Just like the original post, his columns are all in Portuguese, but if you’re interested in reading them, you can try an internet translation site or use Google Chrome, which gave me the option to translate them. As is typical, the translations are far from perfect.

–Those of you who were calling for Grampá to do more Batman should enjoy this column, where he details the process he used to create the piece, a tribute to Frank Miller. Lots of nice process artwork.

–Also of interest, Grampá draws the Age of Apocalypse Nightcrawler, who as of late has been appearing in Uncanny X-Force:

Nightcrawler, King of BAMF!

Grampá was asked to redesign the character, and although it ultimately wasn’t used, he did draw the variant cover for issue #19. On Flickr, he explains the concept behind the redesign: “This is a proposal for the new Nightcrawler, who’s teaming X-Force right now. Marvel invited me to make a cover for X-Force and also to proposal a new look for the character. I did what I like to see in super heroes comics, the celebration of pop culture. His jacket is based on the classical jacket that Michael Jackson uses on “Thriller” – I always thought that Nightcrawler was based on this MJ look, and maybe he was. I took off the swords -don’t think that this kind of hero needs a sword, is like to give spiderman some swords- and I changed it for knives. He could be more lethal launching knifes when he is teleporting him self. The scarf means movement and elegance. Marvel didn’t approved because I went too much far from the original. But I’ll use the look for one of my next characters!”

–And finally, this post contains an exchange between Grampá and Rafael Albuquerque, where they discuss Superman’s costumes over the years. And it ends with Albuquerque sharing a piece of his own:

You can see all of Grampa’s columns for the site by going here. For grins, let’s end by taking another look at another Nightcrawler pin-up:

Nightcrawler

If we needed a reason for Marvel to bring back the real Nightcrawler from the dead and put him in his own comic, I think we just found it.

Batman by Rafael Grampa

I may not understand what the text says, but there’s one thing I did take away from this blog post by artist Rafael Grampa — his Batman, like his Wolverine and Madman, is truly awesome. The image appears to be something he’s created for the RioComicon 2011, coming up Oct. 20-23 in Brazil.

line art for the Strange Tales II #1 cover by Rafael Grampa

Over at ComicsAlliance, Laura Hudson has a real treat for those of you who like your superhero comics with an alternative twist: 50-plus pages of sketches, thumbnails, pencils, inks, color studies and more from the Strange Tales II hardcover, which debuted this week. Click on over and get a glimpse at the creative process behind contributions from Kate Beaton, Jeffrey Brown, Ivan Brunetti, Farel Dalrymple, Rafael Grampa, Dean Haspiel, Jaime Hernandez, Paul Hornschemeier, Benjamin Marra, Edu Medeiros, Harvey Pekar, Frank Santoro, and Paul Vella. That’s hella Strange!

Où sont les superstars d'antan?

“My not-terribly insightful comic book epiphany of the day: right now, we’ve got a bunch of top-flight writers in the field, and the next generation on the horizon. But what we could really use is a new, young generation of break-out artists. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got a lot of excellent artists. But who was the last hot young guy who just exploded into the field? I feel like the pump is primed for one or more fresh young artists to just explode in a major, commercial way. When was the last time that happened? We could use an infusion of visual excitement in the books–across all companies.”

–Thus spoke Tom Brevoort, Marvel Senior VP – Executive Editor, on Twitter last night. Personally, I think he’s probably right to wonder about this. Like he says, the point isn’t that there are no good or even great relatively young/relatively new artists right now — there are plenty. Personally I’ve been knocked out by Gabriel Hardman‘s work on Atlas and Hulk over the past year or so, just for example. But what Brevoort is looking for is an artist who just skyrockets to superstardom more or less out of the blue. That requires quite a delicate alchemy. The artist in question must be young enough or new enough or have been working far way enough from the Big Two’s audiences for their work to have “the shock of the new” when fans first see it. They must bring something different to the table than what established artists are doing, so that their work stands out, but they must also be working in a style that’s recognizable and acceptable to large numbers of superhero fans. Their work doesn’t necessarily have to be to your taste, but you should at least be able to understand what others see in it, even if you don’t see it yourself.

With those standards in mind, do you sense a potential breakout star in the making anyplace in the industry? I’ve got a few candidates. Frazer Irving‘s work on Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin was luminous and stunning, handling one of comics’ most demanding scripters with style and skill and looking like pretty much nothing else on the stands. On the other hand, while that book sells very well and Irving got a lot of attention, I’m not sure there’s a groundswell of appreciation for what he’s doing among the “mainstream”-comics masses; it’s not as, I dunno, muscular as most superhero fans like. James Stokoe of Orc Stain fame seems to floor people anytime he turns his maniacally detailed and wild art to anything superhero-ish, like that Galactus poster that burned up the internet a while back or his Strange Tales contribution; but even though I think superhero fans could grow to really appreciate the energy what he’s doing, he doesn’t strike me as someone who’s dying to spend a couple years drawing the Avengers or the Justice League. Ditto his equally impressive, though less prolific, fellow Strange Tales contributor Rafael Grampa. I’ve been saying Cafu is something special ever since seeing his diamond-edged art in the Captain Atom back-ups that ran in Action Comics during the New Krypton storyline, and he’s currently teamed up with new-hotness writer Nick Spencer on THUNDER Agents, but I haven’t seen enough people react to his work to gauge his commercial potential.

