Few artists working today can convey heart, humor, and heroism with the same immediacy as Bruno Redondo. Whether it’s the warmth of Dick Grayson’s smile or the explosive choreography of a fight scene, his pages invite readers into the emotional core of DC’s most beloved characters. With The DC Art of Bruno Redondo, Clover Press brings together the moments that have made fans fall in love with his work. In this interview, Redondo reflects on the stories that shaped him, the collaborators who inspire him, and the artistic philosophy behind his unmistakable style.
Creative Beginnings
GVN: Thank you, Bruno, for sharing just a bit of your day. Since this is our first opportunity to chat, I’d like to start with some of your creative beginnings. When did you first take an interest in comic art, and which books or creators inspired that desire to pursue that goal?
BRUNO: I fell in love with comics before learning to read (comics actually strongly motivated me to learn), and I’ve tried to express myself using panels ever since I can remember. Maybe the first artists that pushed me to do comics were Akira Toriyama & Francisco Ibañez, but I remember saying to myself, “This is what I’m gonna do in my life” reading Incredible Hulk by Peter David & Gary Frank—and then Alan Davis, Carlos Pacheco, John Romita Jr, Adam & Andy Kubert, George Perez… I could keep going! I love comics thanks to all the amazing artists & writers out there—they taught me.
Transitioning from Traditional to Digital
GVN: As your artistic career blossomed, how has your artistic process evolved from your early comic projects to your more recent work?
BRUNO: I lived through the whole transition from paper to digital. Right now, digital work is my main base, but ironically I apply the rule to myself to not use resources/renderings that I couldn’t replicate working with ink & paper. I also went back to ink some of my pages and all the covers in paper, to connect again with physical work… I also went from improvising layouts on the fly (not sure of the expression, I mean just as another quick development phase, nothing important) to focusing on layout phase as the most important of the whole process: now I spend several days deciding the whole layout of a single issue and make every important decision there, so the rest of the process becomes just to draw.
‘The DC Art of Bruno Redondo’ with Clover Press
GVN: Now, let’s get to the big news that brings us to you today. Clover Press’ The DC Art of Bruno Redondo. As you were approached for this project, and seeing your work collected for this book, what hits you first — pride, nostalgia, or something else entirely?
BRUNO: I love these kinds of books, art books that travel along the artist’s career, showing unpublished stuff as well as some of the inner thoughts and memories from the artist. I consider it a gift when an artist I admire stops to develop something like this, which allows me to take a look behind the curtain and read about their thoughts on their works… For me, it’s something important to give back some of what I got, and sharing this with the people interested in my work is a huge opportunity. We have been working a lot to find everything that captures different stages of my artistic development, including a lot of unpublished material and making-of stuff of works you already know. We are still adding things, and I can’t wait for you to see what’s coming, but I’m putting everything on the table.
Building the Collection
GVN: Once this project got underway, how hands‑on were you in shaping what made it into the book, and what did you want it to say about your journey at DC?
BRUNO: It’s still a work-in-progress, but I’m trying to reflect some of my career all along, while also giving more space/focus to last year’s development, which I think readers could be more interested in. I had to count on help for this, because the vault of my whole work, physical and digital, was madness—so to dig, process, catalogue and select what to include has been pure archeology. The results were worth the effort and even helped me to organize myself.
“This is ME”
GVN: As you reviewed which art would be included, is there a piece or sequence in the collection that feels like a personal “this is me” moment as an artist?
BRUNO: There’s a bunch of them. I especially hope readers will enjoy some of the process (pencils, inks. early color sketches) as I do, because sometimes when you finish a piece you get exactly where you were looking to get, but you discover some of the steps you did to get there are important to you too as they looked. So, yeah, you’ll find a lot of pure “me” moments there, for better or worse!
The Impact of Looking Back
GVN: Additionally, while revisiting your catalog for the book, did anything surprise you — maybe a forgotten piece or something that landed differently with time as you reviewed it?
BRUNO: Can’t tell you which, but yes, that happened. It’s interesting, because every artist is their own worst critic, but once time passes it’s easier to make peace with yourself and be more objective with your own work, so it’s been an opportunity to heal myself.
Possible Extras in the Kickstarter Campaign
GVN: Clover Press will be bringing this book to Kickstarter (which they are extremely good at). What will fans find when they visit this campaign, besides a beautiful collection of your favorite art pieces?
BRUNO: This is the thing: we have permission to add some extra books/publications together with this main DC Art book. I can’t say what yet, but there’s a few cool things; some of them are ideas I have been pushing to publish before, so I’m really excited for you to know. You can follow Clover Press’ pre-launch page to know what I’m talking about as soon as we launch the official campaign.
Putting it ALL Out There
GVN: Thank you again for visiting with us, Bruno. Before I let you go, when all is said and done, and this book is in the hands of eager fans, what do you hope readers notice when they slow down and take in your pages outside the pace of a monthly issue?
BRUNO: I just hope you notice I’m saving nothing for me. If I do something like this in the future, I’ll need to generate new material to share, because we are putting almost everything here, and I consider it a great new communication bridge with fans and friends.
The Kickstarter Campaign for Clover Press’ The DC Art of Bruno Redondo launched on March 2nd. You can check out the campaign and order this exciting art book here.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
