From: BB #128
Jean Rapsomanikis was an early 20th-century French-Greek caricaturist and painter, who became especially known as a pioneer of Spanish comics. He has also worked under pen names like Rapsos and Dasley.
Early life
Ioannis (Jean) Rapsomanikis was born in 1885 on Corfu, Greece. His father came from a noble Greek family of Corfu (Kerkyra), and his mother was French. Rapsomanikis studied Beaux Arts in Paris, France, and in 1911 went to Athens, Greece. There, he worked as a caricaturist for newspapers, signing with the pseudonym "Rapsos". In 1915, he emigrated to Barcelona where he became one of the groundbreaking artists who experimented with comic art.
TBO
Rapsomanikis was one of the early artists of the long-running Spanish comic magazine TBO, published in Barcelona from 1917 to 1998. The publisher, Editorial Buigas, also edited BB, the first Spanish girls' magazine, which contained cartoons, stories, jokes, patterns, paper toys and cut-out dolls. Rapsomankis was also present in this publication, alongside fellow artists like Nit, Ricard Opisso and Manuel Urda.
Caricatures for Athens newspapers of journalist/poet Achilles Neis, classical scholar Georgios Mistriotis (1840-1916) and actor Telemachus Lepeniotis (1877-1945).
Other magazines
During the 1920s, Rapsomanikis was active for El Hogar y la Moda and its comics supplement Ri-Ki-Ki-Ki, published by the Sociedad General de Publicaciones (SGP). With Josep Robert Picariu and Arturo Moreno, he was also one of the main cartoonists of another SGP magazine, Algo. Artwork by Rapsomanikis additionally appeared in publications like Almanaque Tom Mix (El Gato Negro, 1927), Almanaque Tom Tyler, Lecturas and Novelas de Bolsillo.
Painting and illustrating
Jean Rapsomanikis was additionally active as a landscape and portrait painter, and worked as an illustrator for publishers like Araluce and Juventud, including the latter's collection 'El Cuento Rosa'. His work has been exhibited in both individual and group shows, and the artist also obtained several distinctions during contests in Barcelona, Marseille, Paris and Athens.
Final years and death
Rapsomanikis fled Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and settled in San Sebastian. There, he drew stories like 'Ojo de Lince' for the magazine Pelayos, shortly before passing away in 1937.
Cover illustrations for a 1927 almanac with comics starring Hollywood western star Tom Mix and the 11 May 1929 issue of Algo.