Miguel Gallardo

(b. 27/12/1955, Spain)

Makoki, by Miguel Gallardo
Miguel Gallardo is an innovating artist of Spanish comics. He began his career in the late 1970s and had his first success in May 1977 when he co-created 'Makoki' in Disco-Exprés magazine. Makoki was a psychopath who escaped from a mental hospital. In 1979, this character was transferred to the magazines Star and Bésame mucho. The same year, Gallardo became an artist for the El Víbora periodical.
El Ninato, by Miguel Gallardo (1984)
Teaming up with Juan Mediavilla, he continued making renewing comics, featuring such characters as 'Tío Emo', 'El Niñato' and 'El buitre Buitaker'. With their series they developed a style that soon got the humorous name "línea chunga", a purely Spanish comic style. In 1982, when the publisher of El Víbora launched 'Makoki' magazine, Gallardo not only participated as an artist but also as editor of this magazine.
comic art by Miguel Gallardo
Around the mid-1980s Gallardo's comics showed a new tendency, more related to his other career as an illustrator. His colorful 'Perro Nick' is a good example of this style. He also drew two series written by Ignacio Vidal-Folch: 'Perico Carambola' (which became a daily page in the summer supplement of 'La Vanguardia' in the early 1990s) and 'Roberto España y Manolín' (a parody of 'Roberto Alcázar' classic series in 1994). Miguel Gallardo told the story of Makoki's death in Viñetas magazine in April/ May 1994.
From Cairo, by Gallardo 1981