Juanjo Guarnido

Juanjo Guarnido (born 1967) is a Spanish illustrator and the co-author of the comic book series Blacksad.

Early life Guarnido was born in Granada, Spain. He studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Granada.

Career Guarnido collaborated on several fanzines and produced work for Marvel Comics. Unfortunately, the small size of the Spanish market forced him to turn to other means of earning a living. In 1990, he left Granada and moved to Madrid, where he worked on a TV series for three years. There he met Juan Díaz Canales, with whom he discussed producing comics. In 1993, Guarnido applied for a job with the Walt Disney Studios in Montreuil, France and consequently moved to Paris. He was the lead animator for the character Sabor in the Disney film Tarzan, as well as the lead animator for Hades in Hercules and Helga in Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

After Guarnido left Disney, he reconnected with Canales. After contacting several editors, Guarnido and Canales finally signed on with French publisher Dargaud, and in November 2000, Quelque part entre les ombres (Somewhere within the Shadows) was published. Billed as the second part of El Buscón (The Swindler) by Francisco de Quevedo, it is narrated by lovable rogue Don Pablos whose aim in life is to become a gentleman. Les Indes Fourbes starts with Don Pablos’ journey to the New World and the comedy of events that unfold.

Awards 2000: Prize for Best First Album at the Lys-lez-Lannoy festival 2000: Prix spécial at the Rœulx (Belgium) festival 2001: Best Artwork Award at Festival de Chambéry 2002: Best Artwork Award at Grand Prix Albert Uderzo 2006: Angoulême Best Series Award, for the Blacksad series 2006: Bédéis Causa - Prix Maurice Petitdier for the best foreign comic at the Festival de la BD francophone de Québec for Blacksad 2008: Iluminart Artward, for the Blacksad series 2011: Eisner Award, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (Interior Art), for the Blacksad series 2019: The Landerneau Prize (France) awarded by Régis Loisel for Les Indes fourbes. 2019: The RTL Grand Prix for comics (France) for Les Indes fourbes. 2019: Comic booksellers (France) prize for Les Indes fourbes.