Gabriel Arnao Crespo
Gabriel Arnao Crespo | |
|---|---|
Gabriel Arnao Crespo ("Gabi"), circa 1970s | |
| Born | Gabriel Arnao Crespo November 23, 1922 |
| Died | April 2, 1985 (aged 62) |
| Other names | Gabi |
| Occupations | Comics artist, cartoonist, illustrator |
| Years active | 1943–1985 |
| Employer(s) | Flechas y Pelayos, Chicos, Maravillas magazine, Trinca comic, Tartine et Tartinet |
| Known for | Parodic humor and absurdist style |
| Notable work | Sherlock López y Watso de Leche, Jim Erizo, Bloupy |
| Movement | Franco-Belgian comics tradition |
| Signature | |
Gabriel Arnao Crespo (Madrid, November 23, 1922 – April 2, 1985), better known as Gabi, was a comic artist from Spain who lived most of his life in France.[1]
Biography
Childhood and youth (1922–1948)
Gabriel Arnao made his debut in Maravillas magazine in 1943 with the series El Tigre Brown. From 1943 to 1949, for the comic Flechas y Pelayos, he developed the series Sherlock López y Watso de Leche, a parody of the detective created by Conan Doyle.[2][3]
In Chicos, he published four long adventures starring Jim Erizo.[4]
Stay in France (1949–1985)
Gabi emigrated to France in 1949, working for SFPI (Société française de presse illustrée). There, he revived his series Jim Erizo for the magazine Balalín (1958)[4] and Sherlock López y Watso de Leche for Tartine et Tartinet (1959) and Dennis the Menace (1968).
He also created several episodes specifically for the Spanish magazine Trinca in 1971.[5]
His last series was Bloupy, which appeared from 1983 onward in Amis-Coop.[6]
Style
Gabriel Arnao demystified genres through the use of absurdity, somewhat in the manner of Jacovitti, with a light graphic style of straight, clear lines.[7]
Works
- 1943 – Tigre Brown, for Flechas y Pelayos
- 1943 – Las extrañas aventuras de Sherlock López y Watso de Leche, for Flechas y Pelayos
- 1943 – El Señor Conejo, for Maravillas magazine
- 1944 – El Pequeño Profesor Pin y su ayudante Freddy, for ¡Zas!
- 1947 – Jim Erizo y su Papá, for Chicos
- 1948 – Teobaldo Teodolito, for Pulgarcito
- 1948 – Pototo y Boliche, for Chicos
- 1949 – Cleopatro Pa, for Chicos
- 1949 – El Mago Parapapato y su sobrino Patato, for Mis Chicas
- 1949 – Puck, el gnomo, for Mis Chicas
- 1949 – Don Ataúlfo Clorato y su sobrino Renato, for Trampolín magazine
- 1950 – Mateo Pí, for Trampolín
- 1950 – Pedrín y Linda, for Trampolín
- 1953 – Ojo de Castor, el pequeño piel roja, for Trampolín
- 1957 – El pequeño chico Fredy, for Maravillas
- 1958 – Archibaldo, for Baladín
- 1983 – Galapo y Vendaval, for Super Zipi y Zape.[8]
References
- ^ Gabi Arnao Crespo – Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
- ^ "Gabriel Arnao Crespo". Historia Hispánica. Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved October 30, 2025 – via historia-hispanica.rah.es.
- ^ "Gabi – Autor profile". Humoristan: Museo Digital del Humor Gráfico. Retrieved October 30, 2025 – via humoristan.org.
- ^ a b Antonio Martín Martínez (1973). “Ficha Técnica” in La isla del espanto pequeñito, por Gabi, Fascículos de la imagen / Serie la historieta no. 2, p. 3. Martín, editor.
- ^ “Gabriel Arnao Crespo”. Historia Hispánica. Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 30 Oct 2025. – states that “a su regreso a España vuelve a recuperar el personaje de ‘Sherlock López’ en 1971 para la revista Trinca”.
- ^ “Gabi Arnao Crespo – Comic Creator”. Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved October 30, 2025 – via lambiek.net.
- ^ Nino Velasco (1973). “Gabi, un autor ‘raro’” in La isla del espanto pequeñito, por Gabi, Fascículos de la imagen / Serie la historieta no. 2, pp. 4–5. Martín, editor.
- ^ Cuadrado (2000), pp. 501–502.
Bibliography
- Jesús Cuadrado (2000). Atlas español de la cultura popular: De la historieta y su uso 1873–2000. Madrid: Ediciones Sinsentido / Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez. 2 vols. ISBN 84-89384-23-1.
- Antoni Guiral, Antoni (2007). Los tebeos de nuestra infancia: La Escuela Bruguera (1964–1986). Colección Magnum no. 7. Legal Deposit: B-50353-2007. Barcelona: Ediciones El Jueves, S.A. ISBN 978-84-9741-589-7.
External links
- Author profile at Tebeosfera
- Comic creator: Gabi at the Lambiek Comiclopedia (in English)
- Arnao, Gabi at Comicvia
- Arnao, Gabi, Las 9 musas (archived)