For a while, starting in the mid-2000s, it seemed like Marvel and DC could catapult anyone they chose to the top tier of artists with a well-chosen event title. One by one, I heard fans talk excitedly about artists as varied as Rags Morales, David Finch, Phil Jimenez, Jim Cheung, Ethan Van Sciver, Steve McNiven, J.G. Jones, John Romita Jr., Ivan Reis, Leinil Yu, Doug Mahnke, and Olivier Coipel, and more besides. But with line-wide events taking a back seat, and stars like Bryan Hitch, John Cassaday, Frank Quitely, Jim Lee, and the Kuberts working at a remove from the month-in-month-out conversation, there does seem to be an open slot. Who do you think will step in?

With the release of the anthology 5 in 2007 and his first solo work Mesmo Delivery in 2008, American comics audiences got their first real taste of what Grampá could do. Vertigo hired him to contribute to a milestone issue of Hellblazer; Marvel, with a milestone issue of Daredevil; Dark Horse reprinted the sold-out Mesmo Delivery, which goes for over $125 new at Amazon. Recently Marvel put him as the lead feature in the second volume of Strange Tales, and Dark Horse contracted him for his second standalone graphic novel.

His work evokes easy comparisons to Geoff Darrow, but deeper analysis shows an appreciation for detail, not for detail’s sake, but to add flavor and weight to the scene he depicts in a panel, a pin-up or a cover. Rather than just drawing to tell you where someone is and what they’re doing, Rafael’s illustrative line adds texture, tone, mood and atmosphere — and that’s before a colorist touches the page. Although well-known by some in the industry, by and large the mainstream comics public doesn’t know the full scope of what the artist is — or could be. Maybe this interview will help.

Poster for 'Furry Water & The Sons of the Insurrection'

Chris Arrant: Hey, Rafael – let’s start with an easy one, what are you working on today?

Rafael Grampá: Hey, Chris, nice to talk with you again. Now I’m still working on Furry Water & the Sons of the Insurrection. I said still because I’m working on it since 2009. During this period, I’ve been working very slowly on it because of some adjustments on the project and, at the same time, trying to reorganize my life. We’d announced the project to release in 2010 but we decided to get more time to make Furry Water, and we’re looking forward to releasing it for next year. The most exciting thing about having all this time to produce the series is that all of our crazy and megalomaniac scenes and ideas will be in the project. Furry Water, this post-Apocalyptic saga, is set 70 years after the “Furry Water” plague hit. Against this backdrop, we meet the Nobunagas, a family of outlaws who have a family obligation to re-start the insurrection against an “optimist-oppressive” regime. At the same time, four brothers and a sister are searching for the fifth “lost” brother, who may or may not exist. It’s a violent poetry about brotherhood, honor and faith.

Arrant: Can you tell us particular about the page you’re working on today, or if you’re jumping around to multiple pages, or what not?

Grampá: Sure. I’m working on an action scene that a militia is trying to enter inside the dirty hospital room where the Nobunagas are crying because of their matriarch’s death. It’s a very difficult scene because I’m working with a camera movement in a corridor, traveling out, and I’m showing the reaction of all the soldiers. I want some really human feelings here, like bold and fear. I won’t tell what happens after, but the sequence is totally awesome! And if you know my work, you can imagine how much details it would have.

Arrant: Before you became so embroiled with comics I read you had a graphic design job. Do you still do that, and can you tell us about your work before comics?

Illustration for motion graphic piece by Grampa prior to comics work

Grampá: Yes, I used to be a concept designer and director of motion graphics, but I don’t do it anymore. Today I’m just a comic book creator, and I thing it is an amazing upgrade in my career. Even if I wanted, couldn’t work with another thing because the way I want to do comics requires a lot of dedication and I couldn’t share it with any other media right now. Comics are the most difficult and fun thing that I’ve ever done, and it’s enough for now. Matt Fraction used to work at a motion graphic studio as well, writing the script for the animations, and we already collaborated on a job together during this period, like 2005. I love to have this motion graphics and design background and it is very important on work in comics today.

Arrant: What was the one big thing that made you jump from the job of concept designer/motion graphics director into the freelance work of comic art? Was it one job, or a big gig, or what?

Grampá: The big thing was that I always wanted to be a comic book creator to tell my own stories, and I was not making this at the motion graphic studio that I used to work. I realized that I was just working for another guy’s dream, not mine. So I decided to leave my job and start my first comic book, which was Mesmo Delivery. I saved some money and I self-published the first 2,000 copies of Mesmo Delivery, with the distribution of AdHouse Books. It was very expensive for me, but it was an investment on my own dream. And it worked!

Arrant: The first time I saw your work was on a short strip in Terra Major’s Gunned Down anthology from years and years ago. Do you have any other early comics work out there that people may not know about?

Grampá: That short story for the Gunned Down anthology was my first pages as a comic book creator.

OK, maybe I did a little bit of other stuff. … I  did some test pages for superheroes comics that I never sent to anybody, and already worked on a short story for a Brazilian small press that made kids comics, in the ’90s, but I don’t consider it as my own comics. Also, in the ’90s, I tried to create my own characters but I did just some comic strips and single pages and never published it. So, Gunned Down‘s pages were my really first publication as a comic book creator. Before the launch of Mesmo Delivery I also made the anthology 5 and because of that I have an Eisner Award here at my studio.

