Catching a Vision Interview 004
Pat Broderick
Catching a Vision, the (sorta, kinda) weekly column on Comic Related from C. Edward Sellner, Founder and Creative Director of Visionary Comics Studio. CAV provides practical guidance on how to break into the comics industry, as well as insights into this medium we all love. With resources you can order online, interviews and debates with comic professionals, and online workshops, this is your best introduction into the wonders of creating comics!
As promised, Catching a Vision is going to generously sprinkle in bonus columns featuring in-depth interviews with a wide variety of comic industry professionals, ranging from creators, to retailers and from new, up and coming talent to industry legends. Part of the goal of these interviews will be to give room for others to share their journey in the world of comics and with it, their wisdom and wit.
One of the highlights of my brief career in comics has been the day I first got an email from an artist expressing interest in joining Visionary and bringing his creator owned books under our banner. When I saw the signature of Pat Broderick I think my jaw hit the desk. I read it about a dozen times before I accepted it wasn't some wild dream. Here was someone whose art and storytelling style had been one that had literally defined some of the iconic characters he worked on. To this day when I picture Firestorm or Captain Atom in my head, it's Pat Broderick art.
Since working with Pat, I've come to know the man behind the art and found myself duly impressed with his kind gentleness and indelible professionalism. For those of you who came along after, get ready to meet a legend of comics. For those of you, who like me, grew up on Pat Broderick comics, welcome back!
CES: Pat, tell us what made you decide to get into comics in the first place?
Pat: As a young boy of early years, growing up in Brandon Florida during the sixties, I had a lot of time on my hands. Being the youngest of three brothers with a separation of four years between myself and my next brother up I was, understandably, not included in a lot of activities which my older brothers and cousins were involved in.
So my mother and brothers bought a lot of comics, plastic models, and other various items to keep me occupied with. This was about 1962 or 63 and I had read all of Marvel's first superhero books during that time. It was love at first contact. Here were stories of a fantastic nature and the art from those early issues captured my imagination. Since my reading skills were at a second grade level I read the stories through the clear and dynamic art. And so I had my first experience with sequential storytelling. A man, who wore an iron suit, and could fly. A little man that communicated with ants. A teenager with wings and one that could fire energy beams from his eyes. A gray, then green skin brute with incredible strength, or a longhaired god who flew with a hammer. These all touched a chord with my young mind.
I became... a comics fan....
During the mid sixties, while the world was falling apart from racial and ideological differences my own artistic skills had developed from the constant copying of comic book art. Ditko was the man for me. By the time I was in the seventh grade I can say that I did a pretty damn good rendition of anything Ditko had drawn. So by the time I had reached high school my raw skills had developed to the level of being one of the best artists in school.
About a year after graduating from high school I read about a contest in an issue of Sgt. Rock, published by National Periodicals Publication at the time. They were accepting samples of art and scripts to be reviewed for a position with their Junior Bullpen. I pulled my energy together, produced about 10 pieces of art, saved, begged and borrowed and flew up to New York for the contest, which was being held at the July 4th Phill Sueling comic book convention, and won.
CES: The Junior Bullpen is something I bet most modern fans don't remember or know much about, tell us a little about your time and experience there.
Pat: Waking up that first morning of the convention I was really tired. I was 17 back then and I had spent the most of the night before staring out of the hotel room window. Here, before my eyes, were scenes that I had only seen on TV. Here were the buildings and skyscrapers of Manhattan. Here Superman could fly faster than a speeding bullet. Here mobsters shot it out, detectives worked their cases and the Bowery Boys ran the streets. Somewhere out there Batman prowled the city in his Batmobile, I was certain that just around the corner I would find the Baxter Building and nowhere did I see any trees.
Around 9:00 in the morning I gathered my portfolio and headed to the elevator for and incredibly long ride to the lobby. I thought that I needed to get there early to try to get a good place in line and since the reviews wouldn't start for another hour I was well ahead of the crowds which were sure to show up. Walking around a lobby corner my heart crashed at the site of what had to be nearly 500 people who had the same notion as me. As I stood there stunned I asked where the room was for the junior bullpen contest was and the staff member just laughed at me and said at the end of that ever-growing line in front of me. So I took a deep breath and got in line.
To say that the line moved slowly would be an understatement. For me, at that moment, time did not exist. People were actually sitting on the floor waiting for the slightest shift in position. Personal doubt screamed at my confidence. "There's more people here in this line than in my whole school back home" "what a fool I am to think that I could come here and win such a contest". At what must have been noon a convention staff member walked by to announce that the people from DC were breaking for lunch and would be back at 2 to resume the review process. People started to leave to get something to eat or drink but I wasn't going anywhere.
