Name: Sergio Ríos
Website: sergioriosart.deviantart.com
Favorite Comic Book Character Growing Up: Batman/Spider-Man
Favorite Comic Book Character Now: Invincible
TrunkSpace: How would you describe your art style?
Ríos: I like to mix some manga style with the classic American comic book art and add some cartoony stuff onto it.
TrunkSpace: How important were comic books in your life growing up and is that where you discovered your love and inspiration for drawing?
Ríos: I’ve loved comic books since I was a kid. Thanks to them, I started drawing and reading.
TrunkSpace: Was there a particular artist or title from your childhood that you remember being drawn to and inspired by?
Ríos: I loved (and still do) Bruce Timm’s style. So simple, and at the same time, very cool and unique.
TrunkSpace: Is there a particular character or universe you always find yourself returning to when you’re sketching or doing
warm-ups?
Ríos: When I’m doing sketches and warm-ups, I like to revisit some of my childhood cartoon characters like He-Man, Spider-Man, Batman, the Fantastic Four, etc.
TrunkSpace: Is there a specific title or character that you’d like to work on in the future and why?
Ríos: I’d love to work on cool characters that broke with the regular comic book standards like Squirrel Girl, Gwenpool, Invincible, Judge Dredd, etc.
TrunkSpace: What would you say is your greatest strength as an artist?
Ríos: I think that I’m fast and that I have a good storytelling.
TrunkSpace: You’re tackling a series that stars a character based on the likeness of international soccer star Neymar Jr. Did you feel pressure in having to deliver artistically on something where the lead character was an actual person?
Ríos: Well, not really. I studied a lot of Neymar Jr. pictures and interviews, so I try to put his personal mannerisms and likeness into the character.
TrunkSpace: What was your approach like as a whole when you started working on the series? What did you want to achieve?
Ríos: Well, it’s really cool stuff. I love to work on comics that the whole family can enjoy.
TrunkSpace: There are some great monsters in the series, all based on items of historical significance. How much fun was it to get to draw something that is so outside of reality, but at the same time, founded in these sort of snippets from the past?
Ríos: It is really very fun because I can play with those historical characters and give them a cool spin, turning them into big, giant monsters.
TrunkSpace: What are you most proud of with your work on Social Monsters?
Ríos: That it’s something that my children can actually read, and enjoy. Sometimes I work with violent characters or things that they can’t see, but with “Social Monsters,” it’s very safe and cool that they can read it.
Social Monsters premieres today at www.neymarjrcomics.com.
