Coloring Within the Lines
Comic book artist brings his career full circle
By Erin Frustaci, (Bio) efrustaci@fortcollinsnow.com
1:05 a.m. MT Mar 26, 2008
Sam Salas knows comic books aren’t just mini-magazines filled with superheros and archenemies, chocked with action and violence. In fact, he knows the educational value and lasting impact they can have for children. Salas grew up in a bilingual family where the predominate language spoken at home was Spanish. Though he was taught how to read and write English at school, it was his love for comic books that really helped him break the language barriers to become truly bilingual.
“When I was younger, I didn’t know English very well,” Salas recalled. “I learned how to speak English through comic books.”
He would borrow his older brother’s comic books and become mesmerized by the images and stories that came alive on every page. But reading them wasn’t enough. He also appreciated them for their visual aspect and wanted to create them himself. He started by copying images of Superman and Batman. By the time he was 7, he was drawing every day.
“I would take an old grocery bag and create a comic on it,” he said.
Like most children, Salas also loved to watch cartoons on television, but when the show ended Salsas wasn’t satisfied. He said he would often continue the story lines on his own through drawings. Salas took art classes throughout high school and continued to improve his skills.
“I was hoping to make a career out of it, but the odds were against me,” Salas said. “They are against everyone. There are a thousand guys out there doing the exact same thing and everyone is better than the next. I thought, ‘There’s no way it was going to happen unless I made my own opportunities.’”
So that is what he did. He and a few friends started their own company, Zub Comics. The self-published comic books gained a small following nationwide and the company has a good 10-year run. The group disbanded about seven years ago. After that, Salas had a series of various jobs and participated in lots of community theater. But he knew he could not stray from art for long.
“I decided to go back and get my degree in graphic design,” he said. “Even though I had been doing art all my life, I didn’t have the paper to say I could.”
After earning his associate’s degree from Westwood College, Salas entered a new world of illustrating—children’s books. He came in contact with author Barbara Murray and the two embarked on a series of children books featuring a dog named Murry Murray. So far, they have completed three books and are working on the fourth.
The artwork is somewhat different from comic books in that it isn’t as exaggerated, but Salas is still able to incorporate his own comic style. What sets their children’s books apart is that they aren’t sold in traditional book stores. Instead, they are exclusively sold to philanthropist organizations so they can be used as fundraisers.
During the days, Salas works on the illustrations for the books. In the evenings he works a part-time job as a janitor. He said he really enjoys the books and what he is doing now, but is always open to try something else.
“I would love to get back to comics,” Salas said. “As an artist/creator I am always working on new things. ... At some pint we may even adapt the Murry Murray books into a comic strip.”
Already, the Murry Murray project has brought him back to how it all began. The last book published had the story in both English and Spanish—something Salas said will happen with every book from now on.
“These books are going to several underprivileged kids and Hispanic families where the parents might not speak English well,” Salas said. “This way they can read it in Spanish and the kids can read it in English. ... It’s a nice added bonus to learn two different languages.”
