We’re sorry to report the passing of the influential Catalan comic artist Trinidad Tinturé Navarro, whose work featured in British girls comics such as Jinty, Judy and Tammy. She was 88.
Trini is regarded as one of the pioneers of comics made by women in Europe, her work published in British, German, Dutch and Spanish titles, and who created thousands of pages during her long career, drawn, notes Tristan Cardona in a tribute for Zona Negativa, “with efficiency, elegance and a lot of talent”.
Alongside her best-known girls comics strips, particularly “Oh, Tinker”, and “Orphans in Italy” for June and School Friend, “The Slave of Form 3B” and “The Zodiac Prince” for Jinty, Trini also drew some great romance strips for British titles like Valentine and Mirabelle, and her seemingly effortless style became immensely influential on 1970s British comics.
Trinidad Tinturé Navarro (1935-2023) was born in Lleida, in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. She became interested in drawing at an early age, despite reaction from her family, who, Trini recalled, regarded her “fondness for drawing was as useless as endearing”.
She moved to Barcelona, living with a great aunt, winning a drawing prize at Círculo de Bellas Artes de Lleida in1955, and two years later her work began appearing in magazines and romantic collections for girls such as Mercedes, Mary Luz, Trovador, and Piluchi, these first credits for a variety of small comics publishers. She also did some work in advertising, which she didn’t much enjoy. “I realised that neither did I understand the art of advertising nor did it understand me,” she recalled.
From small publishers such as Gráficas Soriano or Indedi, Trini went on to work for the Bruguera Publishing House for titles such as Celia and Sissi, gaining the attention, and work for the British market from the Creaciones Editoriales and the Bardon Art agencies.
“I liked comic and stuck to it,” she said, delighted when the first jobs for British titles arrived. The commissions continued uninterrupted for nearly 20 years, working on Jinty, June, Tammy and others.
The credits she appears most proud of for British titles are for “Oh Tinker!” and “Curly”, for Twinkle, and “Becky, Ben and Boots”, featured on her official website.
From 1981, Trini worked on Spain’s Lily magazine published by Editorial Bruguera, on the series “Emma es Encantadora”, written by Andreu Martín and Francisco Pérez Navarro. She also drew an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (“Alicia en el país de las maravillas”) in the 1970s, and other strips and providing magazine covers.
She went on to draw “Biggi” for the eponymous German magazine published by Bastei, written by Peter Mennigen, in the 1980s when Lily closed, for just over five years.
After this, she gained work for the Dutch market, drawing the strips “Siska”, “Micky” and “Roos”, for Tina in the 1990s, and “Liefde in de Lucht” for Penny, from 2006 onwards, for many years, as well as providing numerous illustrations.
She was the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including the Gran Premio del Comic Barcelona last year and A Spell of Trouble was collected and published in Spanish as Un hechizo conflictivo by Dolmen Editorial.
Friends, coworkers and fellow artists have paid tribute to her, and her influential work.
“We are very sad, our great Trini Tinturé, comic book author, Titanaca of comics, has passed away,” commented the team at Autoras de Cómic, “May the earth be light to you, Great Lady of Comics.”
“‘Emma Es Encantadora’ [for the Spanish comic, Lily] was her best work, showcasing her lightness of touch and beautiful technique,” feels comic artist and girls comic archivist David Roach, author of A Very British Affair: The Best of Classic Romance Comics, who featured Trini’s work in his book, recently also published in Spanish.
“We both worked together for so many years,” said writer Peter Mennigen. “Despite the great time pressure, she always delivered great artwork. It makes me very sad that she is now gone.”
Trinidad Tinturé Navarro (6th August 1935 – 18th January 2024) | Official Site | Instagram
• Jinty Comic Resource: Trini Tinture Profile
• Tebeosfera – Trini Tinture Biography (in Spanish)
• Trini Trinture – Tributes on X
• Creator Spotlight: My Friend Trini, by Edmond Ripoll (in Spanish)
Edmond and Trini started working at Bruguera at the same time, although she worked in a different department
• Comic Barcelona – Obituary on X
• Zona Negativa – Obituary (in Spanish)
• Dolmen’s Spanish edition, Un hechizo conflictivo
Popular, rich and great at school, Carrie lives a charmed life – because, unbeknownst to her classmates, she’s a witch! Hailing from a long line of witches and warlocks Carrie has never wanted for anything – that is until her bumbling, nonmagical and anti-magic cousin Angela shows up! And worst of all – if Carrie can’t turn Angela into a legendary sorceress – she’ll lose all her powers! Worlds collide and sparks fly as these cousins have to learn to live together – or else!
This comedy classic from British girls’ comic Jinty features a brand new cover by the original artist, Trini Tinturé, as well as another tale, the spooky, insect-infested Creepy Crawley
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “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.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Obituaries
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