Galaxus, from Buster
Francisco Solano López was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 26 October 1928. He started his career in comics in Argentina in the early 1950s. One of his early series, the allegorical science fiction strip El Eternauta (1957), caught the eye of the military government, and the artist was forced to flee to Spain, settling in Madrid.
From 1959 he was working regularly in British comics. He drew full-length stories for Air Ace Picture Library (1960-69), War Picture Library (1961-67), Thriller Picture Library (1962), War at Sea Picture Library (1962-63) and Battle Picture Library (1962-73), and strips like Kelly's Eye (Knock-Out, Valiant, Vulcan, 1962-76), Adam Eterno (Thunder, Lion, Valiant, 1970-76), Janus Stark (Smash, Valiant, 1969-73), Galaxus (Buster, 1966-74), Pete's Pocket Army (Buster, 1973-78), Nipper (Score 'n' Roar, Scorcher, Tiger, 1970-84) and Dark Angels (Eagle, 1990-91), among others. He moved to London for a while, but was able to return to Buenos Aires in 1968, where he opened a studio of artists, including Ramiro Bujeiro, Tibor Horvath, Silvia Lechuca, Julio and Jorge Schiaffino, and Nestor Morales, whose assistance allowed him to produce up to 16 pages a week. His dark, textures style is often mistaken for that of Eric Bradbury.
He was forced into hiding in 1974, and in 1976, while he was on a trip to Madrid, his apartment in Buenos Aires, was destroyed in a fire. He and his family moved back to Madrid. He moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1984, continuing to work in the Spanish Italian, British and American markets. He died of a brain hemorrhage on 12 August 2011, aged 83.
References[]
- Francisco Solano López on DanDare.info
