Iconic G.I. Joe Real American Hero and Cobra Action Figure Packaging Artist Hector Garrido Passes Away At 92! RIP.
A Real American Book reports:
Sad news from the world of G.I. Joe.
Hector Garrido, the fine artist whose painted works adorned the packaging of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero action figures and vehicles for more than ten years, has died. I’m told by his friend and art dealer that Garrido passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 19, 2020. He was 92 years old.
G.I. Joe fans have long known that one of the factors that made Real American Hero such a success was its brilliant packaging. Some of that was type, copy writing, and graphic design, but most of it was those bold illustrations of men and women in action poses, bursting forth from explosions of deep red, orange, and yellow, in some nebulous anywhere of forever nighttime black. The vehicles themselves ranged from real world to impossibly fantastic, but in Garrido’s skilled hands they were solid and sturdy constructs rumbling across dirt terrain and firing heavy missiles, driven and piloted by brave heroes and dastardly villains focused on their all-important missions.
A lot more about Garrido’s career and art, including covers he did for TIME magazine, is here.
Below is some of his iconic packaging in OG form or retouched.
Yo Joe!
On behalf of the IP and Comics Nexus teams, I offer our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Hector Garrido.
