A born realtor would love to find himself shilling property in a prosperous berg like Fort McMurray. A born comic book artist? Not so much.

Before he was an acclaimed Calgary-based artist and illustrator, Scott Kowalchuk was just another dreamer trying to figure out how to break into the comic book industry. The path wasn’t a clear one.

Kowalchuk got a bachelor of arts at the University of Saskatchewan and ended up selling real estate in Fort McMurray for a year before an art program at Keyano College led him to become a design student at the Alberta College of Arts and Design (ACAD) in Calgary.

“I danced around the industry for a number of years,” Kowalchuk says. “Even though I always wanted to draw comics, it didn’t always seem feasible. I didn’t have the background to know how to get a foot in the door.”

As a student, the burgeoning comic artist had a chance to hone his craft under the studied eye of working professionals. ACAD’s strong emphasis on fundamentals forced him to constantly improve his technical abilities until suddenly it didn’t seem so far-fetched that he could make a living with his craft.

Fast Forward Weekly was one of the first publications to recognize the young illustrator’s talent, tapping him to spruce up the pages with his distinctively retro style.

“Any time an art director or editor takes an interest in your work, especially when you are straight out of school... it really is a validating moment,” he says. “It’s like all your hard work suddenly pays off. This is especially important when you are green to the editorial industry.”

At the same time he was starting to attract attention as an illustrator, a Saskatoon-based comic writer named Kurtis Wiebe saw his work at an ACAD portfolio show in July 2009 and thought he’d be the perfect partner for a mini-series he was dreaming up. He pitched his idea immediately and within months, both of their dreams became reality. Kowalchuk was surprised by how quickly it all came together after they put a proposal together for Seattle’s Emerald City Comic Con in March 2010. Image contacted them in late May, and by June they were off and running.

The Intrepids is a retro-style tale about a band of orphans who set out to counter the threat of mad scientists under the tutelage of an aging inventor whose inventions give the scientists enhanced powers. The series is a throwback to the freewheeling adventure comics of the ’60s, and Kowalchuk’s illustrations evoke that era brilliantly.

“Kurtis and I really worked together to tailor the universe our characters exist in,” he says. “I’m not sure there’s another writer working who would be as willing to listen to all my outlandish ideas.”

But his partner isn’t the only one who likes how the series turned out. The first issue sold out within its first week on newsstands in March 2010 and it was quickly sent to the printers for another run. It has received favourable reviews from many leading comic sites, in addition to a profile in USA Today. He’s feverishly working on subsequent issues, which are slated to hit the stands this year.