Stogie. This was a tribute to Carlos Ezquerra.
Other Cool Projects
Carlos worked many times with writer Garth Ennis. They created comics like Bloody Mary, Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, and Just a Pilgrim. He also drew for Hitman and two special Preacher comics for DC Comics.
Sometimes, Carlos used a different name for his work, called a pen name. He used "L. John Silver" for some stories in 2000 AD, like "The Riddle of the Astral Assassin!" and some ABC Warriors comics.
Awards and Recognition
Carlos Ezquerra received several awards for his amazing artwork:
- National Comics Awards for Best Artist in Comics Today, in 2001.
- Inkpot Award, in 2015.
His Final Years
In his later life, Carlos moved to Andorra. He passed away on October 1, 2018, at the age of 70. He never stopped drawing. His last unfinished work, "Spector," was published after he died in June 2019 by 2000 AD.
Images for kids
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A robot, similar to characters Carlos Ezquerra drew.
See also
In Spanish: Carlos Ezquerra para niños
