Arvidnelson.com The online home of Arvid Nelson, writer of Rex Mundi & Zero Killer

Calling Carlos

One of the best things about writing comics is the many fantastic artists I get to work with. Case in point: Dynamite paired me with Carlos Rafael for the Dejah Thoris series debuting in March.

Just saw the first batch of pages for Issue 1, and they look absolutely stunning. Carlos's drawing of Valian, a character from the series, is exactly how I imagined him. It's rare for an artist's version of a character to match my mental image so perfectly.

I can't actually share these pages, of course, or Dynamite would hunt me down and eviscerate me with a sugar spoon sharpened to a dull edge on dog poop-smeared concrete. But I can show Carlos's concepts for some of the main characters. Click for bigger versions, sort of NSFW:

I love his take on Dejah Thoris. Carlos is from Brazil, and to me Dejah looks very Brazilian. His Mors Kajak and Tardos Mors, Dejah's father and grandfather, are equally Brazilliant, like they're ready to jump into a cage with Wanderlei Silva (as soon as they both get haircuts).

I've been trying to hunt Carlos down, but I haven't had any success, aside from the link above (here it is again) to a little bio page and some of his art. So all I know about him, aside from his prodigious talent, is that he looks kind of like Lyoto Machida, and he lives in Rio.

I did find a video of Carlos, in which he speaks entirely in Portuguese. One can only guess at the torrent of wisdom spilling from his mouth.

And that's all I know, sadly. Sometimes – a lot of times – artists working in far-flung hemispheres will work through a studio that acts as a sole intermediary between the publisher and the artist. That's the case for Carlos, it seems.

Carlos! If you're reading this, know you've got a fan for life in me. It's an honor and a pleasure to work on Dejah Thoris with such a talented chap. I only hope your studio realizes what a gem they have. Either way, you're going to be a great success.