Brazilian creator Sam Fonseca joins us to discuss his journey from discovering comics to becoming a distinctive voice in the cartooning community. We explore his early days self-publishing in São Paulo's independent scene and how those formative experiences shaped his creative perspective. Sam walks us through his acclaimed works including the HQMix Prize-nominated Age of Rust and the lighthearted webcomic Dynamite & Laser Beam, before diving deep into his latest graphic novel Shadowplay: Midnight School. The haunting tale centers on a school plagued by recurring nightmares, and Sam reveals the inspiration behind its concept, his deliberate use of grayscale punctuated by explosive color sequences, and how his unconventional panel layouts enhance the nightmare sequences. We discuss his fascinating process of creating soundtracks for his comics and how the social commentary about class divisions weaves through the narrative. Finally, we look ahead to future Shadowplay installments and his upcoming projects.

Also, if you didn't know, Sam is responsible for the super-cool new theme music that plays at the beginning of each Dollar Bin Bandits episode! You can follow Sam on his site, samfonseca.com, his YouTube channel, youtube.com/@MrSamfonseca, and/or on Instagram @samuelgfonseca

Support the show

___________________

Check out video versions of this and other episodes on YouTube: youtube.com/dollarbinbandits!

If you like this podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you found this episode. And if you really like this podcast, become a member of the Dollar Bin Boosters on Patreon: patreon.com/DollarBinBoosters.

You can follow us @dollarbinbandits on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky, or @DBBandits on X. You can email us at [email protected].

___________________

Dollar Bin Bandits is the official podcast of TwoMorrows Publishing. Check out their fine publications at twomorrows.com.

___________________

Thank you to Sam Fonseca for our theme music, Sean McMillan for our graphics, and Pat McGrath for our logo.