Igor Kordej

Igor Kordej (referred to as Igor Kordey in American and French publications; born in Zagreb, SFRJ, 23 June 1957)[1] is a Croatian comic book artist, illustrator, graphic designer and scenographer of international reputation.

Igor Kordej
BornIgor Kordej
(1957-06-23) 23 June 1957
Zagreb, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalityCroatian
Area(s)Penciller, Inker, Colorist
Notable works
New X-Men, Soldier X

Career

Education

Graduated at ŠPUD (The School of Applied Arts and Design in Zagreb), graphic department (1972-1977) and attended two years at Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, graphic department (1977-1979).

Novi kvadrat

Igor Kordej started as a professional graphic designer when he was 18, and as a professional comic artist and illustrator when he was 19 years old, joining a very influential group of comic artists Novi kvadrat (New square) 1976-1979,[2] and publishing in all relevant Yugoslavian youth magazines of that era. In 1979 Novi kvadrat won the prestigious national award 7 sekretara SKOJ-a, thus marking a break-up of the group.

SLS studio

At the beginning of the eighties Kordej teams-up with Mirko Ilić again in SLS studio (acronym for “Slow, Bad and Expensive”), and focuses on producing album covers and posters for Yugoslavian pop musicians and groups. After the break-up with Ilić he continues with solo career, doing illustration for Yugoslavian mainstream magazines, film and theater posters,[3][4] logotypes and album covers.[5][6]

Early international work

He started a career in European comic market in 1986 (France, Spain, Germany), and since 1989 on the US market (Heavy Metal Magazine). His most significant work from that period is album Les cinq saisons – Automne, published in 1990 by Dargaud. That album was appointed by the Ministry of Culture in France as a work of significant cultural value and was assigned to all public libraries in France (in 2011 the same album was featured in Paul Gravett’s book 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die.[7] Kordej moves from Zagreb to a small Istrian village, Groznjan in 1988 where he leads, as an artist and supervisor, a group of over 20 artists and story writers (among others a young Darko Macan, Edvin Biuković and Goran Sudžuka), as well as veterans Radovan Devlić[8] and Dragan Filipović Fipa,[9] producing comics and design for the German market.

Moving abroad

He moves to Denmark in 1991, invited by Semic International company, where he spends almost a year, producing comics and illustrations for Malibu Comics. In 1997 he moves to Canada, invited by Digital Chameleon company, working as a creative director. Having disputes with management, he leaves the company after eight months and becames a freelancer again.

Marvel

His career in Marvel Comics can be divided in two phases; the first one (when he simultaneously worked for Dark Horse Comics) is from 1994 to 1996, under editor-in-chief Marcus McLaurin, when Kordej produced several hand-painted comics for Tales of Marvels series. Second phase begins in 2001 when he got invited by editor-in–chief Joe Quesada, to work on Cable series, as well as New X-Men series. Shortly after 9/11 attacks many of Marvel artists produced illustrations inspired by the tragedy. They all went on public auction, with all profit given to families of fallen rescuers. Kordey’s illustration Pennsylvania Plane[10] was bought by The Library of Congress. Because of his speed as an artist, at his peak, Kordej was producing artwork for three or four monthly books at the same time. However, as a result, he has attracted heavy criticism for the quality of his art, especially from the readers.[11][12] Eventually he got fired from Marvel in April 2004.

Delcourt

However, that event opened up a new chapter in Kordey’s career. Just a few months later he signed his first contracts with Editions Delcourt, and his prolific collaboration with that French publisher continued until nowadays. In a period of fifteen years, producing 4-5 albums per year, concluding with 2019 he published close to seventy albums on francophone market,[13] out of which only L’Histoire secrete series sold out over 1,000.000 copies. In 2006 he moves back to his homeland.

Style and recognition
Igor Kordej at Festival de la BD de Buc, 2017

Through out all those years Kordej continued to produce graphic design and illustrations for both francophone and ex-Yugoslavian region markets, occasionally doing illustrations for US comics market. He has a very diverse repertoire, moving between traditional pencils and inks to fully painted panels, using watercolors and gouache. His works are collected, among others, in The Library of Congress, LucasFilm (CA) and MoMa – Museum od Modern Art (NY).

Awards and nominations
  • 1986 Best comic (Zvjezdana prašina), Mladost magazine, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
  • 1987 Best comic, SFERA Award, Zagreb, Yugoslavia
  • 1995 Best illustration, SFERA Award, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 1996 Best color illustration, SFERA Award, Zagreb, Croatia
  • 2000 Best artist, voted by fans, Haxtur Award (Batman/Tarzan – The Claws of the Catwoman), Gijón, Spain
  • 2005 Best artist, Haxtur Award (X-treme X-Men – Storm: The Arena), Gijón, Spain
  • 2006 Best limited series, Eisner and Harvey awards nominations (Smoke), USA and Canada[14]
  • 2007 Best artist, voted by fans, Reims, France
  • 2009 Award for contribution to the comics industry, FraMaFu festival, Virovitica, Croatia
  • 2009 Best cover, Glyph Award (Unknown soldier series), Philadelphia, SAD
  • 2010 Favourite European comic book, Eagle Award nomination (The Secret History), Bristol, England
  • 2010 Voted by fans (Persona mas nocturna), Avilés, Spain
  • 2011 Best theatre scenography (Čudo u Poskokovoj dragi) with Valentina Crnković, Marulo Award, 21st Festival “Marulić Days“, Split, Croatia
  • 2013 Chevalier of Order of Arts and Letters, Ministry of Culture, France
  • 2013 Honorary member of ULUPUH (Croatian Association of Artists of Applied Arts), Zagreb, Croatia

Bibliography

Interior comic work includes:

Covers only

References
  1. "Igor Kordey". lambiek.net.
  2. https://www.enciklopedija.hr/natuknica.aspx?id=44279 (in Croatian)
  3. "Diploma za smrt (1989)" – via www.imdb.com.
  4. http://politikaplus.com/novost/155640/u-novoj-predstavi-tresnja-ce-ozivjeti-legendu-o-plemenitim-sljivarima (in Croatian)
  5. Polak, Goran (November 15, 2017). "STRAŽARNI LOPOV: ZABRANJENO PLAKATIRANJE: RIVIERA (PLAKAT IGORA KORDEJA IZ OSAMDESETIH)".
  6. http://www.beforeafter.rs/muzika/5-najboljih-omota-domacih-albuma/ (in Serbian)
  7. "1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die - Page 8". List Challenges.
  8. https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radovan_Devli%C4%87 (in Croatian)
  9. https://uzicanstveno.rs/uzicanstveno/upoznajmo-fipu-fantastiku-da-bi-ga-vise-voleli/ (in Serbian)
  10. "Pennsylvania plane / Igor Kordey, 2001". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
  11. Thompson, Chris (June 1, 2004). "Those Questions: Igor Kordey". Comics Bulletin. Archived from the original on May 24, 2010.
  12. Johnston, Richard (February 25, 2004). "Waiting for Tommy: Igor Kordey". Dynamic Forces.
  13. "KORDEY Igor". www.editions-delcourt.fr.
  14. http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/eisner06.php

Interviews
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