Rafael Nieves facts for kids

Rafael Nieves (born January 24, 1960) is an American comic book writer and designer. He has worked in the comic book world for over thirty years.

Early Career and Tales from the Heart

Rafael Nieves started his career by publishing a comic book series called Tales from the Heart. This series was first released by Entropy Enterprises. Later, starting with its third issue, it moved to Slave Labor Graphics.

The Story of Cathy Grant

Tales from the Heart was co-written by Rafael Nieves and Cindy Goff. The stories were based on Cindy Goff's real-life experiences. The series followed Cathy Grant, a volunteer with the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is a program where Americans volunteer to help people in other countries. Cathy was stationed in Central Africa during the 1980s.

The comic showed Cathy's challenges and adventures as she lived in a new and unfamiliar place. Artist William "Seitu" Hayden drew the pictures for the series.

Awards for Tales from the Heart

The success of Tales from the Heart led to two special, full-color comic books called one-shots. A "one-shot" is a comic book that tells a complete story in a single issue. These were published by Epic Comics, which was a part of Marvel Comics. Epic Comics allowed creators to own their work.

One of these one-shots, named Bloodlines, was nominated for two Eisner Awards in 1993. The Eisner Awards are like the "Oscars" for the comic book industry. Bloodlines was nominated for Best Single Issue, Self-Contained Story, and Best Graphic Album — New.

Other Works and Publishers

Since his early success, Rafael Nieves has worked with many different comic book publishers. He has written for Marvel Comics, including a series called Hellstorm, Prince of Lies.

Working with Various Publishers

Nieves also wrote for Caliber Comics, where he worked on Orlak, Edgar Allan Poe's The Bells. For Comico Comics/Northstar, he wrote Cold-Blooded. He also contributed to Moonstone Books with titles like The Phantom, Welcome Back, Mr. Moto, and Vampire: The Masquerade. Another publisher he worked with was Transfuzion Publishing, for their comic The Apocalypse Plan.

Self-Published Comics

Rafael Nieves has also published many of his own comic books. These include Bob Howard: Plumber of the Unknown, which he created with artist Dan Dougherty. He also publishes a yearly collection of stories called 10/31, featuring different artists and writers.

Other self-published works include Forgotten Lore, which is a collection of short comic stories by various artists. He also created Grace Before The Fall with Antonio Maldonado and Ken Wolak.