'O Maestro, o Cuco e a Lenda'.
Wagner Willian is a Brazilian comic artist, sculptor, painter and illustrator, known for his experimental graphic novels 'Bulldogma' (2016) and 'O Maestro, O Cuco e a Lenda' (2017).
Early life and career
Wagner Willian was born in 1978 in Natal and studied at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP) in São Paulo to become a Marketing and Advertising Technician. He worked in a book store, but resigned in 2006 to make his first art exhibition, entitled 'Abate'. Since then, he has worked as a professional artist. He initially worked for an illustration agency, but later became a freelance artist.
Lobisomem sem Barba
In 2014, Balão Editorial released his first illustrated book 'Lobisomem Sem Barba' with, for which he was responsible for both texts and illustrations. The book mixes short stories mixed with illustrations, all connected in a non-linear style by the beard wire of a young werewolf (the book's name is literally "Werewolf without beard"). Willian's main inspiration for this book was Chris Ware. The following year, 'Lobisomem Sem Barba' won the Jabuti Prize, a traditional Brazilian literary prize, in the category "Best Illustrations".
'Deus é o Jiraya'.
Bulldogma
After several experiences with illustrations and painting, Willian's first comic was the short webcomic 'Deus é o Jiraya' (2015) on the website Nébula. He subsequently published his first graphic novel, 'Bulldogma' (Veneta, 2016), which earned him the Troféu HQ Mix, the most important Brazilian comic book award, in the category "New Talent (Writer)". This graphic novel mixes science fiction and philosophy and has a narrative with strong influence of the French cinema of the Nouvelle Vague. The artist refers to several films in his book, especially the ones by director François Truffaut. To promote the graphic novel, Wagner launched an interview blog in which the book's fictitious protagonist Deisy Mantovani interviews several important names of the Brazilian comic scene, such as Laerte, Fabio Moon and Marcelo D'Salete. Since the interviews were excellent, the publisher decided to collect them in a book called 'O Flerte da Mulher Barbada', naturally with illustrations by Willian.
O Maestro, o Cuco e a Lenda
In 2017, Willian published the graphic novel 'O Maestro, o Cuco e a Lenda', by the author's own imprint Texugo Editora. It tells the story of a man who, after his grandfather's death, must sell a farmhouse where he had spent his childhood. When he arrives at this place, he regresses to a child's age and goes through surreal and macabre situations. This book met with great success and, even before its launch, had its rights sold to Portugal (Polvo) and France (Casterman), an unusual situation for Brazilian graphic novels.
'Bulldogma'.