Broken Frontier

The names of Ian Culbard, Nick Smith, Adam Adamowicz, Andrew Krahnke, Jacob Chabot and Rafael Silveira probably don't ring a bell with you. However, on January 4, 2006, you will become a little more familiar with these six gentlemen when they make their comic book debut in Dark Horse's New Recruits anthology.

In case you don't remember, the anthology is the result of the 'New Recruits Contest' Dark Horse held from late 2003 to early 2004 in the hopes of finding new talent. And the company did. The six finalists were asked to submit original stories, tales that will find their way to a store near you early next year.

Each Thursday, we take a closer look at one of these horsemen of the future so you can get more acquainted with them. On duty today is Brazilian writer and artist Rafael Silveira.

Saluting the New Recruits - Part I: Andrew Krahnke

BROKEN FRONTIER: What do you do in real life?

RAFAEL SILVEIRA: As an artist, I go by the initials RHS; I use them as a signature to my work. In real life, I´m an art director for a Brazilian advertisement agency.

BF: At what point did you decide to enter Dark Horse’s “New Recruits” contest?

RS: As soon as I heard about it, I decided to send a project.

BF: Did you have any experience in visual storytelling before you sent your submission of to Dark Horse?

RS: Yeah. I´ve been making comics since I was 8 years old. My work has been published in several fanzines and independent magazines in Brazil.

BF: Many of today’s current writers and artists have been die-hard fans of comics ever since they were kids. Has becoming a professional comic book creator always been a dream job?

RS: Yes, still is.

BF: Out of all the comics you read during your childhood, which books appealed to you the most, and why?

RS: As a child, Disney and Mad were my absolute favorites. I didn’t like the stories very much, but I enjoyed the drawings. That changed when I first saw a Crumb story.

BF: What about the current comic book landscape? What are some of your favorite reads today?

RS: There´s a lot of interesting work out there, I would really like to be part of that scene. It might sound a bit pretentious, but I really think I can contribute something fresh and new. Nowadays, my favorites are Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Dave Cooper, Charles Burns, Blanquet and some other guys.

BF: Has your perception of comics changed, both in terms of comics as a medium and how the industry works, now that you’ve got a story being published at a major company?

RS: To tell you the truth, I still don’t know much about the comics industry, how it works and everything else. This is my first major work. I hope to be forced to know more about this subject very soon. [Laughs]

BF: What is the story you submitted about?

RS: It’s called “Discreet Despair” and it is about violence that people are submitted every second of the day in real life.

BF: Why did you decide to enter the “New Recruits” program with this particular tale?

RS: There was a lot of technical freedom in the anthology. That freedom allowed me to do a quite long and 100% coloured story. It was an old script, waiting for the right chance. It finally came, so I decided to give it a go.

BF: Where did you get your inspiration from when conceiving Discreet Despair?

RS: I had a very bad day and before I went to sleep, I decided to write something like a prayer, without really thinking too much into it. From that I got some cool sentences, and then I thought about turning that into a story. Then I realised I could tell this tale in a very unusual way, and I think that is what makes the story interesting and strong.