Arrant: For an American like me, your heavily detailed work reminds me of Geof Darrow and some classic BD illustrators – but I’m probably missing a whole range of influences. How did your style develop into what it is today?

Grampá: When somebody just discovers my work it is very normal to compare it with Geof Darrow’s. And, yes, it happens a lot more in the USA because you are very familiar with his work. It is a great honor for me, I love Darrow’s work; it’s totally amazing. I will never do the awesome things that he does, but I have to say that he is not this huge influence for my work, not like the way people thinks he is. I always obsess over details — even in my early design and freelance illustration works, before I became a cartoonist. If you mix this obsession with Walt Disney, E. C. Segar, Angeli e Laerte (two very well-known and amazing Brazilian cartoonists), Moebius, R. Crumb, Jeff Smith, Jamie Hewlett, Katsuhiro Otomo, Patrice Killoffer and so many other artists, designers, musicians and movie directors that influence my day, you will have me.

Arrant: Since you jumped into the scene, both Marvel and DC have taken notice of you – and you’ve done pieces for DC’s Hellblazer, Marvel’s Daredevil and you did the cover and story to the second Strange Tales anthology from Marvel. Were these superhero comics a big part of your adolescence. If not, what do you consider your favorite comics?

Rafael Grampa's work area

Grampá: I was crazy about superheroes when I was a kid, for sure. In my adolescence I discovered awesome Brazilian cartoonists like Angeli and Laerte e Glauco, who influenced me a lot. At the same period I discovered Moebius, Liberatore, Max, Katsuhiro Otomo and a lot of other Japanese and European artists that influence me even to this day.

When Marvel invited me to do that Daredevil pin up, I didn’t expect that the fans would dig it as much as they did. Daredevil was one of my preferred characters when I was a teen, like the characters I re-designed for the Strange Tales cover, and it was really amazing to put my vision on those characters. The original art of Strange Tales is already on my wall, to celebrate the first time I drew the characters that turned my childhood into magic. About the story I’ve made to the Strange Tales 2 anthology, it is the main story of Vol.2, a love tale with a lot of wrestling violence starring Wolverine. I also wrote the script and I hope the fans like it as I like it.

Arrant: Right now you’re working on Furry Water, but do you have any other projects on the periphery?

Grampá: I already have another project after Furry Water but I’ll start it just when I get Furry Water done, of course. It’s a horror graphic novel, a story that I’ve wanted to tell since 2001. My girl fell in love with me when I told her this story. It’s also a love story, and she’s been with me since I told it to her, so I believe it’s a really great story [laughs]. But only now do I  have the skills that the story needs to do it right.

American Vampire #6 variant

“I tried to make a ‘horror film’ poster, but very pop! It is based on some dirty and rough grindhouse movies posters + punk rock cover albums,” the artist said on Vertigo’s Graphic Content blog. “I loved to do it! We, comic book artists, need to hold the same style for a whole project, so it was an incredible chance to experiment something different. Thanks everybody and hope you like it.”

Frog Man by Gene Yang

With the announcement in San Diego that Strange Tales II is definitely on the way from Marvel, some of the creators are starting to talk about their contributions. Over on his blog, Eisner winner Gene Luen Yang says he’ll be working on a Frog Man story.

“When I was in fifth grade, my friend Jeremy figured out that we could get our parents to drop us off at the library, sneak out of the library, walk about 20 minutes to a comic book store, buy comics, sneak back into the library, and then check out big books to hide our comics in so we could bring them home,” Yang wrote. “On my first such outing, I bought Marvel Team-Up #131, featuring Spider-man and the Fabulous Frog-man. It was Frog-man’s second adventure ever. Jeremy and I actually got into a fight over that book. I found the only copy in the store, but he really wanted it because he had Marvel Team-Up #121, which had Frog-man’s first adventure ever. Luckily, our friendship survived.”

And Rafael Grampá, who is providing the cover, says he’ll be doing a Wolverine story.

“Marvel invited me to create the main story of the second volume of this amazing project in Nov 2009,” he wrote on his blog. “Jody Leheup, Strange Tales editor, said that I could choose any Marvel character to make the story. I thought a lot and I choose Wolverine. But, wait, don’t judge my decision before read the story. I promise for all the fans that my vision of Wolverine is totally different! My story is about the Wolverine that I would like to read. Wolverine was my favorite super hero when a was a kid, so it was my chance to put my hands on him and make something different. I also wrote the script and it was really important to me, because I really want to show my writer skills a little more before release my new series with Dark Horse Comics, FURRY WATER and The Sons of The Insurrection.”

He adds that he’ll have some news on Furry Water, whcih was announced at last year’s Comic-Con, soon.

Grampa's Wolverine

And it involves Wolverine.

Mesmo Delivery

Brazilian artist Rafael Grampá first attracted widespread attention in North America in 2007 with his work on the Eisner Award-winning anthology 5, a collaboration with Gabriel Bá, Becky Cloonan, Vasilos Lolos and Fabio Moon.

Grampá, a former art director for the respected motion-graphics studio Lobo, followed that in 2008 with Mesmo Delivery, his first full-length comics work.

