Rafael Albuquerque (born April 12, 1981)[1] is aBraziliancomic book creator primarily for his artwork on titles such asDC Comics'Blue Beetle and as illustrator and co-creator ofAmerican Vampire. Though primarily a penciler and inker of interior comic art, he has also done work as a cover artist, colorist and writer.
Albuquerque begun his professional career working in advertising, doing work for local companies. He began his comic book career in 2002, after posting his portfolio on the Internet, doing work for the Egyptian publishing companyAK Comics,[2] which published books for the Middle East.[3]
In 2007 he drewWonderlost #2 by writerC. B. Cebulski, and "Oil for Blood", a story in volume 2 of24Seven, both published by Image Comics.[4] The latter was nominated for the 2008Eisner Award forBest Anthology (though the anthology's editor,Ivan Brandon, was the named nominee, and not the individual creators).[5]
Albuquerque first gained the notice of U.S. comics readers with his work as the regularartist on theDC Comics monthly seriesBlue Beetle,[3] which he drew from issues #10 (February 2007) to #34 (February 2009).[4] The series proved to be a challenge to Albuquerque, who thought the mainstream superhero book was not well-suited to his darker style, and approached the book by employing less heavy blacks and ink splats, and a more "cartoony" storytelling style.[6] His other DC work has included covers of several titles, as well as interior work on issues #52 and #53 ofSuperman/Batman.[4] and theRobin/Spoiler Special #1 in 2008.[7] That same year, Albuquerque illustrated writerIvan Brandon's story, "Wild Goose", which appeared in theDark Horse Comics anthologyTales of the Fear Agent. In 2009 he drew issues #3 and #4 ofStrange Adventures[6] and drew the covers toMarvel Comics' four-issue miniseriesNomad: Girl Without a World.[8]
In January 2010,Newsarama named Albuquerque one of ten creators to watch for the coming year.[9] Albuquerque, with Eduardo Medeiros and Mateus Santolouco, wroteMondo Urbano, a graphic novel published byOni Press.[10] That same year Albuquerque began illustratingAmerican Vampire, a horror series published by DC Comics'Vertigo imprint, the first five issues of which consisted of two separate stories, one byScott Snyder and one byStephen King,[11][12] marking King's first original work for comics.[13] Albuquerque illustrated the two stories with different styles, representative of both the personalities of the characters and the eras in which they were set, explaining that he utilized high-contrast blacks and whites for the 1920s story featuring Pearl in order to evoke the films of that era, and a "dirtier, sketchier technique" involving traditional inking,ink wash and pencils for the 1880s story featuring bank robber Skinner, in order to evoke that story's "rough and violent" setting.[14] The first hardcover collection appeared onThe New York Times Best Seller list,[15] and the series wonIGN's Best of 2010 Award,[16] 2011Eisner Award[17] and the 2011Harvey Award,[18][19] all of them for Best New Series.
In 2012 Albuquerque illustrated and wrote his first story for DC Comics, which appeared inLegends of the Dark Knight.[20] He drew backup stories forBatman vol. 2 #21–23 (August–October 2013) as part of the "Batman: Zero Year" storyline.[21]
Albuquerque publishes a creator-ownedwebcomic in Brazil titledTune 8, which follows a time traveler named Joshua who has only a disembodied female voice as to guide him through the foreign and inhospitable place in which he finds himself.Tune 8 was serialized on the Brazilian website IG.com.br, and later became the 5-part mini seriesEight, published by Dark Horse Comics. In 2013, he co-scripted with frequent collaborator Scott Snyder the 64-pageAmerican Vampire one-shotThe Long Road to Hell.[4]
In 2025, Albuquerque and writerDan Slott launched theSuperman Unlimited series.[22][23]
^Manning, Matthew K. (2014). "2000s". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.).Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 300.ISBN978-1465424563.This issue, drawn by Rafael Albuquerque and Victor Ibanez, explained [the Spoiler's] return.
^Cowsill, Alan (2010). "2000s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.).DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 340.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.The first five double-sized issues consisted of two stories, illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque. Scott Snyder wrote each issue's lead feature, and Stephen King wrote the back-up tales.
^Manning "2010s" in Dougall, p. 336:Batman #21 "This issue...also featured a back-up tale written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, and drawn by Rafael Albuquerque."
