Meet the Brazilian who inspired the look of the Aquaman movie

Ivan Reis is an internationally recognized comic book artist and was responsible for replacing Aquaman among the most popular superheroes. In December, the character’s first solo film hits theaters and his look was inspired exactly by the drawings made by the Brazilian.

To celebrate the work of this great artist, the awesome.club gathered stories and curiosities about Ivan Reis, while you wait for the premiere of “Aquaman”, starring Hawaiian Jason Momoa.

Although he started working for the publisher DC Comics in 2004, Ivan Reis produces his works in his studio in the city of São Bernardo do Campo, in Greater São Paulo, where he was born. It was from there that sagas with heroes like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and, of course, Aquaman, among others, came out.

It was when Ivan Reis took on the traits of Aquaman, in 2012, that the superhero underwent a major transformation. Until then, the king of Atlantis was practically something of a joke, the character who telepathically communicated with sea creatures and rode dolphins or seahorses. It was at this stage that the “Throne of Atlantis” saga emerged, the main inspiration for the film starring Jason Momoa and directed by James Wan.

It was Ivan Reis who conceived a poster delivered exclusively to fans in 2018 during San Diego Comic Con, the largest pop culture convention in the world. On his Facebook page, the artist showed how the creation process was.

Did you think Ivan Reis only worked for DC Comics? Found it wrong! The Brazilian also lent his talent to some of the most relevant Marvel characters, including Iron Man, Avengers, Defenders, and made a saga about Vision, who today is one of the Marvel Studios characters in cinema. And how many characters have you drawn? “Hundreds,” he says.

The comic book artist’s career began in the early 1990s, with True Stories of Dracula. He recognizes the importance he had for his career, but he also confesses that a lot has changed. “There was a lot of transformation in the final art, because the work I delivered was much worse”, he jokes.

After his debut with the Dracula drawings, Ivan Reis went to the most famous house of Brazilian comic books: the Maurício de Sousa studios. He was just over 15 years old when he participated in the team that created the adventures of Monica’s Gang.

Now tell us: do you like Aquaman and are you looking forward to the movie? Tell us which other comic book characters you like!