Initially published in the United States by AdHouse Books, the graphic novella is a beautifully illustrated, energetic and bloody story about two delivery men — Rufo, a brawny ex-boxer, and Sangrecco, an Elvis impersonator who views violence as performance art — who are hired to deliver a mysterious cargo. Everything appears to be going fine, at least until they encounter a group of drunken locals at a rest stop.

Next week Dark Horse will release a new edition of the critically acclaimed Mesmo Delivery with a new cover, an extended sketchbook, an introduction by writer Brian Azzarello (who collaborated with Grampá on a story for Hellblazer #250), and pin-ups by Eduardo Risso, Mike Allred, Craig Thompson and Fabio Moon.

Grampá took time over the weekend to discuss Mesmo, his influences, graphic design and his next Dark Horse release, Furry Water and the Sons of the Insurrection.

I’ve seen your art compared to everyone from Frank Quitely and Taiyo Motsumoto to Paul Pope and Geof Darrow. That’s high praise, obviously. But do you find it more flattering or intimidating — or do you give the comparisons any thought at all?

From "Mesmo Delivery"

It’s normal to compare something new to something that you are already familiar. It’s easy to find a lot of very different references when you want to compare and it’s funny what kind of combo these comparisons could result. I do it all the time when I see something new that reminds me another thing. It’s a basic instinct.

I love all those artists, and some are my friends, and obviously I’m flattered because they’re some of the best artists in comics today. Regarding Quitely’s and Matsumoto’s comparisons, I’m much more influenced by Moebius, who is also a huge influence to them. I love Darrow’s work, like everyone, but I think the comparison is because we’re both obsessed by details but our line of work and style are totally different. He’s more realistic. And a better artist! To be compared with him is one of the highest praises I can receive. Paul Pope is an influence, and when we talked about it, he said, “I can’t see the influence, it’s totally you.” I believe that he was trying to be kind, but his brush work is an influence, for sure, just like Goseki Kojima’s brush also is. I can say that Jamie Hewlett, R. Crumb, Katsuhiro Otomo, Suehiro Maruo, Patrice Killofer, Winsor McCay and Walt Disney are real influences, too. And also Mauríco de Souza (when I was a little kid I learned to draw with his characters), Angeli and Laerte, the most-acclaimed cartoonists here in Brazil.

Mesmo Delivery was originally released in North America through AdHouse Books in 2008. How did this new edition from Dark Horse come about?

Chris [Pitzer] was the first publisher in the USA that believed in my work. AdHouse was really important to me and Mesmo Delivery because it was an independent comic book and Chris Pitzer decided to distribute it for me. I paid the printing and shipping from Brazil to USA by myself, with the support of Rodrigo Teixeira — a Brazilian visionary — and the 2,000 copies sold out really fast. I met [Dark Horse Associate Editor] Sierra Hahn in the SDCC 2008 and we talked a lot about working together. When she knew that MD was sold out, she was interested in re-printing it. Obviously I talked with Chris first and he thought it was a good idea to re-print Mesmo Delivery by Dark Horse Comics, and voilà!

You’ve cited Sam Peckinpah’s Convoy as an inspiration for Mesmo Delivery. What is it about the trucker/road genre, or that film in particular, that appeals to you?

Convoy is a really silly movie, but I like it. In these days, I like it more because it’s a Peckinpah film, and his style is a huge influence. Convoy was my childhood-favorite film because my father was the manager of a delivery company and the parking area use to be my playground, playing inside the trucks. When I decided to write my debut I went to my first references to find something that could be very personal, and the truck genre came to me. And also I’m a big fan of horror films and road movies and I tried to mix everything that I like to write a story that I would like to read.

Your background in graphic design is apparent throughout the book, from the logo on the side of the truck to the signs at the gas station to the vintage-style ads. Was it a conscious effort on your part to blend design elements and the sequential art?

From "Mesmo Delivery"

It’s one of the things that I’m really trying to evolve in my work. I worked as an art director and concept designer of motion graphics for a long time and I learned a lot of design rules and tricks. I still consider myself a designer, and I always try to create a page thinking like a designer. I usually say that I think that all my pages are created to be a poster. Of course, I can’t do it for all the pages because the priority is to tell the story, but it’s another obsession that I have.

I also used a lot of subliminal graphic massages in the story, to include a hidden evil twist. A small example is the inverted logotype of Rufo’s cap. It’s an upside-down TEXACO logotype, that looks like an inverted cross and pentagram, symbols of evil. It’s the kind of thing that could announce that something bad will happen in the story, if the reader perceives it, a storytelling tool. The book is stuffed with those graphic messages, including this new cover. I’m crazy about this kind of storytelling tricks and I’m always searching for more graphic information to put in my stories.

We can tell stories with everything that comics propose to us and design elements, colors, diagrammatic, art direction, etc., are all storytelling tools. If you create a particular vocabulary of symbols, you’ll have a personal touch in your stories and a peculiar dialogue with your readers. And at the same time you could contribute to the evolution of this media, which is very young and accepts everything in the pages, limited just by creativity and passion. The Oubapo movement and all the artists involved and guys like Chris Ware and David Mazzuchelli are great examples of contemporary contributors for the evolution of the graphic dialogue that I mentioned.

