Broken Frontier

A picture is often times worth a thousand words, and that’s certainly true in the case of painter Paolo Rivera. He’s just been signed to an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics.

“I feel wonderful!” says Rivera, reflecting upon his new deal with the House of Ideas.

“Marvel’s a company I’ve always loved, and the people I work with are the best in the business. Admittedly, I haven’t been in the business that long, but being any better than my main editor, Tom Brevoort, would be pointless. It would be like having 13 white chocolate macadamia nut cookies instead of 12.”

Rivera’s lush painted work has graced the covers of books that run the gamut of Marvel properties, including IRON MAN, X-MEN UNLIMITED, FANTASTIC FOUR, HAWKEYE, and SILVER SURFER.  This is an artist who loves the Marvel Universe and its myriad characters, though he admits he may not get to illustrate all his favorites. “I’m a huge fan of both Spidey and Wolvie, but I don’t think there will be a shortage of books if I decide not to paint them,” says Rivera, chuckling.

The MU work that Rivera is most proud of are his forceful covers for the SABRETOOTH miniseries and the only full issue of a title he’s done to date, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #14. If he had his pick, he’d love to return to the character of the Silver Surfer for an ongoing series. “He has so much untapped potential,” Rivera notes. “And he’s chrome! There is one reason why creative people throughout history have become painters: so they can render shiny objects.”

“Paolo on Silver Surfer?” queries Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. “How cool would that be? In fact anything that he paints would be cool! Paolo’s an exacting craftsman, a dynamic talent, and one heckuva nice guy…Marvel hits the jackpot again. Welcome aboard, m’man!”

He may not have been in the industry for long, but one talent Rivera definitely has down pat is that infuriating creator tendency towards secrecy on upcoming projects. “I’m not sure if I can say anything specific,” says the artist coyly. “But what I’m working on is so huge, it’ll pretty much take up the entire length of the contract to complete. I already have my dream job, so I suppose this would qualify as my dream project. And it’s with a writer whose work I love and who has a superb approach to collaboration. In addition to that, I’m currently painting a series of covers starring the most evil Marvel supervillain on the planet…”

When news breaks of Rivera’s latest projects, you can be sure to find it at Marvel.com. Please also visit the artist’s own website, www.paolorivera.com, for more glimpses of his beautiful artwork.