RICH INTERVIEWS: Alan Faria

From: https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/rich-interviews-alan-faria
By Richard Vasseur

First Comics News: How did you discover you wanted to be an artist?

Alan Faria: When I was a kid, I liked Bruce Lee fighting movies, so I saw a Bruce Lee comic book for the first time… I copied several scenes from this book. Then the X-Men animated series from the 90s arrived… so I ran to look for this comic book, then I found a Wolverine/Spider-man comic drawn by Eric Larsen (Marvel Comics Presents 48), somewhere in this comic book Wolverine shows his claws and says: “Come to papa”, this scene made me want to be a comic book artist.

1^st: How did you end up working on “Lynx”?

Alan: Rik Offenberger gave me this gift, Lynx has claws too, I really like that! I drew Mateo and Maya in the Simon N. Kirby: The Agent comic.. after drawing Simon, Lynx was my favorite to draw, I made some beautiful pages there, check it out, and it was a great gift to draw some Lynx books.

1^st: When drawing Lynx, is it harder because Lynx is two people of different sexes?

Alan: Lynx’s costumes for both Mateo and Maya are very similar. I like to exaggerate in practically everything I draw, men tend to look stronger than normal, and women tend to look sexier… I think, lol, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing, but that’s what happens.

1^st: On “Lynx,” which villain have you had the most fun drawing?

Alan: I liked them all, the Akiton duo in question #3 was cool… but my favorite so far was drawing Vancejo, who looked like a huge black stain contrasting with the light color of Lynx’s costume.

1^st: Which character do you prefer drawing, Mateo Martinez or Maya Santiago?

Alan: I like both, but I could draw an issue with just Maya. haha

1^st: Have you or would you like to work on any other comics from G-Man Comics?

Alan: I like all the comics by G-Man, and I would be happy to draw them all.

I drew some issues of Simon N. Kirby: The Agent and Lynx, and I loved doing that.. There were always so many different characters in the same comic. That’s fantastic. Who knows, maybe one day G-Man will call me to do that again.

1^st: What can you tell us about your work at Argo Comics on Marshal Strong?

Alan: This was one of the first art requests, my start as a comic book colorist. It was fantastic, I am extremely grateful to Argo Comics and Michael Desharnais I added my colors to art by artist Elton Thomasi, a long-time friend of mine, that’s great!

1^st: How do you try to improve your art style?

Alan: I need to do more studies, courses, classes, etc.

I’ve always really enjoyed doing this, but when people ask me for artwork, I end up spending a lot of time without dedicating myself to studying. I want to go back to maintaining this study time again.

1^st: What comics did you most like working on at DC Comics and why?

Alan: I did some coloring for some DC Comics animatics, which was a long time ago. I didn’t work on comic books. What I enjoyed most about that was coloring some scenes in which Wonder Woman and Donna Troy appeared.

1^st: Why would one want to become a colorist for comic books?

Alan: There are fantastic comics without colors, really good things, but with colors magic happens, a great variety of nuances and sensations are created with colors, we already see good artists with bad colors, and this hinders the artist, but I have also seen not so good artists and the colors help this comic a lot. I have seen several artists with different styles and a single color style mix this connecting one art to another, and this being very good, this is my experience with colors.

1^st: What will you be working on next?

Alan: I’m getting back into color. Michael Desharnais asked me to do more colors for Marshal Strong, I’m looking forward to that!

1^st: Who has helped you the most in your comics career?

Alan: Rik Offenberger has been the one who helped me the most in my career so far. I was sick for a time, for months, and he made great efforts to keep me producing during that time. I’ve never seen anything like what Rik did. For me, he was not only a great comics editor, but also a great friend! It’s always an honor to answer Rik and G-Man Comics’ art requests.

1^st: If you joined the G-Man, what would be your superhero name and powers?

Alan: Maybe the name would be the Rule Breaker of comics. hahaha

Based on my real experiences,

Panel Breaker:

Powers: Ability to “step out of the frame” — can teleport by jumping between realities as if crossing the edges of the pages or breaking the “walls” of the narrative.

Inspiration: Breaking the fourth wall and the structure of comics.

Visual: Cracks and tears that look like paper edges when using his powers.

1^st: What would you like to say to all the fans of your art?

Alan: Thank you! Always thank you, be patient, I’m in development