We are delighted to be joined by Art Director, Concept Artist, and Comic Book Creator Joël Dos Reis Viegas. With the Kickstarter campaign now live for the Urbance graphic novel series, we had a chat with Joël about the series.
Hi Joël, it’s so great to have you here with us.
Thanks for having me 🙂
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Hey! My name is Joël, I’m a comic book author, a video‑game art director, a dad to an eight‑year‑old boy, and a big lover of Art, Animation, music, and everything related to urban culture. I was born in France, and have been living in Québec, Canada for 20 years now.
Could you tell us about the origins of Urbance?
It all started back in 2011, when I was working at Eidos Montréal on the Thief videogame. As a concept artist, my job was to build a pretty dark universe — and that year, winter was especially brutal. That’s exactly when Urbance popped into my mind: a colorful, vibrant world to balance my mood, but still tinted with the darkness I was immersed in at the time.
Who are Kenzell and Lesya?
They’re the two main heroes of my story — two young adults raised with the hate of the opposite gender since birth. Despite themselves, they end up thrown together in a wild race against time, struggling against adversity to survive and find meaning in their existence.
What can you tell us about Neopolis?
It’s the dystopian city where these young people live — the stage for a constant gender war between men and women. The city is an isolated island, split in two by a massive wall, built after the outbreak of a deadly pandemic that forbids any form of sexual contact whatsoever.
Do you think your background as a cartoonist/animator has helped Urbance stand out from the crowd?
I’ve never really thought about it, but I’d say my exaggerated perspectives, the anatomical proportions of my characters, and my sharp, energetic paneling probably make my work stand out. I approached the graphic novel as if it were a black‑and‑white, paper version of the animated series. But above all, it’s the theme of gender war that really sets it apart. As far as I know, there isn’t any other work that tackles the subject so directly.
What can you tell us about the Urbance graphic novels?
Urbance is my very first graphic novel series which took me 8 years to complete. The last volume (#4) will be released on August 21st by Ankama in French, and readers around the world will get to experience the entire saga in English without having to wait. I really learned how to write, how to structure a story, how to push my art further — and I’m proud to finally share it!
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
I hope this interview gave you the urge to dive into the world of Urbance — come support the project on Kickstarter!
Feel free to check out the Urbance graphic novel series on Kickstarter.
We would like to say a big thank you to Joël for chatting with us and wish him the best of luck with the Urbance graphic novel series.
