An Interview with Jonathan Collazo Galindez, a Puerto Rican Comics Creator

I have to confess that I discovered Dokyo and its creator, Jonathan Collazo Galindez, through social media. I’ve been a comic book fan for decades, even before I started playing role-playing games. I don’t read comics as frequently as I used to; years ago, I focused on collected editions of the series I’m interested in and on digital comics. But my son’s interest in comics has brought me back to the comic shop regularly.

I’ve become very interested in fantasy and sci-fi series, classic series from my youth, and series based on or influenced by role-playing games. If you have read my posts on Sunglar’s Musings, you know that 70s and 80s fantasy comics have been a topic I’ve written about repeatedly.

Because of this interest, when I saw an ad for Dokyo: Batalla De Los Reinos (Battle of the Realms), I wanted to learn more and wrote to the author to request an interview. Jonathan was very kind and not only answered my questions but also shipped the comics I ordered in record time, along with a few extras, for which I am very grateful.

I haven’t read Leyenda del Reino de Dragones (Legend of the Kingdom of Dragons) yet, but I love the 4 (out of 6) issues of Dokyo: Batalla De Los Reinos (Dokyo: Battle of the Realms) that I have read so far. It is a series clearly influenced by role-playing games, video games, anime, classic animated series, and adventure comics. Jonathan has a style I really love, as it is cartoony, highly appropriate for fantasy adventures, dynamic, and refreshing.

I love seeing local creators producing comics of this quality and caliber. I highly recommend them.

Well, you’ve read my thoughts on his comics, so I’ll leave you with the artist and creator.

Introduce yourself! Who are you and what do you create?

My name is Jonathan Collazo Galindez. I am a local comic book artist and graphic artist. A few of my creations are Dokyo: Batalla De Los Reinos (Dokyo: Battle of the Realms), which currently has 6 chapters, and Leyenda del Reino de Dragones (Legend of the Kingdom of Dragons), whose first chapter was released a few months ago. As a comic creator, I really like fantasy and stories that contain RPG or D&D elements. I grew up watching TV series from that era, like He-Man, ThunderCats, and Dungeons & Dragons, among others.

How would you describe your art?

I describe my comic story as one full of medieval fantasy, capturing the essence of those adventure series from our childhood. In the Dokyo: Batalla de Los Reinos comics, we meet Dokyo and his sister, young siblings who survived the attack on their father’s kingdom, which was destroyed by the dark lord Minamoto.

Dokyo, along with his sister Suiko, learns how to survive by becoming mercenaries and hiding their past. However, by the hand of destiny, they get back on track to fight evil.

How did you discover TTRPGs (tabletop or pen-and-paper role-playing games)?

My beginnings with TTRPGs were at the table with pencil and paper; among them were Dungeons & Dragons, Vampire: The Masquerade, and Marvel Super Heroes.

Since I didn’t have much income, a great friend and I made our own Warhammer game with plastic dragon and monster figures, dice, and cardboard elements. Another one I played and loved for its lore was Magic: The Gathering.

Are you actively playing? What are you playing right now?

Right now, I’m just sticking to playing video games.

Where can people find your projects?

Librería Norberto González in Plaza Las Américas, Librería Bajo el Carambola, Librería El Rincón del Lector, and online, you can find me as Saragoka Studio on both Instagram and Facebook.