Albert Monteys i Homar (

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, 15 September 1971) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

comic writer and illustrator, mostly known for his work in the satirical weekly magazine ''

El Jueves ( Spanish for "Thursday") is a Spanish weekly satirical magazine based in Barcelona. Throughout most of its life, ''El Juevess masthead has featured the tagline "" ("''the magazine that comes out on Wednesdays''"). Its mascot is a nameless je ...

'' of which he was the director from 2006 until January 2011.

Early life

Albert Monteys started reading comics in Catalan bought by his parents such as '' Cavall Fort'' or ''Tretzevents'' until he discovered the ones of Bruguera, especially ''

Mort and Phil ''Mort & Phil'' () is a Spanish comic series, published in more than two dozen languages. It appeared for the first time in 1958 in the children's comic-book magazine drawn by Francisco Ibáñez. The series features Mort (), the tall, bald m ...

'' and ''

Superlópez Superlópez is a Spanish comic book character created by Jan (comics), Jan. Created in 1973, Superlópez is a parody of Superman. Born ''Jo-Con-Él'' (translated as ''Damn-with-him'') on the planet ''Chitón'' (Spanish slang meaning something l ...

''.Monteys, Albert in an interview with Pedro Toro (07/2006).
Entrevista a Albert Monteys
'', ''Un día de texas''/''Guía del Cómic''. He is also a fan of

Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...

.Monteys, Albert in an interview with Santiago García (07/1997).
Interview with Albert Monteys
», ''U, el hijo de Urich #5'' (Camaleón Ediciones). For two or three years he read many

superhero comics Superhero comics is one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and became extremely popular in the 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Supe ...

and when he was twelve and fifteen, Franco-Belgian, he even bought '' Spirou'' in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. He also published in the school magazine. He studied one year at the comics specialized school Escola Joso, joining a fanzine in

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the Maresme county in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, Maresme coast, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, north-east of Barcel ...

titled ''Què trames?''

Career

Early work (1990–1995)

While he was studying the first year of

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

, he provided samples to the publisher Joc Internacional, specializing in

roleplaying games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, eithe ...

and

wargames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American techno-thriller film directed by John Badham, written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, and starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Ally Sheedy. Broderick plays David Lightman, a ...

, things he were at that moment not very familiar about. He was accepted and on the number 17 of its magazine ''Líder'' his first

newspaper strip A comic strip is a sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st century, these ...

, dated 1989, appeared. He also made illustrations for RPGs and, over time, Monteys became production manager of the publisher. Monteys befriended faculty fellows José Miguel Alvarez, Ismael Ferrer and Alex Fito, constituting with them the collective La Penya Productions, whose comic ''Mondo Lirondo'' (Camaleón, 1993–1997) won the prize for best fanzine in Comic Fair Barcelona 1994. Monteys graduated in 1994 and went on to illustrate RPGs as well as publishing in the Catalan children's magazine ''Tretzevents''.Cuadrado (2000), pp. 867-868.

1996–2014

In 1996 Monteys published for the magazine ''Puta mili'' of Ediciones El Jueves. For the Barcelona International Comics Convention he published the comic ''Calavera lunar'', winning an award for best new author. He also started the strip ''Paco's Bar'' for ''

'' with little success so he was suggested to make another strip starring a selfish

pizza delivery Pizza delivery is a service in which a pizzeria or pizza chain delivers a pizza to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone or over the internet, in which the customer can request pizza type and size, and other items to be ...

man titled ''Tato, con moto y sin contrato'', that ran from December 1996 to June 2014. In 1997 his work rate became even more strenuous when he became director of the journals ''Puta Mili'' and ''

Penthouse Comix ''Penthouse Comix'' is an American mass-market, magazine-sized comic book, published by Penthouse International/General Media Communications from spring 1994 through July 1998 and 2024 to present. Founded and initially edited by George Caragonne ...

'', and coordinator of ''Zona X''. In 1998, he joined the editorial board of ''El Jueves'', alongside

Manel Fontdevila Manel Fontdevila i Subirana, who signs as Manel (born 1965 in Manresa), is a Spaniards, Spanish cartoonist, a regular contributor to the satirical magazine ''El Jueves'', where he published the series ''Para ti, que eres joven'', alongside Albert ...

, aiming to promote the arrival of new authors: Darío Adanti, José Luis Agreda, Lalo Kubala, Pedro Vera and Bernardo Vergara. In 1997 he began the strip, ''Para ti, que eres joven'', a two-page strip with jokes with youth themes for the magazine ''El Jueves'' alongside

as well as jokes of current events. From 2004 to 2006 he published the strip ''Carlitos Fax'' for the children's magazine ''

Mister K ''Mister K'' is a Comics in Spain, Spanish comic magazine published from October 2004 to December 2006. It was directed by Maikel (comics), MaikelAlcázar, F. J. (2005). Caso clínico: Revista Mister K', tebeosfera. and its intended audience was c ...

'', about a silly and self-centered robot in a crazy futuristic world.Alcázar, F. J. (2005)
«Caso clínico: ''Revista Mister K''»
''

Tebeosfera ''Tebeosfera'' is an electronic journal devoted to the study of the media related to the graphic popular culture in Spanish, including comic, cartoon, illustration, pulp novels, cinema or videogames. The founder and director is Manuel Barrero, t ...

''. In January 2006, he was appointed director of ''El Jueves'', facing from this position the following year the conviction of its magazine for the crime of insulting the Crown due to a cartoon in the front page of Manel Fontdevila and Guillermo Torres which included an explicit scene of Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia having sex. In 2011, he stepped down as director of the weekly magazine.

Abandonment of El Jueves

In June 2014, Monteys announced his departure from the magazine ''El Jueves'' after the editorial RBA not allowed to publish a cover with a joke which referenced the abdication of the king of Spain,

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (; Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 November 1975 until Abdication of Juan Carlos I, his abdic ...

. Other cartoonists also left the magazine. The comic artist published on 18 June, the day before the coronation of

Felipe VI Felipe VI (; Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. In accordance with the Spanish Constitution, as monarch, he is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Spanish Armed For ...

, an online comic with jokes about the event titled ''Orgullo y satisfacción''. He was later hired by the monthly satirical magazine ''Mongolia''.

Universe!

In November 2014, '' Universe!'' #1, which was created, written and drawn by Monteys, was published on

Panel Syndicate Panel Syndicate is an online publisher of DRM-free pay what you want digital comics in multiple languages, founded by Marcos Martín to publish his and Brian K. Vaughan's creator-owned comic '' The Private Eye'' in March 2013. To date Panel Synd ...

. It is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

anthology series. As of March 2025, eight issues have been published. The series was nominated in for a 2017

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 ...

for Best Digital Comic.Hennon, Blake (July 22, 2017)
"Eisner Awards showcase comics' diversity with Wonder Woman, Wayne Brady, Sonny Liew and 'Saga"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''.

Bibliography

References

External links

Monteys in Lambiek comiclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monteys, Albert 1971 births Living people Spanish comics artists Spanish comics writers Spanish comic strip cartoonists Artists from Barcelona