Carlos Ezquerra was an absolute titan of comics. Everything, every single comic, panel and figure he drew bore his inimitable, unforgettable mark. His sense of widescreen action delivered in huge but clear-cut ways remains unmatched. And his sense of design was second to none. 
On a purely personal level, Apocalypse War was the first Judge Dredd epic I ever owned on a physical edition. And it just blew me away. Everything about it, the figures, the city, the action, the escalation, everything was massive and vibrant and alive in ways I'd never seen.
Years later I managed to get his early Strontium Dog strips and I was blown away again. Compared to this, his Dredd seemed positively restrained. That gorgeous base of euro sci-fi alien madness covered in a distinctive layer of palpable grime is something I'll cherish forever.
There's other stuff too, like that gorgeous issue of Preacher: Saint of Killers where Ezquerra turned a fill-in job into a haunting vision of Hell and damnation. Or his Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, beautifully lampooning his own work to absolutely hilarious results.
But mentally going down the list of all the stories by Ezquerra I have adored, and they are legion, I'm now remembering the masterpiece that is "Condors", his War Story issue with Garth Ennis. A harrowing tale of the Spanish Civil War told with visceral horror and utter humanity.
The more I think about it, the more I see Ezquerra as a quintessential comic book artist. A man of unmistakable style and flawless storytelling who was nonetheless able to adapt to several fashion changes, constantly learning and improving but never losing his touch.
Well... now we have lost his touch. And the world feels colder, and grayer, and all the lesser for it.
QEPD, y gracias por tanta magia, maestro.
QEPD, y gracias por tanta magia, maestro.
