Albert Monteys i Homar (
Barcelona, 15 September 1971) is a
Spanish comic writer and illustrator, mostly known for his work in the satirical weekly magazine ''
El Jueves'' of which he was the director from 2006 until January 2011.
Early life
Albert Monteys started reading comics in
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
bought by his parents such as ''
Cavall Fort
''Cavall Fort'' is a magazine for children and teenagers published in Catalan every two weeks. It was established in 1961 to foster reading among youths between 9 and 15 years old, following the example of the popular magazine ''En Patufet'', which ...
'' or ''Tretzevents'' until he discovered the ones of
Bruguera, especially ''
Mort and Phil
''Mort & Phil'' ( es, Mortadelo y Filemón) is a Spanish comic series, published in more than a dozen languages. It appeared for the first time in 1958 in the children's comic-book magazine drawn by Francisco Ibáñez. The series features Mor ...
'' and ''
Superlópez
Superlópez is a Spanish comic book character created by 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 like ''Shut up!' ...
''.
[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.
[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 are 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. Su ...
and when he was twelve and fifteen,
Franco-Belgian, he even bought ''
Spirou'' in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
.
He also published in the school magazine.
He studied one year at the comics specialized school Escola Joso, joining a fanzine in
Mataró titled ''Què trames?''
Career
Early work (1990–1995)
While he was studying the first year of
Fine Arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
at the
University of Barcelona, he provided samples to the publisher Joc Internacional, specializing in
roleplaying games and
wargames, 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, 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
Barcelona International Comic Fair is an annual fair and convention of authors, publishers and comic readers, managed by .
It takes place in the city of Barcelona since 1981, and is an event of reference on the Spanish comic market.
Prizes
The Pri ...
he published the comic ''Calavera lunar'', winning an award for best new author.
He also started the strip ''Paco's Bar'' for ''
El Jueves'' with little success so he was suggested to make another strip starring a selfish
pizza delivery 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'', and coordinator of ''Zona X''.
In 1998, he joined the editorial board of ''El Jueves'', alongside
Manel Fontdevila, aiming to promote the arrival of new authors: Darío Adanti, José Luis Agreda, Lalo Kubala, Pedro Vera and
Bernardo Vergara
Bernardo "Bernie" M. Vergara (born December 4, 1937) is a Filipino politician and professional civil engineer. He served as Congressman from the lone district of Baguio for three terms from 1992 to 2001, 2010-2013 and as mayor of Baguio for one ...
.
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
Manel Fontdevila as well as jokes of current events.
From 2004 to 2006 he published the strip ''Carlitos Fax'' for the children's magazine ''
Mister K'', about a silly and self-centered robot in a crazy futuristic world.
[Alcázar, F. J. (2005)]
«Caso clínico: ''Revista Mister K''»
'' Tebeosfera''.
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
Felipe VI (;,
* eu, Felipe VI.a,
* ca, Felip VI,
* gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and ...
and
Princess Letizia
Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano (; born 15 September 1972) is the Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI. She came from a middle-class family and worked as a journalist for ''ABC'' and EFE before becoming a news anchor at CNN+ and Televisión ...
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 (;,
* ca, Joan Carles I,
* gl, Xoán 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 Novem ...
. Other cartoonists also left the magazine. Those comic artist published on 18 June, the day before the coronation of
Felipe VI, 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 Internet, online publisher of DRM-free pay what you want digital comics in multiple languages, founded by Marcos Martín (cartoonist), Marcos Martín to publish his and Brian K. Vaughan's Creator ownership#Comic books, creator ...
. It is a
science fiction anthology series. As of December 2018, six 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 prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
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''.
Bibliography
References
External links
Monnteys in Lambiek comiclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monteys, Albert
1971 births
Living people
Spanish comics artists
Spanish comics writers
Artists from Barcelona