Sanjulián’s Monstrous Legacy

(Above) Vampirella magazine, May 1973; cover by Sanjulián.

C.J. Thomas, who blogs at The Stiletto Gumshoe, brought the unfortunate news today that distinguished Spanish illustrator and comic artist Manuel Pérez Clemente, known professionally as “Sanjulián,” passed away this last Wednesday, October 14, at age 85.

He goes on to relate some background for Sanjulián, who he calls “one of the 20th century’s undisputed masters, ranking with revered U.S. names like Robert McGinnis, Frank Frazetta and others.”

Born in Barcelona in 1941, he studied at Belles Arts of Sant Jordi then went to work for Josep Toutain’s Selecciones Illustradas (S.I.) agency, which also represented well-known Spanish artists like Vincente Alcazar, Angel Badia Camps, Jose Ortiz, Fernando Fernandez and others. Economic ties with what was still Franco’s Spain were touchy at the time, but S.I. forged a relationship with U.S. publisher James Warren and a number of its artists began to do work on Warren’s successful B&W horror magazines like Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella and even Famous Monsters of Filmland. Sanjulián’s series of memorable cover illustrations began in 1970 and continued through Warren’s demise in 1983.

At the same time, he was doing European magazine covers and U.S./international paperback covers, largely in fantasy and westerns, often ranked by fans with Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. By the late 1990s, he switched to private commissions and personal fine-art work, though [he] still did occasional cover and poster projects. As we discover with so many popular illustrators, he particularly enjoyed doing western subjects, in addition to the horror and dark fantasy themes he was most famous for. By this time, Sanjulián relocated to California.

A comics-oriented Web site named Down the Tubes notes that examples of Sanjulián’s artistry are on display at the recently opened Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, in Los Angeles, including covers from Vampirella, as “his take on that character [is] considered definitive.” The museum, founded by filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson, put out a statement saying it was “saddened to learn of Sanjulián’s passing. His vibrant works are a highlight of our Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Adventure galleries, and we’re proud they’re a part of our inaugural exhibition.”

(Left) Famous Monsters of Filmland, November 1982; cover by Sanjulián.

Given that Halloween is now fast approaching, it’s fitting that we should showcase here some of Sanjulián’s horror-oriented work. But as Deuce Richardson observes at the DMR Books site, “His talent extended far beyond horror magazines. Sanjulián illustrated fantasy novels, including Conan the Barbarian stories, and created film-related artwork connected to major franchises such as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. His paintings earned admiration from filmmakers including George Lucas and Peter Jackson.” In addition to those fantasy adventures, you can spot Sanjulián’s work fronting everything from historical and romance novels to an early paperback edition of Jeffrey Archer’s best-selling Kane & Abel, a very distinctive Grove Press printing of John Kennedy O’Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces, and the 1973 Signet edition of Len Deighton’s eighth novel, Close-Up, which paperback collector Tim Hewitt declares is “easily the best cover Len Deighton ever got, at least in the U.S.”

“What made Sanjulián’s art so memorable,” concludes Richardson, “was his command of atmosphere. His use of light, shadow, color, and classical composition gave his subjects a sense of grandeur, even when depicting the darkest corners of fantasy. His covers could make a reader stop and stare before they had even opened the magazine.”

I think you’ll agree that all the examples of Sanjulián’s creativity on display below boast that magical, magnetic visual quality.

(Top row, L-R) Creepy, November 1972; Eerie, March 1973. (Bottom row, L-R) Vampirella, April 1973; Vampirella, September 1974.

Kane & Abel, by Jeffrey Archer (Fawcett, 1972); A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy O’Toole (Grove Press/Black Cat, 1981).

Children of the Dragon, by Frank Robinson (Avon, 1978).

Manchu, by Robert Elegant (Fawcett, 1982).

Tender Betrayal, by Jennifer Blake (Popular Library, 1979).

READ MORE: “More from the Master, Sanjulián (R.I.P.),” by C.J. Thomas (The Stiletto Gumshoe).

“Close-Up,” by Len Deighton

A plot synopsis for this eighth novel by British pastry chef-turned-editor-turned-author Len Deighton reads:

Ageing Hollywood star Marshall Stone is scared. Scared that the parts are drying up. Scared of being forgotten. So when he hears an eminent author is writing his biography, Stone seizes the chance of immortality. But painful memories and suppressed scandals soon threaten to destroy the carefully-constructed fiction of his life. Inspired by Len Deighton's own experiences of the film industry, Close-Up is a brilliant exposé of the sleaze, venality and betrayals of the studio machine.

The Close-Up wrapper showcased above and below comes from a softcover edition published in 1973 by Signet Books. I like the artwork a great deal, but the identity of its painter seems lost to history. Even Tim Hewitt, the South Carolina former tech writer and paperback collector to whom I often turn for such answers, is stumped.

“I really wish I had a definitive answer on this one,” he wrote to me recently, “but no such luck. I’ve always been inclined to think it’s Elaine Duillo. It’s easily within her style and reminds me of her covers for the Ron Goulart ‘Johnny Easy’ books. But there’s some other quality about it that I can’t quite put my finger on that makes me think it could possibly be [Manuel Pérez Clemente, aka] Sanjulián. (The shading on the woman’s body; the hard line separating her from the camera in the background; something intangible?)

“Unfortunately, I don’t have anything to go on except feeling and impression. It’s too bad, because Close-Up is easily the best cover Len Deighton ever got, at least in the U.S.”

I guess we’ll just have to be content with the credit for this illustration being a mystery—at least for now.



FOLLOW-UP: Since this post was published, Sanjulián has been confirmed as the artist behind the cover of Close-Up.