Carlos Ezquerra

Carlos Sanchez EzquerraJarman, Colin M. and Peter Acton (1995) Judge Dredd: The Mega-History, Lennard Publishing, , p. 20 (;"Carlos Ezquerra Panel - Enniskillen Comic Fest 2019" 12 November 1947 – 1 October 2018) was a Spanish comics artist who worked mainly in British comics. He is best known as the co-creator of Judge Dredd.

Biography

Early work Born in Ibdes, province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Ezquerra started his career drawing westerns and war stories for Spanish publishers. In 1973, he got work in the UK market through agent Barry Coker, drawing for girls' romance titles such as Valentine and Mirabelle, as well as westerns for Thorpe & Porter's Pocket Western Library, and a variety of adventure strips for D. C. Thomson & Co.'s The Wizard. Despite the UK being a convenient market for artists living in Spain as the exchange rate meant the work paid well, Ezquerra decided to move to London to be near the work,Michael Molcher, "Interrogation: Carlos Ezquerra" part 2, Judge Dredd Megazine #301, 14 September 2010, pp. 16–22 settling in Croydon with his wife.Michael Molcher, "Interrogation: Carlos Ezquerra" part 3, Judge Dredd Megazine #302, 12 October 2010, pp. 16–23

Battle and 2000 AD In 1974, on the strength of his uncredited work for The Wizard, Pat Mills and John Wagner headhunted him, through Coker, to work for the new IPC title Battle Picture Weekly. He drew "Rat Pack":David Bishop, "Blazing Battle Action" part 1, Judge Dredd Megazine #209, 16 September 2003, pp. 73–78 inspired by the film The Dirty Dozen, the strip, written by Gerry Finley-Day, featured a gang of criminals recruited to carry out suicide missions. But his commitments elsewhere meant he could not draw it full-time, and other artists were also used. In 1976 Battle editor Dave Hunt convinced him to commit himself to the title, offering him the laid-back anti-hero "Major Eazy", written by Alan Hebden. Ezquerra drew nearly 100 episodes in the next two and a half years, basing the character's appearance on the actor James Coburn.

He was asked to visualise a new character, future lawman Judge Dredd, for the science fiction weekly 2000 AD, prior to its launch in 1977. His elaborate designs displeased the strip's writer, John Wagner, but impressed editor Pat Mills, and his cityscapes persuaded Mills to set the strip further into the future than initially intended. But Wagner (temporarily) quit over ownership issues,David Bishop, Thrill Power Overload, Rebellion, 2002–2009 and Ezquerra followed him when the first published appearance of the character was drawn by another artist, Mike McMahon. He returned to Battle, where he once again teamed up with Alan Hebden to create "El Mestizo", a black gun-for-hire who played both sides against the middle during the American Civil War.

In 1978 he and Wagner created "Strontium Dog", a science fictional western about a bounty hunter in a future where mutants are an oppressed minority forced into doing such dirty work, for Starlord, a short-lived sister title to 2000 AD with higher production values. Starlord was later merged into 2000 AD, bringing "Strontium Dog" with it.David Bishop, "John Wagner: The Quiet American", Judge Dredd Megazine #250, 17 October 2006, pp. 24–30 Ezquerra was almost the only artist to draw the character, until 1988, when writer Alan Grant decided to kill him off in a storyline called "The Final Solution". Ezquerra disagreed with the decision, and refused to draw the story, which was instead illustrated by Simon Harrison and Colin MacNeil.Michael Molcher, "Interrogation: Carlos Ezquerra" part 1, Judge Dredd Megazine #300, 17 August 2010, pp. 16–22 In 2000 Wagner and Ezquerra revived "Strontium Dog" based on a treatment Wagner had written for an abortive TV pilot. Initially, stories were set before the character's death in a revised continuity, but 2010's "The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha" brought Johnny back from the dead.Tony Ingram, Mutant Mayhem in Milton Keynes: The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha, Strontium Dog , Broken Frontier, 19 August 2011

Other 2000 AD strips he drew included Fiends of the Eastern Front (1980), a vampire story set in World War II, written by Gerry Finley-Day, and adaptations of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat novels, with the title character once again resembling James Coburn. In 1982 he returned to "Judge Dredd" to draw "The Apocalypse War", a seven-month epic which he drew in its entirety. He continued to draw the character semi-regularly, handling the whole of "Necropolis" in 1990, "Origins" in 2006–07, and many others.

His son Hector inked and coloured in his pencil work for Strontium Dog between 2008 and 2012.2000 AD prog 1617

The character of Stogie from the long-running 2000 AD strip Robo-Hunter was given the full name Carlos Sanchez Robo-Stogie in tribute to Ezquerra.

Other work Ezquerra collaborated numerous times with writer Garth Ennis on Bloody Mary, Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, War Stories, The Boys: The Self-Preservation Society, a Hitman annual, two Preacher specials (The Good Old Boys and The Saint of Killers miniseries) for DC Comics, and Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Entertainment.

Ezquerra occasionally used the pen name "L. John Silver" for work such as 2000 AD'''s "The Riddle of the Astral Assassin!" prog 118, and ABC Warriors, progs 134–136.

Awards National Comics Awards for Best Artist in Comics Today, 2001 Inkpot Award, 2015

Death In later life Ezquerra moved to Andorra. He died of lung cancer on 1 October 2018, at the age of 70.Obituary in 2000 AD #2103 (cover dated 17 October 2018), p. 9Muere el dibujante de cómics Carlos Ezquerra, cocreador del Juez Dredd at Elpais.com He never retired, and his uncompleted final work, "Spector," was published posthumously in June 2019 by 2000 AD.

