What about Bob? RPW Comic Book Aicrtist
The RealProWrestling (RPW) comic book, “A New League of Superheroes,” is a fresh outlook on the sport of wrestling and will be available July 23 for wrestling fans and comic book junkies alike. Much like the rigorous training schedule of wrestlers, bringing the concept of RPW Superheroes such as Ourtage, Freeze and Groove to life was no small feat. Ending many months of story lines, sketching and unpredictable set-backs, Bob Lewis, graphic artist for RPW, has created the first ever wrestling comic book.
It takes years of practice and discipline to be able to communicate a story by picture. Fortunately, Lewis started early. However, his gift of art and story-telling has not always been appreciated. Lewis recalls, “I used to get in trouble for drawing in class back in elementary school and from there it just kept going.”
Art brought Lewis to the Mecca of cartoons “Disney. Hired by Disney Design Group, Lewis began to draw the famous Disney characters for the theme park merchandise. Noting that working at Disney is not the same as vacationing there, Lewis completed his internship for one of the most creative companies on the planet. Moving to Chicago after his internship proved to be a smart move for Lewis. He joined forces with Big Idea, the creators of Veggie Tales, as a character artist and then a digital modeler. Gaining experience and industry clout for 4 years, Big Idea fell on hard times and Lewis was laid off. Lewis recalls, “a friend of my wife’s family said that her son might be looking for an artist. That son was Toby Willis, co-founder and President of RealProWrestling.”
The rest is history. Lewis is now the graphic artist at RealProWrestling and glad to be here. Soon after his arrival, Lewis was charged with the duty of creating pictures from words and inspiring wrestlers through the medium of comics. So how does an artist begin to tell the story of a top secret group of super heroes who’s power is their incredible hand to hand combat skill and who’s accomplishments include saving the world?
The end product speaks for itself, but the man hours put into this innovation are countless. Lewis explained his methods, “I referenced many other comic books to see the way they were laid out and colored. After receiving the script I was able to figure out how many frames I needed per page, and tried to make the frame layout flow with the story. From there it was just finding the best composition per frame to make it interesting to read and view. As for the drawings themselves I started every drawing with a blue line pencil sketch. Once that was approved I scanned the drawing in to the computer and inked it . . . ”
Bob Lewis is the artist behind the RPW comic book and the action heroes we have cheered for during the first season of RealProWrestling. Despite a few events that pushed the schedule back, including the RPW home office burning down and the birth of Lewis’s first child, Sophia, the project is near completion and a “New League of Super Heroes” comic will hit the web store on July 23. So be sure to buy a copy to see how wrestling and art collide into the first ever wrestling comic book.
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