| Martz Schmidt | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gustavo Martínez Gómez 3 July 1922 Cartagena,Murcia |
| Died | 5 January 1998 (1998-01-06) (aged 75) Barcelona |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Area(s) | comics artist and writer |
Notable works | El profesor Tragacanto y su clase que es de espanto |
Martz Schmidt orSchmidt is the pseudonym of the Spanish comic authorGustavo Martínez Gómez (Cartagena,Murcia,[1] 3 July 1922 -Barcelona, 5 January 1998). He is part of the second generation theBruguera school alongsideFigueras,Gin,Ibáñez,Nadal,Segura,Raf orVázquez.
His professional career in comics began in the late 1940s, publishing humorous comics in magazines such asNicolás,Florita oPaseo Infantil.[2] Around the same time he worked as an illustrator. In 1949 he moved to Barcelona, where he made comic strips for the publisher Editorial Clíper, where he created charactersToribio orDoctor Cascarrabias and was almost the sole artist for the magazinePinocho.[3] In 1951 he was hired by publisherBruguera where he createdDon Danubio, personaje influyente (1951),El doctor Cataplasma (1953) about a small doctor and his black maid Panchita,Troglodito (1957) about a stereotypicalcaveman and his family andEl profesor Tragacanto y su clase que es de espanto (1959) about a short, grumpy teacher and his mischievous students.
He alternated his work as a cartoonist during this decade with other activities, such as scenography, wall painting, or his integration into theLa Buhardilla cultural group, alongsideLorenzo Gomis,Joan Perucho andArmando Matías Guiu. In the early 1960s, he founded the Martz Schmidt Studio, a design and advertising company. He also created for Bruguera the series:La pandilla Cu-Cux Plaf (1962) about a group of wannabe detective children against a masked murderer,El Sheriff Chiquito, que es todo un gallito (1962) awestern parody orDon Trilita (1964) about a brawny muscular man.
He also wrote comics for the characterDoña Urraca, after the death of his creator,Jorge. Doña Urraca is the protagonist of one of the most celebrated strips by Martz Schmidt, thegothic fiction parodyDoña Urraca en el castillo de Nosferatu (1972). This strip had problems with censorship due to the appearance of attractive vampires, the Daughters of the Night, so its publication had to be discontinued on page 24.[4][5]
Martz Schmidt continued working for Bruguera during the 1970s and 1980s, sometimes with scripts of other authors such asJosé Luis Ballestín orJaume Ribera. In 1985, however, due to the publisher's financial problems, he moved his seriesCleopatra, reina de Egipto fromMortadelo magazine toGuai!, a new and ephemeral comic magazine of publisher Editorial Grijalbo.[6] For the publisherEdiciones B he created in 1979Deliranta Rococó about a fat, rich and capricious woman and her short buttler.[7]
He died in 1998 of lung cancer.[8]
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