'Misterios do Mundo'. 'A Despedida'.
Rodolfo Zalla is an Argentinian comic book artist, who lived and worked in in Brazil since the 1960s. Born in Buenos Aires, he studied architecture, but turned to commercial art at the age of 18, when he joined the studios of Carlos Clémen. He began his professional career in 1953, when he contributed a comic story to a Catholic publisher, and subsequently cooperated on comic magazines like Patoruzito, Hora Cero, Poncho Negro and Frontera.
'Tenente Dean' (Poncho Negro #106, January 1958).
Due to the Argentinian publishing crisis in 1963, Zalla went to Brazil, where he initially worked through the Barbosa Lessa agency. He illustrated romance stories, as well as the daily 'Jacaré Mendonça' strip for the newspaper Última Hora. He then joined the publishing house Editore Taika, where he drew the Tarzanesque series 'Targo' and 'Escopião', a copy of Lee Falk's 'Phantom'. Zalla was one of the artists responsible for Escopião's modification, to avoid a claim from King Features Syndicate.
'Jacaré Mendonça'.
Zalla ran the Estúdio D-Arte with Eugenio Colonnese between 1967 and 1969. Zalla and Colonnese were pioneers in comic stories for educational textbooks in Brazil, and Zalla is also considered one of the country's leading war and western comic artists. In 1972, Zalla began his association with Editorial Abril, where he illustrated stories with 'Zorro' and Hanna-Barbera characters.
'Targo' and 'Escorpião'.
Zalla also created the cowboy 'Johnny Pecos', and in the field of horror, he is known for creating 'Nádia', the daughter of Dracula. From 1978, he cooperated on the collection 'L'Histoire de la Monde en BD' of the French publisher Larousse.
'Zorro'.
Zalla founded his publishing label D-Arte Ltda in 1981, and launched the successful horror magazines Calafrio and Mestres de Terror, that both ran until 1993. In 2009 Zalla made a comic book about the famous Brazilian spiritist and medium Chico Xavier, 'Chico Xavier em Quadrinhos' (Ediouro, 2009) with writer Franco de Rosa, and one about former president Lula with Toni Rodrigues for Editora Sarandi. Several book collections containing Zalla's war comics from the 60s have appeared in recent years.
'O História de Boris Ivanóff' (Calafrio #37, 1988).
In 2005 Opera Graphica published 'O Desenho Magnífico de Rodolfo Zalla', a book devoted to the artist's drawing techniques. A book about Rodolfo Zalla was written by journalist Gonçalo Junior, and a dvd documentary called 'Rodolfo Zalla - Ao Mestre com Carinho' was pre-released in 2012. Rodolfo Zalla passed away in São Paulo on 19 June 2016.
'Calafrio' and 'Mestres do Terror'.