Rafa Sandoval began his career in advertising after graduating from art school. He then turned his attention to animation, sketching characters and creating storyboards, most notably for Disney. His early career in comics goes back to 2007. Since then he has drawn regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
He's worked on books such as Iron Man, Hercules, Avengers, and X-Men, and collaborated with renowned writers such as Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman. While at Marvel he was also a part of their '09 Young Guns group of artists.
In 2016, he helped launch "Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps" for DC's Rebirth initiative. He recently renewed his 'exclusive' contract with DC for two more years. He will be joining Joshua Williamson on "Flash" beginning with issue #58 next month. His style suits this book perfectly and I can't wait for his run on
the book to start and hopefully he'll be sticking around for awhile.
Comic Lounge: So it was recently announced that you were taking over art on Flash, have you always been a Flash fan?
Rafa Sandoval: Yes, aside from Green Lantern and Superman, Flash is one of my favorite characters ever. There are a few other superheroes I would love to work on at some point, but Flash is one of that I always wanted to draw.
Comic Lounge: What has it been like so far working on Flash with Joshua Williamson?
Rafa: Awesome! Working with Josh is great. Not only am I having a blast drawing his scripts, but he also asks for my input and gives me a lot of freedom to do what I think is best for the story. This run is special for me and Josh understands that perfectly, which is great. He’s also always there to answer any questions I may have, so I could not ask for more!
Comic Lounge: Who is your favorite Flash, Barry or Wally?
Rafa: I have always loved Barry, he is my favorite and I think it is so because I got hooked on comics reading Flash where Barry was the one wearing the Flash suit.
Comic Lounge: How long do you plan on staying on the book?
Rafa: If it was up to me… a lot longer, I am really having a great time with this. If my editors want me there I will stay on Flash for a long time.
Comic Lounge: Are there any plans to bring in Impulse (Bart Allen)?
Rafa: As far as I know… no. But you never know, this story arc is going to be about discovering the Speed Force and the characters Barry will run into will help him mature and grow as a person.
Comic Lounge: Were there any specific Flash runs you read for reference? Do you have a favorite Flash story?
Rafa: Yes of course, there are many great stories but the one that comes to mind is Flashpoint. It has to be one of my favorites ever.
Comic Lounge: What other characters would you like to work on at DC? Do you have a dream project you would like to do?
Rafa: There are so many… Superman would be another character I would love to draw. JLA also, Teen Titans! Someday I would love to draw one of those huge events with all the DC characters in it!
Comic Lounge: What tools do you use for your art? Do you prefer digital or traditional?
Rafa: I prefer to work the old fashioned way but sometimes I do use digital to polish and correct a few things. Digital tools are great and allow me to do those type of changes very quickly.
Comic Lounge: Are there any other books you're working on right now?
Rafa: Ever since I came back to DC I have worked only on Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps and then I went straight to Flash. Whenever I am working on a series and characters I like to focus only on them. Every character is different and it is always tricky to do my best at first. Once I get a good grasp of the characters I think it’s better to continue on the same book for a while than changing books and start the whole process all over again.