Can't get enough ALEX NINO!

I was searching E-bay for a sketchbook by Alex Nino one of my Kubert school chums bought back when we were renting a house in Dover , Jersey. I could not find it. But I remembered some cool CONAN art in that book which prompted me to look up some of Alex Nino's CONAN work.  I also typed in Alex Nino Biography for some text to share and this here is what I found! Enjoy.

( Auad publishing….Alex Nino Bio…)

"SAND AND DREAMS - Alex Niño was born in a province not too far from the city of Manila, Philippines in 1940. By the time he was six years old he liked to draw except, unlike other kids whose parents could afford to give their kids pencil and paper and crayons, Alex drew with a small stick in the sand underneath his parent’s bamboo shack. He drew stick figures constantly until it got so dark that he couldn’t see anymore. Most cartoonists and comic book artists will tell you that they were influenced by Harold Foster, Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff, etc. “I was too,” said Alex, “but I was also very much influenced by the movies. Particularly the old serials, I studied the angles of the shot, actions and the editing.”As a young man he felt he was ready for the comic book industry.

When he showed his sample drawings he was immediately hired on the spot. It was evident from the start that this young man had a talent unlike the run-of-the-mill artists at that time. His style was so unique that it got the attention of some of the editors here in the United States. Joe Orlando, an editor of DC comics, started sending him scripts long before meeting him in person in the Philippines in 1971. In 1976, Alex was invited to the San Diego Comic Convention to receive his Inkpot award.Aside from doing a lot of work for DC comics and Marvel comics, he illustrated books published by Byron Preiss, who was a very good friend of his. It seemed like everybody wanted Alex to work for them. Jim Warren asked to have Alex draw for them and he was getting more work than he could handle. “But I loved it!” Alex recalls. In 1983, Alex moved to the U.S. permanently.By the mid-eighties, aside from his work in the comic book industry, Alex started to do a lot of work for different animation companies like: Marvel Productions, TMS, Hanna-Barbera Studios and Sega for their video games. Between those years, he also contributed a lot to Disney’s production on Mulan, The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis, and Treasure Island. These days Alex spends most of his time painting.” I find it very relaxing without that dreaded “deadline”.Alex Niño, who started out drawing stick figures in the sand underneath his bamboo shack in the Philippines, is now one of the most admired and respected artist by his peers, not only from his own country but also here in the United States and all the way from Europe to Asia."