Paolo Manuel Rivera is an American comic book artist. He is known for illustrating the Mythos series of one-shots and several issues of Spider-Man as well as his collaboration with writer Mark Waid, his father/inker Joe Rivera and colorist Javier Rodríguez on Daredevil. Although gaining acclaim and recognition through his early fully painted works, he has since moved on to more traditional comics process of pencilling, inking, and coloring (with some occasional sculpting).[1][2]

Paolo Rivera
Rivera at the 2008 Big Apple Convention in Manhattan
BornPaolo Manuel Rivera
1981 (age 42–43)
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Area(s)Penciller, Inker
Notable works
Mythos, Daredevil
paolorivera.blogspot.com

Early life

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Rivera graduated from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration in 2003.[3] While at RISD, he studied under comic book artist and writer David Mazzucchelli and spent his junior year studying in Rome.[4] He met his future spouse, April Kuo while in college, together they have one child.[3][5]

Career

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By his senior year at RISD, Rivera was already creating covers and pin-ups for writer Jim Krueger, whom he had previously met at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida while still in high school.[4] Together they worked on a number of personal projects and pitches including Children of the Left Hand (the story of Mary-Shelly, which presented a younger take on Frankenstein's Monster; 2 covers, 6 pages of interior art and 1 poster were completed) and various other covers and pin-ups none of which were ultimately released.[6]

Thanks in part to Krueger, Rivera began to work for Marvel Comics in 2002. His first interior work was an 11-page painted Dr. Doom story in Marvel Double Shot #2. Since then Rivera has worked primarily for Marvel, even signing an exclusive contract in 2008.[2][7]

Upon the expiration of the contract and after ten years of almost exclusive work for Marvel, Rivera announced his departure from the company.

So why am I leaving? The short answer: ownership. With the exception of just a few published pieces of art (which belong to other companies), Marvel owns the copyrights to my entire professional portfolio. And why shouldn't they? I was, of course, compensated fairly for it, and for that I’m grateful — but the sum total of that work is not enough to support me in the distant future. My page rate is essentially the same as when I started at 21, so I've decided to invest in myself. What I create in the next decade needs to pay dividends when my vision gets blurry and my hands start to shake (and who knows what else). Now is the time to make that choice, while I’m still young, possess "great power," but have few responsibilities.[8]

Since then, he has illustrated The Valiant, a millennia-spanning event for the revived Valiant Entertainment[9] and several issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy and the B.P.R.D..

Rivera created the poster for the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s episode "Providence".[10]

Bibliography

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Interior comic work includes:

Covers only

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Awards

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  • 2012 Eisner Award, Best Single Issue (or One-Shot), for Daredevil #7 (shared with Mark Waid, Marcos Martín and his father/inker, Joe Rivera)[11]
  • 2012 Eisner Award, Best Continuing Series, for Daredevil (shared with Mark Waid, Marcos Martín and his father/inker, Joe Rivera)[11]
  • 2012 Harvey Award, Best New Series, for Daredevil

References

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  1. ^ Rivera, Paolo (August 19, 2013). "Red Sonja Sculpture". The Self-Absorbing Man.
  2. ^ a b Renaud, Jeffrey (August 15, 2008). "Rivera to Draw "Amazing Spider-Man"". CBR.
  3. ^ a b "RISD XYZ Fall/Winter 2018/19". Issuu. December 21, 2018. p. 79. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Paccia, David (November 9, 2011). "Cartoonist Surey #248: Paolo Rivera". DAVID WASTING PAPER.
  5. ^ "RISD XYZ Fall/Winter 2014/15". Issuu. November 24, 2014. p. 61. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  6. ^ "Repped Artists: Paolo Rivera" Splash Page Comic Art.
  7. ^ Smith, Nathan (July 26, 2008). "SDCC '08: Paolo Rivera Goes Exclusive". Marvel.com.
  8. ^ Rivera, Paolo (June 18, 2012). "End of an Era". The Self-Absorbing Man.
  9. ^ Valiant Voice, The (July 11, 2014). "Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt, and Paolo Rivera Join THE VALIANT". Valiant Entertainment.
  10. ^ Towers, Andrea (April 10, 2014). "'Agents of SHIELD': New initiative art teases team divide – Exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Henson Tale of Sand and Daredevil Big Winners at 2012 Eisner Awards" Archived November 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Comic-Con.org. July 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
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