iFanboy Upstarts: Sam Lotfi

Some creators strike it hot on their first outing in comics, while others meander in and out of comics while pushing their artistry in other mediums like animation, magazine illustration and other areas. Take, for instance, Amanda Conner — although it might seem like she’s had a rocket strapped to her back since she debuted in comics, she’s spent considerable time doing work outside comics before pushing herself to be a full-time comics artist. In this week’s iFanboy Upstarts, we uncover an artist who debuted nine years ago but is just now  doing his third major comic.

Although he technically made his comics debut way back in 2003, artist Sam Lotfi just recently renewed his interest and made serious strides to take the comics world by storm. This Austin-based artist broke into comics back in 2003 at Antarctic Press, writing a short-lived series called Rehd  and followed that up with another series titled Freedom Quest. After that, he switched focus away from comics into the world of animation, where he’s made a living these past few years. In 2010 he began some tentative steps back into comics by illustrating the kids book Don’t Be Afraid To Tell, followed by beginning work on a creator-owned graphic novel titled Reckless. So far only a ashcan preview of the latter has come out, but Lotfi is reportedly working on putting out the full version later this year. Another project I managed to find, with a little digging, was that Lotfi is working with Jimmy Palmiotti on a new Painkiller Jane story, although where and when that will see print remains to be seen.

Early examples of Lotfi’s work show a bouncy style most people would compare to Joe Madureira, but as Lotfi’s portfolio expands you’ll see a very broad range of talent that makes him a unique player no matter what he’s drawing.

 

 

Comments

  1. Wow

  2. LOVE those Superman pages. The Superman and WW, Noir Warmup, and Jonah Hex piece are all fantastic, too. Looking forward to more from Sam.

  3. I love this feature. Always introduces me to great art.

  4. Sam’s work is so fun and expressive! Perfect for comic book storytelling. I’ve gotten to meet him a number of times down here in Texas…great guy and such an amazing artist. Awesome feature!

  5. That’s some amazing talent and skill there. His use of pantomime and ‘camera’ angles in those Superman pages are really awesome.

    Very inspiring stuff.