Can you talk a little about your choice of color palette? In Mesmo Delivery, as in your short story for Hellblazer #250 and even (to an extent) your cover for Dead of Night #4, you use lots of grays, brick reds, murky browns and, for accent, pale pink and goldenrod. It’s a wonderful combination, but a bit unusual.

From "Hellblazer #250"

Thank you! I like to use colors that arouse my hunger! And, no, I don’t like gray food like monkey brain!

I love to color my own stuff, and when I can do it, I will. If I can’t, I’ll try to create a color palette or something like that. Artists can talk through colors and when I decide for an unusual palette it’s because I wanna tell something with it. Like: death = red + black!

Mesmo Delivery is undeniably brutal: Readers have front-row seats to blood, urine, gore — you name it, we see it. Were you ever concerned that you’d shown too much, or gone too far?

Some writers and movie directors say that the strongest violence is the violence you don’t show, just suggest. And it makes sense, but I don’t agree 100 percent with it for Mesmo Delivery. The genre I choose for Mesmo Delivery plays with gore. I can’t talk about evil, roads, street fights, blood and trucks without going deep in it, and it means trying to shock the readers with the images. I created a character that thinks murder is art, so I can’t just suggest the “grand finale” of his show. I didn’t want to put makeup on my choices to tell a violent story. It’s s harder to show than just suggest in this case because you need to be very original and create really smart scenes. If you do it, the readers will remember how good your scene was and not about the gore things.

As savage as the fight scenes are, I find them absolutely mesmerizing. They’re some of my favorite comic-book action sequences in recent memory. How did you approach the choreography of those scenes?

Thanks, man. I like to think I’m playing rock-’n'-roll without playing music. Music and comics are the same thing for me because one of the most important things in both is attitude. The difference is that I am the artist but the rock stars are the characters. Thinking this way, I’m always searching for wild scenes, with a lot of attitude. Choreography is attitude, it’s part of the show. A fight scene needs to be a show, and it will always be in my stories.

Mesmo doesn’t exactly have a neat-and-tidy ending. Is there a chance you could return to Rufo and Sangrecco, or are you finished with their story?

I love the strange feeling of the endings that could continue, like some of The Twilight Zone chapters and some of ’70s horror-movie endings. I just tried to offer the same feeling for the readers. It’s like to be slapped in the face and when you look for the aggressor, there’s nobody there.

I really love those characters and, to tell you the truth, I’m thinking about creating an ongoing series for Mesmo Delivery in the future, with a lot of trucks delivering crazy stories and a lot of new delivery men. Mesmo Delivery is the name of a delivery company and they have a lot of trucks around the world. But I never talk about it with nobody because it’s not a priority right now. My idea is — maybe — just write these new stories and invite some artist to draw.

3D model for a Rufo figure, by Rafael Grassetti

On your blog you’ve posted photos of models for action figures of Rufo and Sangrecco. How did those come about? Will there be Mesmo Delivery action figures avaiable in comic stores soon?

It was modeled by the talented Brazilian artist Rafael Grassetti, who started the project by himself. When he sent me the 3D models, he blew my mind and we started talking about producing some action figures with a Chinese company. It is a project that stopped for now because we are waiting for a larger fan base. I think it could happen soon because of this new print from Dark Horse Comics.

You have another project coming out this year from Dark Horse: the six-issue Furry Water, with Daniel Pellizzari. Details about that miniseries have been pretty slim so far. Any chance you can give us more information? Is there a release date yet?

"Furry Water" promotional poster

Yeah, Furry Water and the Sons of the Insurrection is my new son, and I’m really excited about it. We are holding the buzz around Furry Water because we still have a lot of work to finish.

The post-Apocalyptic saga is set 70 years after the “Furry Water” plague hit, and the survivors remain ignorant about the cause of the devastation. Against this backdrop, we meet the Nobunagas, a family of outlaws who have a family obligation to re-start the insurrection against an “optimist-oppressive” regime. At the same time, these four brothers and a sister are searching for the fifth brother, who may or may not exist, and that is destined to lead the insurrection. It’s a violent poetry about brotherhood, honor and faith. About what the human beings can do to support something that they believed their whole life when it’s ruining.

We don’t have a release date yet. It’s an epic story and we’ re giving the best of all of us and I’m sure the readers will be satisfied, after waiting a little longer, when they get the book on their hands. It’s my best work. My friend Daniel Pellizzari — a brilliant mind and the co-writer of the series — and myself are doing our best in the script — really crazy stuff — and I can see my evolution as an artist and storyteller. If people liked Mesmo Delivery, they don’t imagine what we are preparing.

You can read a 10-page preview of Mesmo Delivery here. The graphic novella arrives in stores next week.

by Andrei Bressan and Marcelo Maiolo

Mesmo Delivery creator Rafael Grampá has set up a separate blog where he plans to post “fan art” based on his creation. And I use quotations because so far it includes some very professional-looking pieces by folks like Bill Sienkiewicz and the above piece by Andrei Bressan. Go check it out.

Bone: Quest for the Spark

San Diego Comic-Con is always a wild ride filled with crazy cosplayers, Hollywood hype and just generally somewhat-controlled chaos. In the midst of it all, a few comic book announcements managed to sneak out.

