Meet Rafael Flores Jr. | Comic Book Writer and Library Assistant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rafael Flores Jr. and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rafael, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born in Dallas Texas, and raised in DFW my whole life. I grew up in a Mexican American household with a lot of older cousins and an older sister who were into stuff like comics, artwork, horror, and gothic culture. Being around that environment helped create the horror comic book writer you see today.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
There’s very little information out there on how to become a comic book writer. It can feel very daunting and almost impossible to get started, publishers are very unlikely to hire an unexperienced comic book writer. At the beginning I thought it would be pretty easy, but as I quickly found out, making comics is a lot like producing a movie or making a very artistic group project, because nobody can do it alone, you need a writer, editor, artist, colorist, letterer, and a book designer all present and on the same page to make a great book. My first attempt at making a short comic was only about a year ago, it was a 2 page short that I produced on my own as a way of creating my own brand, Camazotz Comics. That 2 page short went on to be a Negative Space Short Comic Finalist, in a short comic contest. It gained the attention of Daniel Grimm who was starting his own publisher, he saw the short and saw the potential in a larger story, and so began the work of creating The Return of Camazotz. One lesson I learned from Daniel that was instrumental to finishing the comic script, was focusing on doing one page a day. Just one page a day is very doable and it’s better than doing 20 pages once a month because it forces you to get into the habit of writing everyday, even when you don’t want to. But a writer who writes a page a day is always going to be ahead of the guy who waits for inspiration to strike.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would check out the Northside Library, that’s where I work and I feel like people should be using their local libraries more, they are basically FREE Blockbusters where you can rent books, dvd, blurays, mobile wifi, laptops, and even video games now. It’s amazing how much cool stuff is at the library and it’s all free! Next we would go get some sushi nearby and then I would take them to Haltom City’s comic book store, Collected Comics and Games for our Sketch Dojo, where fellow creatives, comic artists, writers meet up to draw and talk about the stuff they are working on and just support each other. After that, we’ll go home have a few drinks and watch some horror movies.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have my whole family to thank for helping me and believing in me when I told them I wanted to make comics, it never seemed impossible to them and so it made it feel very doable for me. Even though it was hard to learn how to write comics and create them, especially because I’m not an artist, only a writer, like Stan Lee. But I took a lot of time to study comics and writing in general. I studied Cinematic Comic Book Writing, at the Joe Kubert School, and read every book on the subject I could get my hands on including a lot of screenplay books. Another person who deserves a lot of credit is my editor/publisher Grimmcore Studios (Daniel Grimm) he saw the potential in me and my work, and believed we could create something spectacular for his new publisher and with his guidance I believe we have done so with, The Return of Camazotz.

Website: https://grimmcorestudios.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camazotzcomics/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CamaZotzComics

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grimmcorestudios

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbmTEaC4sMs

Other: Interview with Don Cardenas of Coffee Metal and Comics Podcast with Rafael Flores Jr. and Daniel Grimm https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c-c-m-podcast-ep-120-rafael-flores-jr-and-daniel-grimm/id1462194172?i=1000631432995

Image Credits
Rafael Flores Jr. Azrael Aguiar Grimmcore Studios