The revered Argentinian artist Juan Gimenez has passed away from complications of the coronavirus, it’s been reported. He was 76.
Gimenez was perhaps best known for his work on Metabarons, but he was one of the great SF comics artists, famed for his visionary, detailed machinery and beautifully rendered characters. His work is really emblematic of the European SF look is often associated with Heavy Metal magazine – and in fact he served as art director for a segment of the Heavy Metal animated film. But his career stretched far beyond that.
Born in Mendoza, Argentina in 1943, Gimenez studied art in Barcelona, Spain, and eventually moved to Spain. He became well known for his work in Italian and Spanish comics, with his breakout hit Leo Roa, before teaming with Alejandro Jorodowsky for The Metabarons in the 90s. He also worked in illustration, storyboards and concept art.
Juan Gimenez had recently traveled to Spain, which has been hard hit by CV-19, but had travelled back to Argentina, where he was hospitalized on March 22.
Quite a bit of his work is available in English from Humanoids. And you can actually read the first volume of Metabarons digitally for free right now.
Comics twitter mourned the master with examples of his art.
https://twitter.com/ronmarz/status/1245916310690660352
https://twitter.com/f_francavilla/status/1245912424932347904
https://twitter.com/CullyHamner/status/1245906186089697285
https://twitter.com/artofmmignola/status/1245938673633255426
https://twitter.com/neilhimself/status/1245930108394721285
https://twitter.com/AshcanPress/status/1245883792344178688
https://twitter.com/IvanBrandon/status/1245926070722785280
https://twitter.com/TheBurnham/status/1245912679748743168
https://twitter.com/TJoyceChin/status/1245908765292937217
https://twitter.com/droog811/status/1245910132476628999
https://twitter.com/HeatherAntos/status/1245888835327844352
https://twitter.com/JacksonLanzing/status/1245888206928662528
https://twitter.com/therightram/status/1245885087301939200
https://twitter.com/matiasbergara/status/1245883187340943361
Truly a master.
