Jordi Bernet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jordi Bernet
Birth name Jordi Bernet Cussó
Born June 14, 1944 (1944-06-14) (age 63)
Barcelona, Spain
Nationality Spanish
Area(s) artist
Pseudonym(s) Jordi
Notable works Sarvan
Kraken
Torpedo
Clara de Noche
Awards full list

Jordi Bernet Cussó (born June 14, 1944, Barcelona) is a Spanish comics artist, best known for the gangster comics series Torpedo.

Contents

[edit] Early career

The son of a famous Spanish comic book artist, Miguel (Miguel Bernet), he made his debut in comics at fifteen, continuing his father's humorous series Doña Urraca (Mrs. Magpie) after his death in 1960, under the pseudonym "Jordi". While this could support his family, it did not satisfy his artistic ambitions that were inspired by artists such as Hal Foster, Alex Raymond and Milton Caniff.[1] From 1962, Bernet developed a more realistic style, and took on smaller assignments from Italian and British publishers, until he started illustrating for the Belgian comics magazine Spirou in 1965. He drew the series Dan Lacombe with his uncle Miguel Cussó as writer, and created a similar series Paul Foran with writer José Larraz, but due to disagreements over editing decisions by Dupuis, Bernet ended the relationship with Spirou.[2] Turning to the German market, in the 1970s he collaborated with Cussó to create Wat 69, a sexy and humouristic heroine for the magazine Pip, and Andrax, a science fiction series for Primo, which both became successful in Germany.[3]

[edit] Later work

After the fall of Franco, Bernet returned to Spain and worked for several Spanish comics magazines such as Creepy, Metropol and Cimoc, eventually meeting three writers with whom he would form productive partnerships. With Antonio Segura he created the amazone fantasy series Sarvan, and the series Kraken, depicting a sewer monster terrorizing a futuristic fascist society.[1]

Bernet first collaborated with Enrique Sánchez Abulí on several short stories, collected in Historietas negras. When Alex Toth, after producing two stories of Torpedo 1936 in 1981, decided he did not share Abulí's darkly humorous view of mankind and parted with the project, Bernet was asked to continue the work.[4] This became the beginning of a long-lasting series, which became a popular success and was awarded at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. It eventually formed the basis of its own magazine, Luca Torelli es Torpedo in 1992.[3] Later collaborations with Abulí include De vuelta a casa, La naturaleza de la bestia: Ab Irato and Snake: por un puñado de dolares.

Bernet also formed a creative partnership with the Argentine writer Carlos Trillo, resulting in the sexually explicit series Cicca Dum-Dum, the less lewd and more comical series Clara de Noche, and several one-shots, including Custer, Light and Bold and Ivánpiire.

Bernet's more recent publications include several albums for the Italian western character Tex Willer, and a run of work for the U.S. comics market, including a Batman story, and a trilogy detailing "the shocking origin" of Jonah Hex.[5] Jordi continues to work with Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray on jonah hex.

Will Eisner described his impression of Bernet's work in an anthology preface:[6]

Here was a man who was producing pure story-telling art. That is art that uses the kind of minimalism so singular to his draftsmanship that is actually a narrative device in itself. This fit into my own philosophy of sequential narrative art. I pursued the progress of his work with great interest.

—Will Eisner

[edit] Bibliography of French titles

  • Kraken, with Antonio Segura
  • Retour (De vuelta a casa) (1986, with Enrique Sánchez Abulí, Gilou, ISBN 2905146060)
  • Carnage+ (Custer) (1986, with Carlos Trillo, Albin Michel, ISBN 2226026371)
  • Histoires Noires (Historias Negras) (1988, with Enrique Sánchez Abulí, Comics USA, ISBN 2876950448)
  • Parlez-moi de mort (La naturaleza de la bestia: Ab Irato) (1989, with Enrique Sánchez Abulí, Comics USA, ISBN 2876951002)
  • Belle et la bête (Light and Bold) (1989, with Carlos Trillo, Comics USA, ISBN 2876950804)
  • Sur Liste Noire (1996, with Enrique Sánchez Abulí, Vents d'Ouest, ISBN 2869675038)
  • Snake: Double paire (1998, with Enrique Sánchez Abulí, Albin Michel, ISBN 2226106294)
  • Bang Bang (Cicca Dum-Dum), with Carlos Trillo
Jonah Hex drawn by Bernet
Jonah Hex drawn by Bernet
  • Claire de Nuit (Clara de Noche), with Carlos Trillo
  • Le Cri du Vampire (Ivánpiire) (2001, with Carlos Trillo, Albin Michel, ISBN 2226121196)

[edit] Bibliography of US titles

  • Blackout in Batman: Black and White Vol. 2 (1996, DC Comics, ISBN 1563899175)
  • 100 Bullets #26 (1999, Vertigo/DC Comics)
  • Solo #6 (2005, DC Comics)
  • Jonah Hex #13: "Retribution" (2006, DC Comics)
  • Jonah Hex #14: "Fathers And Sons" (2006, DC Comics)
  • Jonah Hex #15: "Retribution Part 3" (2006, DC Comics)
  • Jonah Hex #21: "The Devil's Paw" (2007, DC Comics)
  • Jonah Hex #23: "Who Lives and Who Dies" (2007, DC Comics)
  • Jonah Hex #27 (2008, DC Comics)
  • Jonah Hex #30 (2008, DC Comics)

[edit] Awards

[edit] Sources

Footnotes
  1. ^ a b comicworld.dk. Jordi Bernet biography.(Danish)
  2. ^ BD-phile. Bernet bio.(French)
  3. ^ a b Lambiek Comiclopedia. Bernet.
  4. ^ Gravett, Paul (June 23, 2006). Alex Toth. The Guardian.
  5. ^ Arrant, Chris (October 31, 2006). Bernet Saddles Up with Jonah Hex. publishersweekly.com.
  6. ^ Eisner, Will. Will Eisner foreword. auadpublishing.com.
  7. ^ readyourselfraw.com. Angoulême Awards list.
  8. ^ harveyawards.org. Harvey nominations 1994.
  9. ^ harveyawards.org. Harvey nominations 1995.

[edit] External links