Comic book artists are often known to be fans of previous comics, as is the case with DC artists Bruno Redondo who is a fan of Dragon ball since he was a kid. However, as a blossoming artist, Redondo not only had fun reading his favorite manga but also went a little further.
Bruno Redondo is best known for his work on various DC Comics titles, including Injustice, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Nightwing and Human Target, as well as many others. He and his work have been nominated for several Eisner Awards, including three in 2023 in categories where he won Best Continuing Series and Best Cover Artist for Nightwing. His work with Tom King created a fan-favorite series with stunning artistic achievements throughout its run. As a kid, Dragon Ball wasn’t actually distributed where Redondo lived, but that didn’t stop him and his peers.
Redondo’s love for Dragon Ball has created a fascinating personal artifact
On X, Bruno Redondo shared a Dragon Ball replica he and his friends made. Since comics were hard to find in his area, when a rare copy was published, kids would copy it, turn it into a book with some craft skills, and circulate it . The images shared show a copied version of the Dragon Ball episode, with a hand-colored cover and some pen-written text on the inside.
It’s not uncommon for children to copy their favorite stories, comics, or works of art to share and appreciate their favorite characters more often than they should. With a limited number of copies, this proves how resourceful Redondo’s community of young comic readers is. In this case, it was also interesting to see how well this particular “homemade” replica performed. The spine appears rough, but the copied pages are still crisp and clear, making it easy to read the Spanish text inside. There’s no doubt that Redondo was really a big fan of Dragon Ball growing up.
Reduced access to comics forces children to be crafty
While copyright law dictates this is not considered best practice, it shows how much young readers in the Redondo community want access to the series. Nowadays, everything is much easier thanks to digitization and digital sales or subscriptions. Kids don’t have to wait for comics to be delivered to their door as long as they have access to the Internet and have the money to buy digital editions or subscribe to comics available in their geographic area. Accessibility to comics has long been a major discussion in the industry, and connectivity continues to improve with each passing year. Still, it’s inspiring to see Bruno Redondo Go from photocopying and coloring by hand Dragon ball to become one of the most famous comic artists today.
Source: @Bruno_Redondo_F on X.
