A

Gustavo Alcalde	Originally an animator and comic artist, Alcalde would later focus in screenwriting. After fellow animator Cruz Delgado, whom he befriended while both worked for Estudios Moro in the mid-1950s, created his own homonym animation studio in 1963, he joined it as its leading screenwriter. He wrote the screenplays for all four of Estudios Cruz Delgado's movies: Magical Adventure (1973), The Attic of Fantasy (1978), Gulliver's Travels (1983) and The Bremen Town Musicians (1989), as well as the TV series The Adventures of Molécula (1968), Don Quixote (1979) and Los Trotamúsicos (1989).
Madrid, 1926-04-21 Madrid, 2014-05-23

O

Hiroya Oku	Despite focusing on yuri and yaoi romance through the first decade of his career with Hen, it was in 2000 when Hiroya Oku established his defining style blending the miseries of modern society with science-fiction technological horrors in Gantz, arguably one of the most influential modern horror sci-fi comics. His more recent series Inuyashiki (2014) and Gigant (2017) are notable for empowering usually sidelined archetypes, starring respectively an old ill salaryman and a porn actress gaining superpowers, and for their criticism of social media. Like Gantz, both feature plenty of sex and violence with Oku's ugly-ish artstyle combined with his photorealistic background based on CGI props creating an uncanny mood.
Fukuoka, 1967-09-16

T

Genndy Tartakovsky	One of the leading artists in shaping modern cartoons, Tartakovsky's first important role in the industry was that of animation director in 2 Stupid Dogs (1993). In 1996 he launched his first series, Dexter's Laboratory for Cartoon Network, with which he has been associated up to this day, while also holding leading roles in The Powerpuff Girls and Cow and Chicken. Dexter was followed iby arguably his most personal and complex creation, Samurai Jack (2001), and subsequently Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) and Sym-Bionic Titan (2010). In 2012 he made his theatrical directorial debut with Hotel Transylvania, translating his energetic cartoon style into 3D animation. A planned Popeye film was discarded and he instead directed two Hotel Transylvania sequels. 2015 marked his return to TV animation with an acclaimed more adult-oriented Samurai Jack fifth season.
Moscow, 1970-01-17

Akira Toriyama	One of the most successful and influential shonen manga artists ever, Toriyama has published throughout his career in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump and its spin-off magazines, creating two bestselling series: Dr. Slump (1980), a naif comedy displaying a charming madcap sense of humor, and longrunning Dragon Ball (1984), which evolved from martial arts adventure comedy to superpowered epic and was a turning point for the shonen demographics. He subsequently focused on short adventure comedy series with a more intimate mood, such as Cowa! (1997), Sand Land (2000) or most recently the Dragon Ball prequel Jaco (2013). His one-shot anthology Manga Theater, encompassing most of his career, and his video game designs, mainly for the Dragon Quest franchise, also deserve to be mentioned.
Nagoya, 1955-04-05

W

Bill Watterson	Like Art Spiegelman, Bill Watterson revolutionized the 1980s American comics with a single work. Calvin and Hobbes (1985) ran for a decade in the American press and was notable for its caustic yet insightful depiction of childhood and imagination, its unique blend of reality and fantasy and for exploiting the artistic potential of the comic strip. Renowned for his professional integrity, Watterson was uncompromising in opposing the use of his characters for merchandise despite the cartoon's popularity, and considering to have achieved everything he wished from the medium he retired after completing the series and focused on painting. Despite his reserved nature he has provided accurate insight on Calvin and Hobbes in its anthologies.
Washington DC, 1958-07-05

---