Juanjo Guarnido (born 1967) is a Spanish illustrator and the co-author of the comic book series '' Blacksad''.

Early life

Guarnido was born in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the

University of Granada The University of Granada (, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Apart from the city of Granad ...

Career

Guarnido collaborated on several

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

s and produced work 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 ...

. Unfortunately, the small size of the Spanish market forced him to turn to other means of earning a living. In 1990, he left Granada and moved to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, where he worked on a TV series for three years. There he met

Juan Díaz Canales Juan Díaz Canales is a Spanish comics artist and an animation, animated film director, known as the co-creator of ''Blacksad''. Biography At an early age, Juan Díaz Canales became interested in comics and their creation, which progressed and b ...

, with whom he discussed producing comics. In 1993, Guarnido applied for a job with the Walt Disney Studios in Montreuil,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and consequently moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He was the lead animator for the character

Sabor The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor is composed of 151 members elected ...

in the Disney film ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'', as well as the lead animator for

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

in ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' and Helga in '' Atlantis: The Lost Empire''. After Guarnido left Disney, he reconnected with Canales. After contacting several editors, Guarnido and Canales finally signed on with French publisher

Dargaud Société Dargaud (), doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud, publishing its first comics in 1943. ...

, and in November 2000, ''Quelque part entre les ombres (Somewhere within the Shadows)'' was published. It was a success among critics and the public, and won the Prix de la Découverte at the Sierre International Comics Festival and the "Avenir" Prize at the Lys-lez-Lannoy Festival, respectively in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

. In March 2003, the second album ''Arctic-Nation'' was released. It was once again a success, winning the Prize Awarded by the Audience and the Prize for Artwork at the 2004

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (AICF; ) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan. It has occur ...

. The third instalment of the ''Blacksad'' series, ''Âme Rouge (Red Soul)'', was published in 2005. In 2006 it was awarded the Angoulême Prize for a Series. In 2009 Guarnido teamed up with writer Alain Ayroles, who is known for two hugely successful BD series in France - Garulfo and De cap et de Crocs, to begin work on a 'one shot' project that resulted in the release of ''Les Indes Fourbes'' (The treacherous Indies) by publishing house Delcourt some ten years later, in 2019. Billed as the second part of

El Buscón ''El Buscón'' (full title ''Historia de la vida del Buscón, llamado Don Pablos, ejemplo de vagamundos y espejo de tacaños'' (literally: History of the life of the Swindler, called Don Pablos, model for hobos and mirror of misers); translated as ...

(The Swindler) by

Francisco de Quevedo Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas, Order of Santiago, Knight of the Order of Santiago (; 14 September 1580 – 8 September 1645) was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his lifelong rival, ...

, it is narrated by lovable rogue Don Pablos whose aim in life is to become a gentleman. Les Indes Fourbes starts with Don Pablos’ journey to the New World and the comedy of events that unfold.

Awards

*2000: Prize for Best First Album at the Lys-lez-Lannoy festival *2000: Prix spécial at the Rœulx (Belgium) festival *2000: Prix Némo at the Maisons-Laffitte festival *2000: Prix découverte at Sierre International Comics Festival *2001: Best Artwork Award at Festival de Chambéry *2002: Best Artwork Award at Grand Prix Albert Uderzo *2003: Prix spécial du jury au Sierre International Comics Festival *2004: Angoulême Audience Award, for ''Arctic-Nation'' *2004: Angoulême Best Artwork Award, for ''Arctic-Nation'' *2004: Virgin Prize for Best Album, for ''Arctic-Nation'' *2006: Angoulême Best Series Award, for the ''Blacksad'' series *2006: Bédéis Causa - Prix Maurice Petitdier for the best foreign comic at the Festival de la BD francophone de Québec for ''Blacksad'' *2008: Iluminart Artward, for the ''Blacksad'' series *2011:

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art), for the ''Blacksad'' series *2019: The ''Landerneau Prize'' (France) awarded by Régis Loisel for '' Les Indes fourbes''. *2019: The ''RTL Grand Prix'' for comics (France) for ''Les Indes fourbes''. *2019: Comic booksellers (France) prize for ''Les Indes fourbes''.

Bibliography

* '' Blacksad'' series (Dargaud) with

**''Somewhere Within the Shadows'' (2000) **''Arctic Nation'' (2003) **''Red Soul'' (2005) **''A Silent Hell'' (2010) **''Amarillo'' (2013)
''Les Indes fourbes''
with Alain Ayroles **Les Indes Fourbes he Treacherous Indies 2019 (in French). Delcourt - ISBN 978-2-7560-3573-4 - Official Selection Angoulême Festival 2020 **Les Indes Fourbes he Treacherous Indies Deluxe Edition, 2019 (in French). Co-edition Caurette/Black & White - ISBN 979-10-96315-50-5 - Limited edition of 499 numbered and signed copies

Animation

* ''Freak of the Week'' (director) (2014)

Notes

References

Guarnido publications in ''Pilote''
BDoubliées

External links

on Lambiek Comiclopedia
Blacksadmania.com
(French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Guarnido, Juanjo 1967 births Living people People from Granada Spanish animators Spanish illustrators Walt Disney Animation Studios people Spanish comics artists French graphic novelists Spanish graphic novelists Eisner Award winners for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior) Spanish animal artists