The Bell Tolls for Juan Gimenez
The Argentinian artist know for his work on Metal Hurlant (known as Heavy Metal in the states) and The Metabarons has died from coronavirus complications at 76.
Gimenez specialized in industrial design and went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Barcelona. He started his career doing illustrations for Italian and Spanish magazines like Comix International and Skorpio that focused on science fiction and fantasy. In the 1980s he worked on France’s Métal Hurlant and the Italian L’Eternauta, which led to designing the “Harry Canyon” segment in the Heavy Metal movie.
His style started to evolve and feature the immense amount of detail that he’s known for. Some of his best work came from this period as a writer and illustrator – including A Matter of Time, a scifi series about time travelers that’s beautifully illustrated.
In the 1990s he partnered multiple comic authors of note and with film maker Alejandro Jodorowsky (Holy Mountain, El Topo) to create The Metabarons series that would run from 1992 to 2003. The series covers several generations of perfect warriors and is a mix of Greek tragedy and the work of Frank Herbert; it takes a lot of visual and story themes from Jodorowsky’s Dune movie that was never made.
Gimenez’s work over the years made a pretty bit impact on the look of sci-fi as we know it. I think the best way to remember him is by enjoying his work. Here are some of my favorite pieces.
