Luigi Corteggi, also known by the pseudonym of Cortez, was an Italian illustrator and designer born in Milan in 1933. In the early 1960s, following an initial career in advertising, he exploded onto the burgeoning Italian comics scene, where he became the chief cover artist for many foundational Italian crime and neo-gothic comic titles such as Kriminal and Satanik, before ultimately being appointed art director for Italian comics giant Bonelli, contributing central visual elements to the evolution of the Dylan Dog franchise, among many other Bonelli Editore properties. His work is a cornerstone of the Fumetti movement, and is also seen as a key influence within the rise of the 1960s/70s Italian genre film industry, where cinematic imagery inspired by his work can be seen prominently in the style of filmmakers like Pierro Vivarelli, Umberto Lenzi and Mario Bava. He died in Casorzo at the age of 85.
In 1972 a neophyte Spanish media company created a rare platform for artists to explore classic genre imagery with a sophisticated cinematic sensibility.
