Guerra en la Estratosfera
Salvador Mestres Palmeta was one of the principal Spanish comic artists of the early 20th century, but he was also known for his animation work. During the 1930's, he was present in most of the magazines published by El Gato Negro and its successor Bruguera, such as Pulgarcito, for which he created the western strip 'Tom Relámpango' in 1936.
Terrible Decepción (Almanaque TBO 1965)
In the magazine Shirley Temple, he drew 'El Tresoro Maldito' (1936), 'Mae Blond la Mujer Fantasma' (1937), and in Aventuras the police comic 'El Héroe Público No. 1 contra el Enemigo Público No. 1' (1936) and the oriental 'Gong!' (1936). For the looks of his characters, he picked popular actors of the time, such as Marlène Dietrich, Clark Gable and of course Shirley Temple.
Additionally, he was present in Camaradas with stories like 'Aventuras de Tres Lanceros Bengalies' (1937) and the fantastic 'Guerra en la Estratosfera' (1937), which is considered a classic from this period. After the Second World War, he drew for the comic books 'El Capitán Cobra' (1948), 'El Diablo Negro' (1948) and 'Aventuras de Guerra' (1951). Mestres has also drawn for Pocholo, Xut! and TBO.
Columna Durruti
In the early 1940s, Mestres also developed important work as a writer and director of animated shorts for the company Hispano Grafic Films. Among his credits are 'El diablo oportuno' (1940), 'Pulgarcito' (1942) and 'La isla mágica' (1942). By 1950, eh was designing toy projectors for Novedades Poch in Barcelona, such as the Micro Cinema, that projected drawings by Mestres and Alfons Figueras.
