Classic cover artists: Carlos Ezquerra (part one)

I couldn’t limit the mighty Carlos Ezquerra to just one entry in this list, with a limit of four covers per entry. His creative work on Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and 2000AD will be familiar to so many, but to a slightly older group of readers Carlos’ unique style on the science-fiction comics would instantly have been recognisable as that of the creator of some absolutely outstanding artwork – including several high-impact, cinematic cover designs – for Battle. I’ve included examples of covers featuring two of his own creations – El Mestizo and Major Eazy – and a Charley’s War image that could be the most terrifying cover for a comic aimed at pre-teen kids that I’ve ever seen. Wow.

Of course, no review of Carlos’ comic covers would be complete without inclusion of his infamous Kids Rule OK Action cover. The perception that this was a picture of a rioting kid assaulting a police officer (there is some dispute over whether this was the artist’s intention, or whether whoever coloured the image blue made it appear that the man on the floor was a policeman) was a significant factor in the chain of events that led to Action being banned. More on this story here.

I’ll have more exquisite Ezquerra later in the month.