Jorge Rubén Zaffino (1959–2002) was a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

born in Argentina.

Biography

Zaffino spent a lifetime working as an artist in and out of comics. At the age of 16, he began working as an unpaid apprentice at the comics studios of

Ricardo Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name * Ricardo de Araújo Pereira (born ...

and Enrique Villagran in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, where his father had requested that they take him on. Zaffino made himself a recognised name in his country, working many years in important

Argentine comics Argentine comics (Spanish: ''historietas'' or ''cómics'') are one of the most important comic traditions internationally, and the most important within Latin America, living its "Golden Age" between the 1940s and the 1960s, extending into the 198 ...

, like ''

Nippur de Lagash ''Nippur de Lagash'' () is an Argentine historical comic series, published between 1967 and 1998. It is set in the 23rd century BC (according to the short chronology), about a fictional homonym warrior of Sumer, created by Paraguayan comic scriptwr ...

''. In the mid-1980s, Zaffino made a trip to the U.S. with Ricardo Villagran, who was working for Comico at the time. On that trip, Zaffino met comics writer

Chuck Dixon Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s. Early life D ...

, and together they produced '' Winter World'', a three part series for

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

. They continued to collaborate on comics, producing the seminal ''

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher ma ...

'' graphic novels ''Kingdom Gone'' and ''Assassin's Guild'', and a ''

Savage Sword of Conan ''The Savage Sword of Conan'' is a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published beginning in 1974 by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of American company Marvel Comics, and then later by Marvel itself. ''Savage Sword of Conan'' starred ...

'' story titled ''The Horned God''. During this time, Zaffino worked regularly with comics writer Dan Chichester on various comics, including ''Critical Mass'', and ''

Terror Inc. ''Terror Inc.'' was an American comic-book horror series from Marvel Comics starring the antihero Terror, an eternal entity that absorbs the talents of others through their dismembered limbs. He was created by writers Dan Chichester and Marga ...

''. He did relatively little work in the U.S. comics industry, where he is mostly known for his art in ''Punisher'', ''

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...

Hellraiser ''Hellraiser'' is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker in his directorial debut. Based on Barker's 1986 novella ''The Hellbound Heart'', the film's plot concerns a mystical puzzle box that summons the ...

'' and ''

The 'Nam ''The 'Nam'' is a war comic book series detailing the U.S. war in Vietnam from the perspective of active-duty soldiers involved in the conflict. It was initially written by Doug Murray, illustrated by Michael Golden and edited by Larry ...

'' for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. Zaffino’s last work in the US was a story written by Dixon for the 1996 ''

Batman Black and White ''Batman Black and White'' refers to the comic book limited series published by DC Comics featuring 8-page black and white Batman stories. Volumes 1, 4 and 5 of the series feature all-new stories (published in 1996, 2013–14, and 2020–21, respe ...

'' mini series. He continued working for the Argentine comic market, but focused on his work as a painter. A follow-up to ''Winter World'' called ''Winter Sea'' was entirely written and drawn for Marvel Comics, but was never published due to changes of Marvel's policy on creator-owned books at the time. A third chapter of the Winter World saga was also planned, titled ''Winter War''.''Winterworld'', ibid. In January 2010, a hardcover edition containing ''Winter World'' and ''Winter Sea'' was published through

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

. Zaffino died on July 12, 2002, at the age of 43 of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Bibliography

Comics work includes: * ''

'': ''Los guiones continúan'' (The scripts continue), 1976 contribution to the storyline ''El Incorruptible'' (The Incorruptible) (1974/1978) * ''

'': Contributions to the storyline ''La saga de los hermanos tatuados'' (The tattooed brothers saga) (1980/1985) * ''Gorak'' * ''Kayan'' * ''Wolf'' * ''Troels'' * ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher mad ...

'' * '' Punisher: War Zone'' * ''

'' 1986 * ''Punisher: Assassin's Guild'' 1988 * '' Winter World'' 1988 * ''

Clive Barker's Hellraiser ''Hellraiser'' is a British-American horror media franchise that consists of eleven films, as well as various comic books, and additional merchandise and media. Based on the novella ''The Hellbound Heart'' by English author Clive Barker, the fran ...

'' 1988 * "The Horned God", from ''

The Savage Sword of Conan ''The Savage Sword of Conan'' is a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published beginning in 1974 by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of American company Marvel Comics, and then later by Marvel itself. ''Savage Sword of Conan'' starred ...

'' #162, 1989 * ''Seven Block'' 1990/2004 * ''Critical Mass'' 1990 * ''Punisher; Kingdom Gone'' 1990 * ''Hoover'' 1991/1998 * ''

'' 1992 * '' Batman: Black & White'' 1996 * ''Shadow Line Sage''

References

External links

* * *
CBR News

A collection of Zaffino's artwork

Picasa Web Albums Picasa Web Albums (PWA) was an image hosting and sharing web service from Google, often compared to Flickr and similar sites. The service links with Google's photo organizing desktop program Picasa. It was discontinued in May 2016 and succeeded b ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaffino, Jorge 1959 births 2002 deaths Argentine comics artists