Gentlemind - Episode 1

Juan Díaz Canales was born in 1972 in Madrid, Spain. He started reading comic books very early on, before getting interested in cartoons. And that was that--he decided to make a profession out of it! At 18, he joined an animation studio, where he met Juanjo Guarnido, who soon became a great friend. Juan remained in Spain while Juanjo went to France to work for the Disney animation studios. But that didn't stop them coming up with one of this decade's greatest comic book projects, the future "Blacksad," a massively successful 1950s-style detective series. Meanwhile, Díaz Canales pursued studies in the fine arts, then, in 1996, founded a company called "Tridente Animation" with three other designers. This got him started working with various European and U.S. companies. He now divides his time between his screenwriting for comics and animation, and supervising TV series and feature film animation. Since "Blacksad," he's worked with numerous illustrators, including José Luis Munuera on his beautiful two-part series "Fraternity" (Dargaud, 2011). He's also taken on the continuation of the adventures of Corto Maltese in collaboration with Ruben Pellejero. His most recent work includes the ambitious "Gentlemind," set in New York and spanning three decades (Dargaud, Europe Comics in English).

Teresa Valero was born in Madrid in 1969. Passionate about animation and drawing from an early age, she struggled to pursue her studies in these areas in Spain. She finally received administrative training, before joining the Lapiz Azul studio in 1990, doing pre-production work for TV series including "Tintin" and "Rupert." It was there that she met Juanjo Guarnido and Juan Díaz Canales, with whom she soon became friends. Thanks to them, she also discovered the world of comics. Following her time at Lapiz Azul, she went to work for the Milimetros studio as a pre-production coordinator for series such as "The Pink Panther," "Babar," and "Madeline," as well as feature-length films ("Asterix in America"). In 1996, alongside Juan Díaz Canales, she co-founded Tridente Animation, where she continued her work in television and film. In parallel, she began to offer classes on storyboarding, animation, and narration at the University of Madrid. Her own work in comics would soon follow, with "Sorcelleries" (Dargaud) and "Curiosity Shop" (Glénat). Her most recent work includes the Eisner-nominated "Gentlemind," alongside Juan Díaz Canales and artist Antonio Lapone (Dargaud, Europe Comics in English), as well as the ambitious historical fiction series "Contrapaso" (Dupuis; Europe Comics in English), set in Madrid twenty years after the Spanish Civil War.

Antonio Lapone was born in Italy in 1970. He first worked for an advertising agency before turning towards comics. An avid reader and student of 1950s authors such as Walter Minus, Serge Clerc, and Yves Chaland, he began to develop his own "clear line" style. He soon began to work with Disney in Italy, and earned an award for his debut story "Desy Blonde" (1999). In the years that followed, his work included "Accords sensibles" and "Adam Clarks" with Glénat, among other projects. His latest work is the ambitious "Gentlemind," alongside Juan Díaz Canales and Teresa Valero (Dargaud, Europe Comics in English).