Thomas Velazquez, 27, works for Marvel Comics.
He has a COOL JOB as a Digital Cover Coordinator for Spiderman.
Watch a short video about:
Comic Covers
Computer Work
The word is that people wait a year to have a tour of the Marvel Comics office building and here's why:
"We have some fun here," said Velazquez. The Marvel offices on Park Avenue in New York City are most comic book junkies dream. Walls are covered with comic book covers, raw sketches and unique art. There are huge Incredible Hulk, X-Men and Iron Man posters hanging and every Friday, Spider Man comes through the office with a group of students and gives a tour. He tells the history of Marvel and explains how a comic book is printed and published. They all gawk at the artists as they are hard at work creating superheros and villains.
Velazquez's editor sits on his Spider Man patterned couch and critiques his latest color cover design. They discuss the color tones and determine whether the right mood is emitted from the cover that Velazquez has been working on. He sits in front of his computer all day and digitally designs covers of Spider Man. He designs covers, works on logos/legal marks and does graphic design layout. He uses Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator computer programs. This is the pattern that Velazquez works through each day. If changes need to be made, he works for a while and then shows his work to his editor again. This continues until they are satisfied.
High Five:
A good day at work for Velazquez is when nobody interrupts him and he is offered a lot of freelance gigs.
Down Low:
"A bad day at work is when there are changes after changes after changes."
How He Got This Gig:
"I have loved comic books since I was very young. I was always drawing and when I got my hands on my first computer, that was it, I was hooked." His first big break was in 1991 when he got an internship at Marvel. He was in his 2nd year of college and worked after classes and every Friday for a year - FOR FREE! "Actually, I worked every spare moment I had." He has been at Marvel since then.
Education:
Associates degree in art and advertising from New York City Technical College in Brooklyn.
Favorites:
Velazquez takes the most pride in his Peter Parker #20 Spiderman cover.
Ultimate Dream:
Velazquez wants to create a video game. Even better - he wants to create an online Superhero Universe!!
Did You Know?
Velazquez said that he rarely gets any feedback from the artists who draw the spiderman cover designs. He's only had one complaint from an artist!
When asked if he thinks comic books sometimes send messages of violence and brutality to kids he said no. "If anything, comic books inspire kids to draw and use their talents. I like to encourage them to stay off the streets and drawing may do that."
For More Information:
Marvel
