Carlos Pacheco
Carlos Pacheco Perujo (San Roque, Cádiz; November 14, 1960 - La Línea de la Concepción, November 9, 2022) was a Spanish cartoonist.
Considered the most prestigious Spanish cartoonist who has worked in the American industry, his works for Marvel Comics and DC Comics have earned him worldwide recognition and a regular presence in salons and conventions of the genre. He used to work with inker Jesús Merino and was characterized by an elegant, dynamic and clean style, inspired by artists such as Neal Adams and John Buscema.
Biography
Professional beginnings
Carlos Pacheco began his career as a professional cartoonist through small jobs in the world of national cartoons while he finished his degree in Biology at the Faculty of Seville. At this time he won some awards for fans ("Comix Internacional" by Toutain Editor), he collaborated with regional fanzines ("TUBOESCAPE", La Línea-Cádiz, "Caballete") and participated in the 1983 edition of the Barcelona Comic Fair within the II Exhibition of new cartoonists of the "Rock, Comics and other rolls" from Radio 3.
At the end of the eighties he began his professional steps collaborating with the publishing house Planeta De Agostini, personalizing the Spanish editions of the American comics of Marvel Comics with new covers, posters and illustrations for the different magazines of this publishing house (X-Men, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Captain America, Nick Fury,... with their covers for Marvel Classics being especially notable). For this publishing house he did several works as a cartoonist, especially the comic American Soldier together with the Sevillian writer Antonio Moreno.
For some time he briefly flirted with Norma Editorial in specials of her magazines Cimoc and Humor a tope, and with publishing house Casset, with which he participated in the album Spanish pop.
During this entire period he also played an important role as an analyst and critic, writing numerous articles for Planeta de Agostini and Zinco Editorial.
The US market
In 1993 he was hired by the British division of Marvel Comics. He began making covers for The Exploits of Spider-Man magazine and with a short comic for Motormouth and Killpower. However, Dark Guard was the first series that he drew completely and the one that would make him known.
Shortly later he would also work for DC Comics, doing his first professional job in the United States in 1994 in the series The Flash (issues 93 to 100), immediately going on to work exclusively for the following years with Marvel in collections such as Bishop, Universe -X, Excalibur and Fantastic Four.
During these years he did not abandon the Spanish market for which he created, together with Rafael Marín, the series Iberia Inc. and Triada Vértice (Publishing Planeta DeAgostini) in the mid-nineties.
He continues his work on His last work for Marvel was his participation in the special Heroes, the book dedicated to raising funds for the American Red Cross on the occasion of the September 11 attacks. 2001. Shortly after, he signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics.
After leaving Marvel Comics, his first work for DC Comics was a short story for the special dedicated to the tragedy of 9/11 in a book called 9/11, which was followed by the graphic novel JLA-JSA and the self-created series Arrowsmith. He also became coordinator since 2004 of the Comics Seminar of the summer courses at the University of Cádiz, aimed at the study and dissemination of the medium.
Since 2005, he has drawn the Superman/Batman series (along with Jeph Loeb) and participated in the relaunch of the Green Lantern series. Together with the co-creator of Arrowsmith, screenwriter Kurt Busiek, he has made the series Superman.
Final Crisis would be his last collaboration with DC to date since in 2008 he returned to Marvel to work again exclusively with this publisher. His first work in this second stage with The House of Ideas also marked the return of Mark Millar to the characters that consolidated the Ultimate universe: The Ultimate Avengers. After them he made Ultimate Thor with Jonathan Hickman coinciding with the premiere of the film dedicated to this character.
The Ultimate universe begins to collaborate again with the traditional one, this time in the new Schism saga of the X-Men as a prelude to the relaunch of such characters.
In 2011 he was commissioned to bring X-men back to the market.
In 2012 editor Tom Brevoort returns to work with the most classic Marvel characters: Age of Ultron and in 2013 Captain America.
Prizes
His work has been recognized with various distinctions, among which his appointment as "Newest Author of 1996" by the American magazine Wizard stands out, and its inclusion since then in the top ten of authors of the same magazine from 1997 until 2001 when it reached the first position on that list.
Since 1996 he has continuously received the award given by the readers of the specialized magazine Dolmen as "Best Spanish Author".
He received awards as the best Spanish comic artist from the Granada Comic Fair in 2001, from the Fantastic and Horror Film Week of Estepona (Málaga) in 2004, and his own series of his own creation (along with the American screenwriter Kurt Busiek) was nominated for the prestigious Eisner Awards in 2004. In 2010 and within the framework of the Granada International Comic Fair, he was awarded the Andalusia Comic Award, then awarded for the first time.
Favorite son of San Roque since 2001. A street with his name in the city since 2016. Medal of the Campo de Gibraltar in 2011. Medal of the Province of Cádiz in 2016.
Death
The author revealed in September 2022 that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Two months later he was admitted to the La Línea de la Concepción Hospital due to a worsening of the disease, and finally died on November 9, 2022. fifty-nine years old.