UP & COMING: GABRIEL BAUTISTA

[MattBrady]

by Chris Arrant

While some of us may be delighted by the biggest and the most popular in the world of comics, we all realize that for every popular book, writer or artist there has to be a beginning. While there are many ways to success with each story finding its own route, there is one attribute that can be found in each one: talent. Up & Coming is a regular feature at Newsarama.com that seeks out the next generation of comic creators and profiles them today.

Cartoonist Gabriel Bautista has been published in several anthologies that you might have seen and he's the creator of the comics battling site EnterVoid.com. Currently residing in Chicago, Gabriel is full of talent and promise, but even he's not sure what he's going to do with it though.

Newsarama: What are you working on right now?

Gabriel Bautista: At the moment I'm working on creating a new site design for the comic battle website I created called ENTERVOID.com. The site is primarily a comic battle site where you develop your own character and then pit against other artists characters in comic battles. When I take breaks from that though I'm working on a one shot short comic for Pulpo Anthology Vol. 4, being put out by Pulpo Press. That should be out before Christmas I hope!

Primarily though I'm working on a short story for the Popgun anthology that Image is putting out, the story is called Amo Jamon (AH-MOE HA-MO-N), which translates to "I love ham". It's a story about two Hispanic-ish guys, one pig guy and a croc dude. The pig guy ends up coming down with some terminal cancer, and it's just a little story of how this pig guy lives his life when he shuts himself out from the world.

NRAMA:What are your major goals for yourself in comics?

GB:One of my biggest goals for myself in comics is to put out a graphic novel that will make people cry. And I don't mean the type of crying where it's so good that they cried in pure joy of its epicness... but a book that truthfully makes someone cry. The type of tears that you see come out of a kids face when the kid has to shoot his own dog in "Old Yeller; real emotion. Its not just tears though, in essence I want people to walk away from my book and take a deep breath and say wow... that was so inspiring, I should: go call my mom, hug my dog, plant a tree, kiss my children, make some pie for the homeless dude on 34th and Jackson. That goal though ties into a goal that is equally as important to me and that's making comics popular among adults. I mean sure, there's plenty of "adults" who read comics, but I mean ALL adults. I want to help the world understand that comics are just as intellectual and amazing as any novel you can pick up at the check out lanes at Wal-Mart.

NRAMA: You're currently in school at the Illinois Institute of Art. What are you majoring in, and can you tell us about your work there?

GB: I actually just started schooling there in February, and I'm still deciding whether I want to stick to animation or game art design. I'm stuck in the "fundamentals" classes right now, which can get pretty lame, but its nice to revisit some of the old stuff that you've forgotten or never really understood. The primary reason for me going though is to get an education so I can get a job that can actually put me in a comfortable financial position (I know I know, you can never really be comfortable financially, but I can dream cant I?). I know comics aren't going to feed me unless I turn into the next big thing (and we all know how hard that is), but also I don't want to turn to comics to feed me. I don't want comics to turn into a job that I resent doing. Comics are my lover and I don't want to have to rely on her to keep me alive. I want to be able to spend my nights and weekends with her, while she makes sweet love to me. Not so distant secondary reason for school is...getting an education also helps with the parents, its something I can show to mom and dad and say "hey look, I'm not the high school dropout, loser artist that you think I was."

NRAMA: Just to clarify… you love comics but don't want to do it as your career?

GB: At this point in my life I don't want it to be, no. Right now i want comics to be more of a hobby... something I can do for fun, and not have to worry about getting done if I want to keep my family alive. I especially don't want to be forced to pick up jobs that are lame, just to put food in my belly or pay bills to keep a roof over our heads. I feel like its those kind of situations that start to put people into a stressful mindset and they begin to resent that which they love. I guess things change when you have a family you want to take care of you know? Don't get me wrong, if I were a single guy living on my own or with the parents, I would hop a plane and go live with my boys down in Seattle and do what i can to survive on comics, lose a few pounds in the process too I imagine [laughs]

But really, where i stand in my life right now, I don't want to lose that love for comics like I know some people have... so I will keep it as a hobby. Who knows, maybe in a few years when I'm a bigger boy, and my skills are stronger...I will change my mind.

NRAMA: Pulpo Press is releasing your first graphic novel in 2008. Can you tell us about that?

GB: The book is called Tout Le Monde: The Hunny Bunn Exchange. It's a story of two bread persons, Sally Rollson and Frenchee Baguette, who are recruited against their will by a mob boss named Don Bolio (another bread person). They're sent off to a neighboring insect planet called Abispa De Miel. Reason being is that Sally and Frenchee are two of the few bread persons on Pan Mundo (their home planet) that were created without sugar. This is helpful, as the planet is run by muscle-bound bees that have a keen smell for sugar. So they run off into that planet to rescue a tastey Ms. Hunny Bunn, Don Bolio's mistress. My goal was to make the book LOOK like it could be for children, but should never be introduced to anyone who still wets their bed.

NRAMA: You've also done work with Pulpo Press in the past, on their anthologies. Are those still available? If so, how?

GB: I've done work in the past three Pulpo anthologies, and you can pick those up off the website, pulpopress.com. The books contain 12 to 15 different self-contained stories, with people like James Stokoe, Brandon Graham, and a slew of other internet up and comers. The books are fun reads, and really dig into the soul of what is to be a dreamer.

For more information on Gabriel Bautista and his work, visit his website at galvo.respark.net.

[Hobowatcher]

Great looking stuff. This is a must buy.

[Andre]

Awww yeah! Galvo is the bomb!

[CitC]

That goal though ties into a goal that is equally as important to me and that's making comics popular among adults.

That is a great goal, but it takes the wind out of the question I had when I saw the first image above (boy and girl in the box/space bus). I was going to ask if it was from a kids book or an all ages comic he was developing. Maybe it is, but it doesn't sound like the direction he is going in right now.

[GeorgeG]

Originally Posted by CitC

That is a great goal, but it takes the wind out of the question I had when I saw the first image above (boy and girl in the box/space bus). I was going to ask if it was from a kids book or an all ages comic he was developing. Maybe it is, but it doesn't sound like the direction he is going in right now.

IMO that top image is his best artistic work. I briefly checked out his site hoping to find more, but didn't see any more of it.