Here are 15 of those announcements (in no particular order) that Kevin Melrose, Chris Mautner and I were happy to hear:

1. New Bone books
So it looks like one of those new books isn’t going to be comics but a novel written by Tom Sniegoski and illustrated by Smith. Which is a bit of a bummer, but only a bit. I’m still pretty psyched to see more stories set in that universe and Sniegoski has proven himself to be an able and witty writer on stuff like the Stupid Stupid Rat Creatures mini series, which, by the way, will be included in the Tall Tales book. So yeah, this is great news all around. I’m eager for more Bone. –Chris Mautner

2. Petrograd, by Philip Gelatt and Tyler Crook
I piped up the moment JK Parkin posted his interview on Thursday with Petrograd writer Philip Gelatt. The book, which examines the events surrounding the murder of Grigori Rasputin in 1916, hits the right historical note with me, of course. But it was the art by Tyler Crook that really drew me in. Beautiful stuff, that. Plus, it doesn’t hurt — in my book, at least — that Gelatt is taking a factual approach to the life, and death, of the Mad Monk. –Kevin Melrose

American Gothic

3. Kurt Busiek’s Wildstorm titles
Fresh off the weekly Trinity series, Kurt Busiek had two announcements on Saturday at the Wildstorm panel. First, Astro City is going monthly. After wrapping up the Dark Age tales he’s been telling in various mini-series over the last few years, and doing an Astra two-parter and a Silver Agent special, Busiek will pick the Astro City monthly series back up with issue #23. Brent Anderson is still on board for the art, with Alex Ross on covers.

But that’s not all. Busiek also has a brand new title called Kurt Busiek’s American Gothic, featuring artwork by Connor Willumsen. It’s an ongoing due sometime next year, and will feature tales of American mythology — truck drivers driving the dead to their final resting place, fishing village residents finding Thor living on an island off the coast of Rhode Island, that sort of stuff. I also understand Busiek will be writing some prose to go along with it.

More Busiek is always a good thing, and more of Busiek doing his own stuff is a really great thing. –JK Parkin

From "Blacksad," by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido

4. Blacksad from Dark Horse
If you were to only read a description of Blacksad, the French-published, award-winning series by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, you might discount it as silly. I mean, a noirish crime comic set in 1950s America and starring a cast of anthropomorphized animals? But one glimpse of Guarnido’s lush, moody and, yes, realistic art immediately wipes away any doubts about the premise. Of Blacksad‘s three volumes — Somewhere Within the Shadows, Arctic Nation and Red Soul — only the first two have been translated into English because of the bankruptcy of the previous North American rights-holder. Dark Horse plans to remedy that. – Kevin Melrose

5. Daniel Clowes’ Wilson
His stint for The New York Times Magazine aside, we haven’t had any new comics from Dan Clowes in a dog’s age. It’s not like he’s the speediest of cartoonists or anything. So the news that he is in fact working on a new graphic novel and that it will be out in less than a year from now is excellent news. Sure to be the most talked about book in 2010. –Chris Mautner

Killjoys

6. The Killjoys, by Gerard Way, Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan
Gerard Way proved with his work on Umbrella Academy that not only does he know how to make comics, but he knows how to make them fun, engaging and a little bit twisted. “If Umbrella Academy is me taking a look at, among many other things, Doom Patrol, Killjoys is me, with my co-writer Shaun Simon, taking a look at when the best stuff was going on in the ’90s, things like Invisibles and stuff like that,” he told Comic Book Resources.

Of course, it also really, really helps that Becky Cloonan is drawing it. That’s worth the price of admission right there. –JK Parkin

7. 6th Gun, by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt
As I mentioned on Saturday, I’m an easy mark when it comes to supernatural stories in a historical setting. So I immediately took notice when Oni Press released promotional art for 6th Gun, the new project from The Damned team of Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. According to CBR’s panel report, 6th Gun is a fantasy/Western that “follows the story of six terrible handguns and how one falls into the hands of an innocent girl.” Sold! – Kevin Melrose

8. The Anchor by Phil Hester and Brian Churilla
“God’s own leg breaker.” Coming from BOOM! Studios, this new title details the main character’s fight to keep demons and monsters from spilling out of hell and onto the Earth. Or, in the words of BOOM! CEO Ross Richie, “Monsters get punched.” This seems a bit different from what you’d typically expect from BOOM!, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of it. – JK Parkin

Nancy!

9. Complete Nancy from Fantagraphics
I’m pretty much a neophyte when it comes to Nancy. I’ve read slivers of the strip here and there but not enough to really get a feel for it, apart from the fact that it’s a bit … off-kilter. A lot of people seem to really worship it however, so I’ll be sure to be checking out this collection to see if I agree with the comics cognoscenti or not. –Chris Mautner

10. Revolver by Matt Kindt
Matt Kindt, creator of Super Spy, makes this graphic novel must reading already. And the description, courtesy of Graphic Content, sounds like a lot of fun and something that’s right up his alley:

Sam, a 20-something living in Seattle, wakes up one morning to a world where things are out of control—the stock market has crashed, there’s a bird-flu epidemic in Asia and radioactive material has gone missing in Russia. Next, Sam wakes up and the world is fine. REVOLVER, written and illustrated by Eisner Award nominated Matt Kindt, is a tale of two realities and how they both test Sam’s limits until he makes a move that changes his path forever.

