Sadly, Solano Lopez has died - Aged 83

[Al]

I was very upset to hear this. He passed away on the 12th August 2011 due to a stroke.

More details can be read here.

http://www.comicbitsonline.com/

Al

[Digifiend]

That won't stay on the front page forever, so here's a better link:
http://www.comicbitsonline.com/2011/08/ ... 1928-2011/

[Raven]

To me the most compelling IPC adventure artist, and my all-time favourite UK comics adventure artist. He rendered his subject matter moody, macabre and gritty, with a real Gothic feel, which made it hugely appealing. I absolutely loved his work in Valiant above all (especially Raven on the Wing - only Lopez could handle a strip that veered from football to horror and back so well! - and Kelly's Eye and Janus Stark), but also in Buster (Galaxus, especially), and Lion, where his Adam Eterno was the highlight.

One of the greats.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Even as a very young kid reading Buster, I just knew that Janus Stark and Galaxus was drawn by a foreign artist!

His stuff was claustrophobic, but delightfully ethereal and unforgettable.

I always felt that Carlos Ezquerra was influenced by his stuff.....quite naturally, of course.

[stevezodiac]

Was Master of the Marsh one of his?

[philcom55]

Darn!

Along with Eric Bradbury and Geoff Campion he virtually set the bar for all Fleetway artists during the 1960s. My own personal favourite Solano Lopez strips were his Professor Kraken adventures in Knockout and Valiant (especially 'The Time Machine'), though he'd lost none of his skill when he returned to draw a new version of 'The Toys of Doom' for IPC's revived Eagle in the late 1980s.

- Phil Rushton

Was Master of the Marsh one of his?

Yep!

[philcom55]

I'm not sure if we're allowed to reproduce the Eagle logo so here's an edited scan of one of Solano Lopez's later covers from 1989 when he drew IPC's darker revival of his own 1960s Buster strip 'The Toys of Doom':



- Phil Rushton

[dishes]

A great man. When I got a lot of early seventies IPC comics at a fair years ago, he seemed to be drawing at least half of the adventure stories, and most wonderfully. Loved "Janus Stark".

He has a worldwide reputation, here are some American appreciations:
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php ... _2011aaaa/
http://www.tcj.com/francisco-solano-lop ... 0%93-2011/
http://www.tcj.com/this-week-in-comics- ... p-nothing/

[Digifiend]

I'm not sure if we're allowed to reproduce the Eagle logo

I believe it's Dan Dare, not the Eagle logo, that caused the ban on Eagle covers here. This cover isn't Dan Dare, so I think it was OK to post it intact.

[-MikeD-]

I was a child of the late Seventies, and as such my comic reading was defined by 2000ad and Marvel UK. I discovered Lopez, and indeed Alberto Breccia and others, much later. I was never much of a fan of the strips he illustrated (albeit brilliantly) for UK publishers (more heresy! Maybe I have poor taste, I don't know... )

Luckily, he appears to have enjoyed more meaty projects in South America, the rest of Europe and the States. His Freaks comic is one of my absolute favourites, the last page is somehow as equally shocking as the closing moments of the Tod Browning film, which is no mean feat. And as for his 'mature' stuff....

A genius storyteller.

[dreamticket]

Sad news indeed. He seems to have worked all over the place and in many different genres. I don't suppose anyone can point me to a checklist of his work?

[paw broon]

I posted the news of his sad demise on GAC and Digital comic museum but, as yet, no response. I thought that the folk on those sites, being so involved with comics and their history, would have had sonething to say.

[Captain Storm]

Yes , a sad indictment of the apparent disinterest and non - acknowledgement of a legend. Like many of the great artists of the past , it will take a few generations to celebrate his mastery of the comic art form. British comic fans should bow their heads in shame for not respecting this icon of comics. I am sincerely angered by this,

sincerely,

The Cap.

[Peter Gray]

http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogs ... no%20Lopez



Lew Stringer's blog has a nice tribute..

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2011/08 ... -away.html