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Comic Creator Spotlight: Commando Cover Artist “Dalger” (Alfredo de la María)

By John Freeman on February 8, 2019

Thanks to several Commando and comic art fans, we can reveal the real identity of the artist who provided the stunning cover to Commando 5202, “The Joker” a reprint of a story first published back in 1994 with interior art by Gordon C. Livingstone, on sale now in all good UK newsagents.

Uruguayan “Dalger” per the issue’s credits – real name is Alfredo de la María – is today a word famous painter of motor racing, partnering with Festivals of Speed, a luxury Lifestyle automotive event to distribute a portion of his original paintings and limited edition prints on paper and canvas, in 2017.

In addition to a number of Commando covers, in the comics world Alfredo most notably provided covers for Colombian publisher Editorial Columba, such as those for the action adventure anthology title Nipper Magnum and the associated titles Nippur Magnum All Color and Nippur Magnum Yearbook. Copies of the title command a high price on the South American site Merco Libre.

Born in Uruguay in 1945, Alfredo de La Maria studied art and architecture at the Bellas Artes School, in Montevideo. Aged 18, he served as an illustrator of politics and sporting events for a leading newspaper and in 1961 conducted his first exhibit of paintings in Punta del Este City. His subject matter included mainly equestrian and naval and aviation subjects.

In 1966, he left for Europe where he settled in Paris over the next three years.

Returning to Montevideo for a short time he travelled to Argentina, to take a position with a publishing company in Buenos Aires. It was there that he created illustrations for the covers for many of the larger magazines including Automundo, Parabrisas, El Tony – a comic published in Argentina by Editorial Columba from 1928 to 2000 – and D’artagnan, Argentina’s favourite comics magazine, its most famous characters “Nippur de Lagash” and “Gilgamesh the Immortal”, published from 1957 to 2000.

“Nippur de Lagash” was one of the most popular comics characters in Argentina, getting its own publication called, Nippur Magnum, from 1979 which ran for around 450 issues over more than thirty years of publication. The stories were based on historical figures and famous myths, happening mainly in Sumeria during the fourth millennium BC, and in the historical region of the Fertile Crescent, which corresponds to part of the territories of ancient Egypt, the Levant and Mesopotamia.

During this time, he became involved in automotive art, and in 1989 he made the first of his many exhibits at the Buenos Aires Classic Cars Club. In a short time, his paintings were known not only in Argentina but also around the world.

His paintings have been exhibited at significant automotive events including the Pebble Beach Concours d ’Elegance, Retro mobile, the Cavallino Classic and others.

Although his official site is offline, you can check out Alfredo de La Maria’s car art here on historiccarart.net

Alfredo De La Maria Painting “Triumph & Tragedy” from Festivals of Speed Gallery

Alfredo De La Maria Painting “Peking to Paris” from Festivals of Speed Gallery

For those of you knocked out by his cover for Commando 5202, here’s a checklist of his work for the title, courtesy of the Commando editorial team.

Commando 2773: Plague Town

Commando 2775: The Joker

Re-published and on sale now as Commando 5202

Commando 2810: Hero on Trial

Commando 2841: Hero of the Reich

Commando 2885: The Outriders

Commando 2912: Grudge Team

Commando 2920: Operation Kidnap

Commando 2936: War Criminals

Commando 2966: Warrior Marines

Commando 2975: Adam’s Army

Commando 3013: Officer Material

Sean Morris was a first class fighting soldier, of that there was no doubt. But was he officer…

Commando 3106: Tug the Tankie

With thanks to the Commando editorial team, Sebastián Cabrol, Colin Noble and David Roach

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.