Post by SGT Comics on Mar 26, 2019 14:26:58 GMT
Rafael López Espí (1937-) began his professional career in 1953, while still in his teens. His early artwork spanned all genres, including war, romance, western, historical, and crime.
Like so many of his contemporaries, López Espí joined the Selecciones Ilustradas art agency and expanded his work beyond Spain. In the mid-1960s, Editorial Vértice began publishing adaptations of Marvel comics in new formats. Problems arose when the panels were reconfigured to fit a different size publication. The original US covers were also problematic, due to the quantity of text and number of characters present. In order to appeal to the sensibilities of the Spanish audience, Editorial Vértice decided to create original covers by Spanish artists. The covers were intended to convey “mystery, suspense, or spectacularity” with high contrast and be discernible ten steps away from the newsstand. Initially, López Espí had sufficient time and source material to create original painted covers. Later in the run, however, the need to produce more artwork and the lack of source material resulted in covers that were closer to replicas of the original American cover.
Spiderman Vol 3 #53 (March 1979) // Amazing Spider-Man #109 (June 1972)
As time passed, López Espí became disillusioned with comics work, likely due to having no single title or character that could be definitively tied to his legacy. He shifted to working primarily in advertising, where he created several illustrations for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe toy boxes.
Panthor at Vintage Action Figures
López Espí has experienced something of a renaissance recently, with such recognition as to have a dedicated fan club which maintains a website and produces a magazine (up to 72 issues as of December 2018): www.lopezespi.com
The artist can even be reached for commissions through the site!
www.lambiek.net/artists/l/lopez-espi_rafael.htm
www.universomarvel.com/fichas/autores/lopezespirafael.html
Like so many of his contemporaries, López Espí joined the Selecciones Ilustradas art agency and expanded his work beyond Spain. In the mid-1960s, Editorial Vértice began publishing adaptations of Marvel comics in new formats. Problems arose when the panels were reconfigured to fit a different size publication. The original US covers were also problematic, due to the quantity of text and number of characters present. In order to appeal to the sensibilities of the Spanish audience, Editorial Vértice decided to create original covers by Spanish artists. The covers were intended to convey “mystery, suspense, or spectacularity” with high contrast and be discernible ten steps away from the newsstand. Initially, López Espí had sufficient time and source material to create original painted covers. Later in the run, however, the need to produce more artwork and the lack of source material resulted in covers that were closer to replicas of the original American cover.
Spiderman Vol 3 #53 (March 1979) // Amazing Spider-Man #109 (June 1972)
As time passed, López Espí became disillusioned with comics work, likely due to having no single title or character that could be definitively tied to his legacy. He shifted to working primarily in advertising, where he created several illustrations for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe toy boxes.
Panthor at Vintage Action Figures
López Espí has experienced something of a renaissance recently, with such recognition as to have a dedicated fan club which maintains a website and produces a magazine (up to 72 issues as of December 2018): www.lopezespi.com
The artist can even be reached for commissions through the site!
www.lambiek.net/artists/l/lopez-espi_rafael.htm
www.universomarvel.com/fichas/autores/lopezespirafael.html