Vertigo has announced several new titles recently I’m really looking forward to — I, Zombie, Sweet Tooth — and this is one more for the buy pile. –JK Parkin

"Furry Water" poster, by Rafael Grampá

11. Furry Water, by Rafael Grampá and Daniel Pellizzari
I’ve been banging the drum for Furry Water from the moment Rafael Grampá posted the first character sketch on his blog in early June. Almost two months have passed and I still don’t know much about the six-issue Dark Horse miniseries, other than it centers on five weapons-wielding brothers in a postapocalyptic setting. That’s not much to go on, but I enjoyed Grampá’s previous work Mesmo Delivery (which Dark Horse will re-release), and I’m a big fan of his artwork. That’s enough to convince me to go along for the ride. –Kevin Melrose

12. Don Rosa’s Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck in hardcover
This is a good thing because a) my paperback copy is falling apart; and b) it suggests that BOOM! has a real interest in making sure that Rosa’s (and by extension Carl Barks’) work remains out in the public eye. I’m hoping that this is merely the beginning of more good things to come, duck-wise that is. –Chris Mautner

Deathlok

13. Deathlok by Charlie Huston
This announcement may have gone under the radar a bit, as it was made at the Cup ‘o Joe panel where Marvel’s big Marvelman announcement was made. While I’m not sure what to feel about that announcement until we know exactly what Marvel’s plans are — if the Moore and Gaiman stories end up back in print, then I reserve the right to update this list at a later date — I do know that I’m happy about the new Charlie Huston/Lan Medina Deathlok series that was announced.

What can I say? Ever since I first saw him in the pages of Captain America, I’ve always liked Deathlok. –JK Parkin

14. The serialization of Bakuman in Shonen Jump
I’m not typically a fan of the metafictional self-absorption that typically accompanies authors penning stories starring authors who struggle with writer’s block, fame, fandom, what have you (sorry, Stephen King fans). It’s just a little … much. However, I’ll make an exception for Bakuman, which follows two ninth-grade boys who dream of becoming mangaka. That’s because it’s by Death Note creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, who get as much leeway as they want went it comes to subject matter. – Kevin Melrose

15. The Scott Pilgrim video game
Seriously, how can you not want to play this? –Chris Mautner

Mike Allred draws Mesmo Delivery

Along with the news that Dark Horse Comics will publish Rafael Grampá’s next project, Furry Water, came word that they will reprint his Mesmo Delivery book, originally published by AdHouse Books. On his blog, Grampá reveals that the Dark Horse version will include 22 pages of extras, like sketches and pin-ups by other artists such as Mike Allred, shown above.

No doubt Dark Horse will have all sorts of cool stuff to buy, look at and pick up for free at their booth as well. Check out their complete schedule after the jump.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22 (Preview Night):

Domo raffle! Come to our booth to win one of our San Diego Exclusive Domo Figures!

6:00 – 7:00 Charles Vess: Drawing Down The Moon
7:00 – 8:00 Bryan Talbot: Grandville

THURSDAY, JULY 23:

*11:00 – 12:00 Sergio Aragones: Groo
12:00 – 1:00 Dean Motter: Mister X, Electropolis
1:00 – 2:00 Steven Daily: It Ate Billy On Christmas
1:00 – 2:00 Scott Allie: Solomon Kane, Exurbia
2:00 – 3:00 Eric Powell: The Goon
2:00 – 3:00 Jill Thompson: Beasts of Burden
3:00 – 4:00 The Cleaners: Mark Wheaton & Rahsan Ekedal
3:00 – 4:00 Aliens & Predator: Raymond Swanland, Mark Irwin & Chris Warner
4:00 – 5:00 Gabriel Ba & Fabio Moon: Umbrella Academy, Pixu, MySpace Dark Horse Presents, B.P.R.D.
4:00 – 5:00 Joshua Dysart: B.P.R.D., Conan
5:00 – 6:00 Dave Gibbons: Martha Washington
5:00 – 6:00 Rick Remender: Fear Agent, End League, Gigantic
6:00 – 7:00 David Lloyd: Kickback

FRIDAY, JULY 24:

10:00 – 1:00 Stan Sakai: Usagi Yojimbo
11:00 – 12:00 Applegeeks: Ananth Panagariya & Mohammad F. Haque
11:00 – 12:00 Ricardo Delgado: Age of Reptiles
12:00 – 1:00 Adam Warren: Empowered
1:00 – 2:00 Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Jane Espenson & Georges Jeanty
1:00 – 2:00 Thomas E. Sniegoski: Lobster Johnson – The Satan Factory
2:00 – 3:00 Steve Niles: Criminal Macabre
2:00 – 3:00 Matt Wagner: Grendel
3:00 – 4:00 Yasuhiro Nightow: Trigun (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)
4:00 – 5:00 Mass Effect: Omar Francia & Mac Walters
5:00 – 6:00 Creepy: Mike Woods, Joe Harris, Neil Kleid, Jason Shawn Alexander, Eric Powell, Dan Braun & Hilary Barta
5:00 – 6:00 Unbound Saga: Joe Linsner, Lienil Yu & Mike Kennedy
6:00 – 7:00 Umbrella Academy: Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)

ALSO, FRIDAY, JULY 24TH IS STAR WARS DAY! STAR WARS CREATOR SIGNINGS ALL DAY:

