#joselebron

            You may have seen Jose Lebron running around either Midtown or Westside campuses at Western Connecticut State University carrying his black portfolio to class. What you may not know is that Lebron works as a resident assistant for housing in Fairfield Hall and as a full time student pursuing his two bachelor’s degrees in Illustration and Graphic Design at Western so that he can fulfill his true dream of becoming a comic book author and illustrator.

Above: Jose Lebron poses with his Star Laboratories sweatshirt, a fictional group from the DC Universe.

            Lebron’s first real outing as a creator of comics began with his short strips titled “College Days,” which depicted his characters dealing with everyday gripes of being college students in a humorous light. His first strip had his main character miss the shuttle bus and grow frustrated after hours of it not showing up until he received a text message informing him it would be a few hours late. While Lebron is still working on his own style, he hopes to continue illustrating comics and keep his visual humor as part of his work.

           Lebron began taking comic books seriously in fall 2011 while reading Batman, Spider-Man and the Justice League. With 2011 marking the re-launch of the DC Universe in the New 52, he couldn’t have picked a better time to jump in.

           Lebron liked the recent evolution of the Spider-Man character written by Dan Slott and felt his progression of the character felt natural and told many new stories since Slott has been on the creative team.

           “It was a logical progression of the Peter Parker character to found Parker Industries and begin spreading Spider-Man’s influence across the world as Tony Stark advised him to do.”

           Lebron stated that Peter Parker needed the change so he could grow from being a lost photographer trying to make ends meet to a more confident superhero.

           Lebron also commented on his approval of various changes made in the current Batman series written by Scott Snyder and illustrated by Greg Capullo. He felt the decision to have someone else take on the Batman mantle was a strong move which allowed the characters to grow in new ways, both the new Batman and Bruce Wayne as he lives a more reclusive life behind the scenes.

           “Snyder and Capullo have been working together over many issues, since Batman #1 of the New 52 all the way up to issue 46 and still going…that kind of collaboration yields a different product in the end because these two people know each other’s styles so well and just click well together. It makes for a very special piece of art.”

           Regarding the continuing focus of both DC and Marvel on television and their cinematic universes, Lebron said that there are drastic differences between the comic worlds and the film worlds.

           “Take Iron Man for instance: in the comics, he’s a jerk that nobody really likes to be around and lacks the rogue gallery of some of the other heroes. He’s just average,” Lebron said. “But once you throw Robert Downey Jr. into the role on the big screen, the character’s chemistry changes completely. Suddenly he’s suave and everyone likes him as the sarcastic resourceful guy.”

 Above: Lebron’s first comic strip, College Day...The Shuttle.      

          Lebron also discussed the idea of corporate synergy-the idea that these major comic book companies are not only trying to create one shared cinematic universe for their characters but that they are also try to create a congruous image and story within the print and multimedia versions of the characters.

           Lebron stated that Diggles, a character from the DC television show Arrow, who is an original character created for the show, is now showing up within the established Green Arrow printed lore. “It’s changing how comics are made, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next few decades with this corporate synergy becoming more prevalent,” Lebron said.

           Lebron felt that the focus in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe’s Phase 3 on characters not so widely known to the public like Captain Marvel and the Inhumans is a good move for the company. “I think it’s great that they’re getting the spotlight because it gives viewers exposure to new characters and their stories.”

           Regarding reboots, Lebron is not opposed to them, as long as the story is worth telling. “Look at Batman: he’s been redone so many ways and yet each version yields something different about the character. Both the campier Joel Schumacher films and the darker Chistopher Nolan films deliver a different side of Batman worth telling.”

           Lebron felt that the future for comics is bright, regardless of the medium the characters take. To Lebron, he would like to share his love of comics with everyone, and hopes that as the stories progress, more people enjoy and cherish them as he does.