The Kingdom of the Dead (Nightmare #19, June 1974)
Jesús Durán Castillo is an allround comic artist, who has worked in genres like romance, suspense and horror for both Spanish and American publications. He was born in Badajoz, Extremadura, into an artistic family (his parents taught him the rudiments of pottery and sculpting). After fulfilling his military service and a stint in acting (as an extra in action scenes), he settled in Catalonia as a draftsman.
His first work was for romance titles like 'Claro de Luna' (IMDE), 'Muchachas' (Maga) and 'Sissi' (Toray), starting in 1959. His art was also present in the Bruguera magazine Can Can, and subsequently contributed to children's comics like Pulgarcito, Gran Pulgarcito, El DDT, and Gaceta Junior. He also drew for action and adventure serials by Toray ('Brigada Secreta', 'Espionaje', 'Novelas gráficas') and Galaor ('Cronos').
Around 1970 he was coordinator of the Enrique Sánchez Pascual's Comundi agency, through which he worked with artists like Leandro Blasco and Adolfo Usero on nature features like 'Safari en África', 'Gran Fauna' and 'Félix dialoga con vosotros' for Gaceta Junior and Gran Pulgarcito. In 1977 he made an adaptation of 'Treasure Island' for the Topela series 'Grandes Clásicos'.
During the mid-1970s he was also doing agency work through Selecciones Illustradas. He contributed to US titles like Skywald's 'Psycho' and 'Scream' and Western's 'Believe It Or Not'. During the 1980s he was back in Spanish publications like Toutain's 'El Nuevo Tarzán' and the Bruguera horror comic 'Morbo'.
Felix presenta: Mundo Animal (Gaceta Junior)