Broken Frontier

Although she hails all the way from Brazil, Adriana Melo is no stranger to comics. In fact, she’s been working with the likes of Ed Benes, Roger Cruz, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado virtually ever since she was 18 years old.

Now she’s ready to the take the world of one of the hottest characters of the modern day by storm as she takes over from Mike Choi as the new regular penciller on Witchblade. Since Top Cow’s flagship title reached #100 yesterday, the time to introduce Melo to comic fandom at large is now!

BROKEN FRONTIER: Your run on Witchblade started with issue #99, right on time for this month’s shocker one-hundredth instalment. That must be an amazing experience, especially since this is your first long-term, regular assignment on a book!

ADRIANNA MELO: It really makes me feel that chill on my spine when a story of this magnitude has to be drawn! [Laughs] But I have to tell you that working with such an amazing team—Ron Marz, Mariah Benes & Sonia Oback—makes things very easy, because I know that I can count on teamwork, which is really important for me.

BF: As an artist who’s about to make a splash in comics, isn’t it great that you get to jump in and make Witchblade-history right from the get-go?

AM: I think it rocks! Witchblade came into my life at the perfect moment, both personally and professionally speaking. Not to mention that I LOVE a challenge! This is a golden opportunity!

BF: When, actually, did Top Cow first notice your work and offer you the chance to work on their flagship title?

AM: Well, Ron and I had already worked together on Star Wars: Empire. After that, we always wanted to work together again. Then, Ron contacted me and asked if I wanted to make a pinup for Samurai: Heaven & Earth—and of course, I accepted. Besides Ron being a friend, Luke Ross has been a friend of mine for years now too. Following that pin-up, Ron invited me to be the new Witchblade artist, and OF COURSE, I happily accepted the offer.

BF: Joe Prado, who handles your representation in the US, also handles that of artists like Ivan Reis, Ed Benes and Joe Bennett. Have they given you any advice on how to ‘make’ it in comics?

AM: Joe started with me on comics back in the very early 90´s. I was 17 and Joe was 18, and we were both trainees at the Art & Comics International Studios. Back then, almost all artists worked together in the same place; guys like Roger Cruz, Luke Ross and Ed Benes. I don´t have to say that it was a HUGE way to learn things, right? [Laughs]

Then, when I got married and had my beautiful daughter, I stopped working in comics. In the meantime, Joe grew as an artist, and became the man responsible for running Art & Comics, and after that, well, the rest is history!

Today, Joe is a very recognized agent, representing many talented Brazilian artists such as Joe Bennett, Ed Benes, Roger Cruz, Renato Guedes, and Greg Tocchini, to name a few. Joe has given me many valuable tips, and working with him is a true pleasure, because besides being my agent, above that, really, he´s a dear friend.

BF: Back when Witchblade launched in 1996, it was part of a wave of ‘bad girl’ titles and it’s no secret that much of the fan interest the book generated had to do with the sexiness of Sara Pezzini. As a woman, do you have any problems with the way Sara is often portrayed in the series?

AM: Hmmmm... nope. I got that question a LOT lately! But, sincerely, I don’t see any problem in drawing beautiful women. Because that’s what Sara is to me: a beautiful woman, and that’s something very different than having to draw just over-sexualized images. The important thing to me is to always highlight the beauty of the characters. As a woman, that is very important to me.

BF: Not only are you the first female artist on Witchblade, the entire creative team consists of women, with the aforementioned Mariah Benes and Sonia Oback on inks and colors, respectively. Does that create a special atmosphere?

AM: We indeed have what you can call a “special atmosphere”. Mariah and I have many things in common, like, besides being artists we are mothers and love what we do… comics! Add to that the fact that Mariah is the best inker that I´ve ever had—her inks are simply fantastic!

Besides that, what can I say about Sonia? When I first saw her colors on my pages I literally drooled! Her color palette is beautiful and her color choices are remarkable…

Bottom line, I’m VERY happy and proud of the work we three are doing together!

BF: The three of you though must put Ron Marz in a special atmosphere, since he’s the only male creator on the book, which I think is a first-timer for him. Has he said anything about feeling cornered yet? [Laughs]

AM: Hahahah! No, not by any means – Ron is a very good friend and a terrific writer, so he must be very happy to be working with 3 women.

BF: Seriously, Ron’s first 20 issues have generated a buzz Witchblade hadn’t experienced for a long time. In your opinion, what has made his run thus far so strong?

AM: My impression is that Sara´s stories have become more real under Ron’s guidance. Sara has become a more believable character and the stories haven’t dealt so much with the fantasy side of the Witchblade mythos anymore. Ron´s run left behind the “metal-bikini” days... and as a reader I thought that’s been much more interesting.

BF: Another ‘first’ is that in the storyline starting this summer, Sara Pezzini will no longer be wielding the Witchblade. If done wrong, this could simply be seen as a mere stunt. Why isn’t that the case here?

AM: I KNOW that we’re going to do the right thing. Trust me. [Laughs] Ron and Renae (Geerlings –ed.), my boss and editor, have been doing a lot of research and made tons of notes about the new lead-character. So it´s a very properly thought-through idea, not just a lame stunt to bring in new readers. We are all very excited and feel sure that we are doing the right thing here.