Biography

Zaffino spent a lifetime working as an artist in and out of comics. At the age of 16, he began working as an unpaid apprentice at the comics studios of Ricardo

Ricardo Villagran

Ricardo Villagran is an Argentinian illustrator known for his work in the American comic book industry.- Early life and education :Villagran was born in the small northern city of Corrientes in 1938...

 and Enrique Villagran in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, where his father had requested that they take him on. Zaffino made himself a recognised name in his country, working many years in important argentine comics

Argentine comics

Argentine comics refers to comic strips, comic books and graphic novels created in Argentina. There is a rich history of comics in Argentina, where they are referred to as historietas.-Early years:...

, like Nippur de Lagash

Nippur de Lagash

Nippur de Lagash is an Argentine historic comic series set on the XXIII century BC , about a fictional homonym warrior of Sumer, created by comic scriptwriter Robin Wood and illustrated by Lucho Olivera...

.

In the mid-1980s, Zaffino made a trip to the U.S. with Ricardo Villagran, who was working for Comico at the time. On that trip, Zaffino met comics writer Chuck Dixon

Chuck Dixon

Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...

, and together they produced Winter World, a three part series for Eclipse

Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...

. They continued to collaborate on comics, producing the seminal Punisher

Punisher

The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...

graphic novels Kingdom Gone and Assassin's Guild, and a Savage Sword of Conan

Savage Sword of Conan

The Savage Sword of Conan was a black-and-white magazine-format comic book series published beginning in 1974 by Curtis Magazines, an imprint of Marvel Comics, and then later by Marvel itself. Savage Sword of Conan starred Robert E...

story titled The Horned God. During this time, Zaffino worked regularly with comics writer Dan Chichester on various comics, including Critical Mass, and Terror Inc.

Terror Inc.

Terror Inc. was an American comic-book horror series from Marvel Comics starring the antihero Terror. Terror is an eternal entity that absorbs the talents of others through their dismembered limbs. He was created by writers Dan Chichester and Margaret Clark and artist Klaus Janson as the villain...

. He did relatively little work in the U.S. comics industry, where he is mostly known for his art in Punisher, Clive Barker

Clive Barker

Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...

's Hellraiser and The 'Nam

The 'Nam

The 'Nam was a war comic book series detailing the U.S. War in Vietnam from the perspective of active-duty soldiers involved in the conflict...

for Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

. Zaffino’s last work in the US was a story written by Dixon for the 1996 Batman Black and White mini series. He continued working for the Argentine comic market, but focused on his work as a painter.

A follow up to Winter World called Winter Sea was entirely written and drawn for Marvel Comics, but was never published due to changes of Marvel's policy on creator-owned books at the time. A third chapter of the Winter World saga was also planned, titled Winter War. In January 2010, a hardcover edition containing Winter World and Winter Sea was published through IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...

.

Zaffino passed away on July 12th, 2002 at the age of 43 of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

External links

• CBR News
• a collection of Zaffino's artwork on http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/gianmaria.caschetto/JorgeZaffino?feat=