Esteban Maroto, born on the 3rd of March, 1942 in Madrid, Spain. Working on comics as a cover artist, penciler and inker, Esteban is well known for his fantasy/science fiction art scenes and his unique female form drawings.
Esteban started his artistic career in the early 1960s, working under the guidance of Manuel López Blanco in Madrid, Spain. Working with artist Carlos Giménez as an independent artist, Esteban worked on comic strips such as ‘Buck John’ and ‘El Príncipe de Rodas’.
In 1963, Esteban starting producing art published in the UK via Garcia Pizzaro’s agency. Other publishers Esteban worked with include Bardon Art (based in Barcelona, Spain and London, UK) and Selecciones Ilustradas in Spain. He illustrated for comic book series such as ‘Alex’, ‘Khan y Khamar’ and ‘Beat Group’ in Spain and ‘Alma’, ‘Capitain Terror’, ‘Die Funf von Terra’ and ‘Roy Tiger’ for publishers based in Germany.
Esteban established his unique graphic style in 1967 with his long series ‘Cinco por Infinito’ (‘Zero Patrol’, published in Delta 99 and in English by Continuity Comics), followed by ‘La Tumba de los Dioses’. His ‘Alma de Dragon’ in magazine Trinca was also a big success, especially amongst Spanish readers. We also find Esteban’s art in publications such as Drácula with ‘Wolf’ and in Pueblo with ‘Manly, el Guerrero’.
Esteban’s work was heavily published by Warren Publishing in the US in the 1970s and 1980s, used for short stories in popular magazines such as Creepy, Vampirella and Eerie.
Esteban’s work caught Marvel Comics eye when he sent them his art of Red Sonja, redesigning her look with less clothing and giving her a bikini made of armour (chain mail). This art was published in Comixscene #5 (July-August, 1973 (see below)), and Esteban was employed to draw a double-page splash of Red Sonja in Savage Tales #3 which was published in February, 1974.
Esteban continued his work on other Marvel Comic characters, with his work appearing in series such as the Savage Sword of Conan, Savage Tales (Red Sonja), Vampire Tales and X-Men Unlimited.
Esteban also worked on various DC series in the late 1980s and early 1990s, on titles such as Amethyst, The Atlantis Chronicles, Aquaman and Zatanna.
We find Esteban’s art featuring the Phantom in the Héroes del Cómic series published by Buru Lan S.A De Ediciones in San Sebastián, Spain in 1971.
Edition number 1, published in January, 1971, we find a free inclusion by the publisher in the centerfold, in the form of a one-sided double page poster. Printed in full color, the poster measures 29cm x 44cm and is printed on heavy stock paper.
The poster is designed to be removed from the comic book by the comic book owner and displayed as required.
The Phantom 