'Gora Gopal'.
Antonio Pérez-García y Carrillo (or Carrillo in short) is a Spanish comic artist born in Málaga, who has illustrated a great many exotic series starring adventurous sailors throughout his career. Due to the Spanish Civil War, the Pérez-Garcia family had to move to Valencia and evenutally France, because of the father's Republican sympathies. They returned in Spain without the latter in 1939, but were reunited in Madrid in 1945. By then, Carrillo had got his interest in comics by reading Flechas y Pelayos and Chicos and was studying Anatomy at the School of Fine Arts.
'El Capitan Pantera'.
Pérez-Garcia y Carrillo assumed the pen name Carrillo and began his artistic career in 1952, drawing for several magazines from the Madrid area. His art appeared in the magazine Diez Minutos, in the series Cuadernos Ilustrados de Sucesos by Gráficas Espejo (1952-1953), for which he created the character of 'Diego el Marino'. He additionally drew 'El Capitán Pantera' and 'Los Filibusteros' for Chicos by Ediciones Cid in 1954 and several installments in the series 'Aventuras del FBI' by Editorial Rollán, before beginning an association with the publishing house Bruguera in Barcelona in 1956.
'Chicas de Carrillo'.
At Bruguera, Carrillo proved to be a versatile artist of romantic comics, showing a talent in drawing sensual women, which were often considered provocative at the time. Among his series were 'Martita y su Papuchi' and 'Las Chicas de Carrillo' for children's magazines like DDT, Sissi or more adult publications like Can Can.
'Sissi'.
Carrillo was additionally drawing stories in the romantic genre for 'Claro de Luna' by Iberomundial de Ediciones in 1959 and 'Muchachas' and 'Selecciones Juveniles Femeninos' by Editorial Maga in 1960. By the 1960s, he was doing agency art for British titles like Valentine through Josep Toutain's Selecciones Ilustradas and Bardon Art, while also drawing for detective comics like 'Brigada Secreta' and 'Espionaje' by Editorial Toray.
'Rex de Los Mares del Sur en La Estampida'.
All these series didn't satisfy him though, because he had to work with other people's scripts. He turned to writing his own stories around 1968. He continued to work for Bruguera, but also for magazines by Universo Infantil S. A., including Pulgarcito, Mortadelo Especial and Gaceta Junior, creating series like 'Doc Foran el Africano' (1968), 'Sambhur' (1969), 'El Tiburón' (1970), 'Rex de los Mares del Sur' (1971), 'El Javanés' (1971), 'Mares de China con el Capitán Rowe' (1976) and 'Margie y Mark' (1977). During this period, he also illustrated comic adaptations of novels for the Bruguera collection 'Joyas Literarias Juveniles' between 1971 and 1974.
'El Trota Mundo'.
Carrillo's best-known creation was however 'Gora Gopal', a Tarzan-inspired comic that first appeared in Super Pulgarcito in 1972. It continued to run in Spanish magazines like Chito, Super Mortadelo and Super Tío Vivo until the second half of the 1980s. It was also printed in the French comic book 'Buffalo Bill' and in the Australian publication Super Giant.
'Kala-Bacin de Damasco' (ZipiZape #17, 1987).
Besides realistic comics, Carrillo had been drawing in a humorous style on the side since 1973, when he created 'Ching Chong' with Jaume Ribera. He switched to humor completely during the 1980s, when he created series like 'El Capitán Pantera' in Super Mortadelo, 'Kala-Bacin de Damasco' in Zipi y Zape, and 'El Imperturbable Mr. Motto' for Garibolo.
'El Imperturbable Mr. Motto, Comisario de la Isla del Loto' (Garibolo #21, 1987).
Carrillo is also the author of the educational books about comic art 'Aprende a Dibujar Cómics' (D.S. Editors, 1987), 'El Dibujo de Humor es Cosa Seria' (Ediciones B, 1990) and 'Como Dibujar Chicas' (Editorial Martínez Roca, 1998). During the 1990s, Carrillo had been penciling stories starring Disney's 'Donald Duck', while also providing art for animation companies in Catalonia.
Artwork by Carrillo.