In May 2023 the government of Zaragoza voted to name a street after him."La calle en homenaje a Laura Gómez-Lacueva estará junto a la avenida Cataluña", El Periódico de Aragón, 11 May 2023 (English translation)

Bibliography

Comics Comics work includes:Rat Pack (with Gerry Finley-Day, in Battle Picture Weekly, 1975, collected in Volume 1, 128 pages, Titan Books, September 2010, )Major Eazy (with Alan Hebden, in Battle Picture Weekly, 1976–1978, collected in Volume 1, 120 pages, Titan Books, November 2010, )El Mestizo (with Alan Hebden, in Battle Picture Weekly, 1977)Judge Dredd (1977–2017): "Krong" (with Malcolm Shaw, in 2000 AD #5, 1977) "Robot Wars" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #10, 1977) "Bank Raid" (with Pat Mills and John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Annual 1981), 1980 "The Apocalypse War" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #245–270, 1982) "Meka City" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #271–272, 1982) "Fungus" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #275–277, 1982) "The Big Itch" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Annual 1983, 1982) "Behold the Beast" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Annual 1983, 1982) "It's Happening on Line 9" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Annual 1983, 1982) "Destiny's Angels" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #281–288, 1982) "The Executioner" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #291–294, 1982) "The Night of the Rad Beast" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #296–297, 1982) "The Prankster" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #308, 1983) "The Starborn Thing" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #309–314, 1983) "Condo" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #319–321, 1983) "The Other Slab Tynan" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Annual 1984, 1983) "Halloween" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Annual 1984, 1983) "Beat the Devil" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Annual 1984, 1983) "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #331–334, 1983) "The Big Bang Theory" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in Judge Dredd Annual 1985, 1984) "Tarantula" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in Judge Dredd Annual 1985, 1984) "The Eat of the Night" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in Judge Dredd Annual 1985, 1984) "John Brown's Body" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in Judge Dredd Annual 1986, 1985) "Crazy R Raiders" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in Judge Dredd Annual 1986, 1985) "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in 2000 AD #438–439, 1985) "Costa del Blood" (with John Wagner and Alan Grant, in Judge Dredd Annual 1989, 1988) "Kirby's Demon" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #638, 1989) "The Amazing Ant Man" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #640, 1989) "Young Giant" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #651–655, 1989) "By Lethal Injection" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #669–670, 1990) "Rights of Succession" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #671, 1990) "Dear Annie" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #672–673, 1990) "Necropolis" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #674–699, 1990) "Death Aid" (with Garth Ennis, in 2000 AD #711–715 & #719–720, 1990–1991) "Return of the King" (with Garth Ennis, in 2000 AD #733–735, 1991) "Judgement Day" (with John Wagner and Garth Ennis, in 2000 AD # 788–799, 1992) "The Taking of Sector 123" (with Garth Ennis, in Judge Dredd Megazine vol. 2 #10–11, 1992) "Christmas With Attitude" (with Garth Ennis, in 2000 AD #815, 1992) "Inferno" (with Grant Morrison, in 2000 AD #842–853, 1993) "I Hate Christmas" (with Mark Millar, in 2000 AD #867, 1993) "Frankenstein Division" (with Mark Millar, in 2000 AD #868–871, 1994) "Could You Be Judge Dredd?" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Poster Prog #2, 1994) "The Time Machine" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #889–890, 1994) "The Tenth Planet" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine vol.2 #58–62, 1994) "Wilderlands" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #904–914, 1994) "Parting Shots" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #915, 1994) "The Candidates" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #917, 1994) "Voting Day" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #918, 1994) "The Neon Man" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #951, 1995) "Megalot" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #952, 1995) "Bad Frendz" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #955–959, 1995) "Awakening of Angels" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #958, 1995) "The Pit" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #970–977, 1995–96) "The Pit: Unjudicial Liaisons" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #987–989, 1996) "The Pit: Bongo War" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #996–998, 1996) "Beyond the Call of Duty" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1101–1110, 1998) "Sector House" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1215–1222, 2000) "Helter Skelter" (with Garth Ennis, in 2000 AD #1250–1257 & 1260–1261, 2001) "Leaving Rowdy" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1280, 2002) "The Girlfriend" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.15, 2002) "Phartz!" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine #201, 2003) "Sturm und Dang" (with Gordon Rennie, in Judge Dredd Megazine #211–212, 2003) "Brothers Of The Blood" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1378–1381, 2004) "The Monsterus Mashinashuns of P.J. Maybe" (with John Wagner, in Judge Dredd Megazine #231–234, 2005) "Matters Of Life And Death" (with Gordon Rennie, in 2000 AD #1452, 2005) "Origins" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1505–1519, #1529–1535 and #2007, 2006–2007) "Tour of Duty: Mega-City Justice" (with John Wagner and Hector Ezquerra, in 2000 AD #1687–1693, 2010) "The Adjudicators" (with Si Spurrier, in Judge Dredd Megazine #323–324, 2012) "Block Judge" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1900–1909, 2014) "El Maldito" (with Gordon Rennie, in Judge Dredd Megazine #361–364, 2015) "Ladykiller" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #1991–1998, 2016) "From the Ashes" (with Michael Carroll, in Judge Dredd Megazine #374, 2016) "By Private Contract (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #2000, 2016) "Get Jerry Sing" (with John Wagner, in 2000 AD #2023, 2017)Strontium Dog: All stories written by John Wagner unless otherwise stated.

"Max Quirxx" (Starlord #1–2, 1978) "Papa Por-ka" (Starlord #3–5, 1978) "No Cure For Kansyr" (Starlord #6–7, 1978) "Planet of the Dead"(Starlord #8–10, 1978)