If you collected G.I. Joe action-figures and vehicles throughout the '80s, you likely remember the bold, colourful artwork featured on the packaging. The man behind those illustrations was Hector Garrido, and while not everyone may have known his name, I'm still saddened to report that Garrido passed away on April 19th at the age of 92.
Born in Argentina, Hector Garrido studied art in Buenos Aires before immigrating to the United States as a young artist, where he began working professionally in the 1950s, illustrating covers for science-fiction, horror, and adventure stories, including Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, as well as romance and gothic novels. Garrido also painted covers for Time Magazine, and his 1969 cover, "Astronauts" is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, but he's most well known for his fantastic work in the G.I. Joe franchise. You can check out a selection of his work below.
Hector Garrido's work doubtlessly played a huge role in the success of the G.I. Joe franchise, which is still going strong today, with countless figures, comics, TV shows, video-games, as well as several live-action feature-films. The next G.I. JOE film is SNAKE EYES, which tells the origin story of the titular ninja, and is slated to hit theaters on October 23, 2020.