Angelo Torres (born April 14, 1932, in Santurce,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

) is an American cartoonist and caricaturist whose work has appeared in many noteworthy

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s, as well as a long-running regular illustrator for '' Mad''.

EC Comics

Torres was friends with artist

Al Williamson Alfonso Williamson (March 21, 1931 – June 12, 2010) was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western, science fiction and fantasy. Born in New York City, he spent much of his early childhood in ...

in the early 1950s and occasionally assisted him on work for

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950 ...

with fellow artists

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...

and

Roy Krenkel Roy Gerald Krenkel (July 11, 1918 – February 24, 1983), who often signed his work RGK, was an American illustrator who specialized in fantasy and historical drawings and paintings for books, magazines and comic books. Influences and stud ...

(known as the Fleagle Gang). The story which was to be Torres' first solo EC story, "An Eye for an Eye" in ''

Incredible Science Fiction ''Incredible Science Fiction'' was an American science fiction anthology comic published by EC Comics in 1955 and 1956, lasting a total of four issues. Creative team ''Incredible Science Fiction'' ran for four issues, boasting a number of skill ...

''#33 (Jan.-Feb. 1956), was rejected by the Comics Code and did not see print for the first time until 1971.

Atlas Comics

When the EC comics line ended after the enforcement of the Comics Code, Torres (and several other EC alumni) went to Atlas Comics (later to be known as the Marvel Comics Group) and drew a number of short stories for their mystery titles in 1956-57, titles such as Astonishing, Spellbound, Uncanny Tales, Marvel Tales and many others.

Warren Publishing

Torres later worked for

Warren Publishing Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include '' After Hours'', '' Creepy'', '' Eerie'', '' F ...

under editor Archie Goodwin. He contributed art on 20 stories for ''

Creepy Creepiness is the state of being wikt:creepy, creepy, or causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or wikt:unease, unease. A person who exhibits creepy behaviour is called a creep. Certain traits or hobbies may make people seem creepy to others. The ...

'', ''

Eerie ''Eerie'' was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like '' Mad'', it was a black-and-white magazine intended for newsstand distribution and did not submit its stories to the comic book industry's volunta ...

'' and '' Blazing Combat'' from 1964 through 1967.

Mad Magazine

From October 1969 until April 2005 he drew the satires of contemporary U.S. television shows (and later movies) as the penultimate feature in ''Mad'' magazine (whereas

Mort Drucker Morris "Mort" Drucker (March 22, 1929 – April 9, 2020) was an American caricaturist and comics artist best known as a contributor for over five decades in '' Mad'', where he specialized in satires on the leading feature films and televisio ...

drew the movie parodies in its opening portions). He was named #61 in Atomic Comics' (retailer) list of The Top 100 Artists of American Comic Books.The Top 100 Artists of American Comic Books: Numbers 50-61
/ref>

Recent work

Torres illustrated many new "what if?" covers for comic historian Grant Geissman's acclaimed books which answer the question, "What if EC hadn't abandoned their line of comics, and Angelo had been asked by Bill Gaines to tackle some cover assignments. He also drew more than 40 new original cover illustrations on the intentionally blank PANIC Comics #6 Russ Cochran reprints which debuted weekly with the heading #TorresTuesday on social media as a diversion for his fans with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Society of Illustrators Museum of Illustration Exhibition

For his 90th birthday, The Society of Illustrators in New York City fêted Torres with a comprehensive exhibition of his vast body of work: "What, Me PANIC? Celebrating Angelo Torres" from May 11 through September 3, 2022 with several hundred never-before-seen pieces of original art from his tenure with EC, Marvel, Warren, MAD and more, photos, comics, magazines and memorabilia. Robert L. Reiner curated the show with assistance from Clint Morgan, who also designed the exhibition program
https://societyillustrators.org/shop/books-media/si-publications/signed-what-me-panic-celebrating-angelo-torres-exhibition-catalog)
and the filmmakers Ian Scott McGregor and Will Mayo produced a short documentary - My Dinner with Angelo - interviewing and revisiting the career of Angelo Torres
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eycPHlNU_48)

The Unwanted by Otto Binder

Angelo Torres provided layouts and pencils for a "new work" by the late Otto Binder (1911-1974). Adapted by Robert L. Reiner, the story was written in 1953 and was previously unpublished. Stefan Koidl, a Salzburg-based sculptor and master digital artist provided finishing art. Titled, "The Unwanted," the story is a parable where a society learns to be careful what it wishes for and to understand what it means to be unwanted. Fantagraphics is the publisher.

Bibliography

Comics work includes: *''

Piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

'' #1-2 (inks,

, Oct/Nov 1954) *''

'' #1-5, 7, 10-13 (

, 1964–1966) *''

'' #2,3,5,6,8 (

, 1965–1966) *'' Mad'' #130-213, 288, 300 (October 1968-March 1980, December 1988, January 1991) *'' Horror From The Tomb'' 1954

References

Sources

* *
Lambiek: Angelo Torres

External links

Angelo Torres at Comic Vine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Angelo American caricaturists American comics artists American parodists 1932 births Living people Mad (magazine) cartoonists EC Comics People from Santurce, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican cartoonists