11:00 – 12:00 Jeremy Barlow, Rick Lacy & Michael Atiyeh: Star Wars Adventures
12:00 – 1:00 Rob Chestney & Alex Sanchez: Star Wars – Old Republic
3:00 – 4:00 Colin Wilson & Tom Taylor: Star Wars – Invasion
4:00 – 5:00 Matt & Shawn Fillbach: Star Wars – Clone Wars Adventures

SATURDAY, JULY 25:

10:00 – 11:00 John Landis: Ground breaking filmmaker
11:00 – 12:00 Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Jane Espenson & Georges Jeanty
11:00 – 12:00 Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Dave Filoni, Henry Gilroy & Steven Melching
12:00 – 1:00 Bryan Talbot: Grandville
12:00 – 1:00 Star Wars: Old Republic – Rob Chestney & Alex Sanchez
1:00 – 2:00 Ricardo Delgado: Age of Reptiles
2:00 – 3:00 Dethklok Vs. The Goon: Eric Powell & Metalocaplypse Director Jon Schnepp

Saturday afternoon celebrates Dark Horse Originals!

2:00 – 3:00 Citzen Rex: Mario & Gilbert Hernandez
3:00 – 4:00 Insomnia Café: M.K. Perker
3:00 – 4:00 3 Story: Matt Kindt
3:00 – 4:00 Rick Geary: The Adventures of Blanche
3:00 – 4:00 Mike Mignola: Hellboy (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)
4:00 – 5:00 SUPER SECRET ANNOUNCEMENT PANEL (see Dark Horse Panel for details!) Gerard Way, Shaun Simon & Becky Cloonan (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)
4:00 – 5:00 Larry Marder: Beanworld
5:00 – 6:00 365 Samurai: J.P. Kalonji
5:30 – 7:00 Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog: Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Joelle Jones (*ticketed event: See Dark Horse employee for details)
6:00 – 7:00 Matt & Shawn Fillbach: Werewolves on the Moon: Versus Vampires

SUNDAY, JULY 26:

11:00 – 12:00 Bryan Talbot: Grandville
11:00 – 12:00 Star Wars: Invasion: Colin Wilson & Tom Taylor
12:00 – 1:00 Pixu: Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Becky Cloonan & Vasilis Lolos
12:00 – 1:00 Furry Water: Rafael Grampa & Daniel Pellizzari
1:00 – 2:00 Emily the Strange: Creator Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner
1:00 – 2:00 David Lloyd: Kickback
2:00 – 3:00 Tara McPherson: Lost Constellations
2:00 – 3:00 Nathan Fox: Pigeons From Hell
3:00 – 4:00 Dean Motter: Mister X, Electropolis
3:00 – 4:00 Unbound Saga: Joe Linsner, Lienil Yu, Mike Kennedy

And Check out these Dark Horse Related Panels and Events!

THURSDAY JULY 23

Action Figure Times present the Toy Maker Q&A
(featuring Dark Horse’s David Scroggy)
11:00 – 12:00 Room 32B

Free Screening: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog with Musical Commentary!
8:00pm – 10:00pm Room 6A

FRIDAY JULY 24

Comic-Con in the 80’s (featuring Dark Horse’s David Scroggy)
12:00 – 1:00 Room 2

Creepy Panel
3:30 – 4:30 Room 3

Joss Whedon Panel
4:00 – 6:00 Ballroom 20

Eric Powell’s Goon Panel
6:00 – 7:00 Room 8

SATURDAY JULY 25

Dark Horse Panel!

Dark Horse: We Love Comics, Too! Join Publisher Mike Richardson, Director of Public Relations Jeremy Atkins and Senior Managing Editor Scott Allie, along with a cast of top creators, for an exclusive preview of all that Dark Horse has to offer in the coming year. THIS IS THE BIG ONE. Dark Horse breaks the mold with a format you’ve never seen. Make sure you’re able to say you were there when a new era in panels was ushered in. With breaking news on all of your favorite Dark Horse titles, major announcements and surprise guests, be the first to know about heroes, horror and more!
11:00 – 12:00 Room 2

Gerard Way Panel
2:15 – 3:15 Room 6DE

Hellboy Panel
4:30 – 5:30 Room 4

El Cortez Memories (Featuring Moderator David Scroggy, of Dark Horse)
5:00 – 6:00 Room 2

SUNDAY JULY 26

Emily the Strange Panel
11:00 – 12:00 Room 2

Usagi Yojimbo 25th Anniversary Panel
1:30 – 2:30 Room 8

“Grandville and the Art of Anthropomorphic Comic Tradition”
A presentation by Bryan Talbot
3:30 – 4:30 Room 3

Madman

So, honestly, I try not to focus too much on the same artists in these posts, and we just had two posts featuring Rafael Grampá’s art … but this one I just couldn’t pass up.

Tito Nobunaga

Once again Mesmo Delivery creator Rafael Grampá teases the new book he’s working on with writer Daniel Pellizzari — Furry Water — with an illustration of one of the characters, Tito Nobunaga. The book and its publisher will officially be announced at the San Diego Comic-Con later this month.

Rufo from Mesmo Delivery

Here’s a scary sentence: the characters from Rafael Grampá’s Mesmo Delivery will soon jump off the printed page. On his blog, Grampá shows action figure models for Sangrecco and Rufo, the two main characters from the story. The figures are being designed by 3D modeling artist and character designer Rafael Grassetti, and so far they look absolutely stunning.