While I waited there I noticed some very well dressed men standing off to the side talking to each other. The tall gentleman was smoking a very large cigar looking very important and the shorter gentleman seemed very animated. I heard them mentioned that they weren't too impressed so far and that it was going to be a long afternoon. The shorter man called the taller man "Carmine" and my brain began to click. I had seen the Flash comicbook, Batman, and I remembered an artist named Carmine Infintino. I approached these two gentlemen with my portfolio and inquired if they were part of the contest? The shorter gentleman turned out to be Sol Harrison. Sol stated that yes they were the judges of the contest, that this was Carmine Infintino, President of DC Comics, but that I would have to wait until after lunch when the process started again. I politely apologized for interrupting them and started to walk away when Carmine said something like "Kid, show us your work."
Trembling hands opened my case and I spread my dozen pieces out on the floor before them. Carmine and Sol looked them over and began picking them up and looking closer at them. Carmine asked Sol to get my name and handed me a card. He told me that when I got to the judges table to give the card to whoever was looking at my work. I gathered my art, thanked them for taking the time to talk to me and walked off to get back in line. After another two hours or so I made it into the judges area and walked up to Joe Orlando, opened my portfolio and handed him the card, Joe looked at the card and sent me over to Carmine. Carmine asked me if I understood that I would have to move to New York and start in November. I answered "absolutely" and gathered my art and as I walked off I heard him say that they had chosen their first winner, but if I left without giving them my contact information they'd have no way of getting in contact with me. The rest was a blur until I arrived home.
CES: Can you briefly tell us the story of your first professional gig, how it happened, with who, on what etc?
Pat: By definition my first paying gig as a comics artist was an illustration of Bat-Man for Penthouse magazine back in 1973. I was paid over and above my work from the Junior Bullpen job for DC, and this was the first piece of art, which was paid for and published.
CES: In your illustrious career what have been your favorite projects to work on?
Pat: In comics there have been a couple of all time favorites, and certainty with each series which I worked on there is always a favorite. But from my published work so far there are two which stand out, The Lords of the Ultrarealm with Doug Moench, and the early issues of Doom 2099 with John Frances Moore.
CES: Both great series! What make these stand out for you? The subject matter? The team you were working with?
Pat: The Lords of the Ultrarealm was my first "creator owned" series. Doug Moench had crafted a brilliant story about fantastic characters that lived in a dream dimension and had archetypes in our own world. Each character represented different emotions and forces of our world, War, Love, Madness,In their world a struggle was emerging which would change the course and balance of their world and also ours.
It was also the first series that I both penciled, inked, and colored for the first three issues so I had greater control over the look of the series than ever before .It was an eight issue limited series with one additional special.
CES:Who were your favorite people to work with?
Pat: Doug Moench, Carrie Bates, John Moore as writers, Julie Schwartz, Len Wein, and Joey Cavaleri as editors.
CES: What make these folks stand out? What about them impressed you?
Pat: Doug was my first long-term collaborator; we had worked together on Captain Marvel for Marvel Comics. Then at DC Comics after the Lords of the Ultrarealm we worked together on Detective comics for a year. This began a long association for me with the Batman's world. Len Wein edited those issues. Who later was my editor on the Firestorm series. Len was one of those editors who was always in a good mood, always answered his phone, and let the creative people do what they do best, which is, create.
Finally I did a graphic novel for DC's Sci Fi line, edited by Julie Schwartz, called ';The Sandkings' by Georg R.R. Martin. Julie set the standard by which all other editors were measured by back then. No one was more professional, kind, and always had your check ready He was always ahead of any problems that might appear over the horizon.
John Moore and I worked together on "Doom 2099" for the first year and a half. John is an incredibly talented writer who always brought fresh ideas to the table. He is the one person responsible for creating the fantastic world and intrigue that was the bases of Dooms world in those early issues. Joey Cavaleri edited those issues of Doom and was most likely the second best editor I've ever worked for. Unfortunately our relationship ended there.
CES: Part of this column's mission is to help aspiring creators, so we often like to remind them to be wary and smart about their comics career, there are pitfalls out there. What was the worst comic experience you ever had? (You may leave out the names of the guilty ;) )
Pat: The worst experience depended on which publisher I worked for and the market conditions at the time when the event occurred. There's been a couple through the years, some at Marvel, some at DC, and I've been blessed to have worked for both the kindest, and, well... most abusive... editors of both companies.
An example of an earlier experience was being told by the company editor, with my series editor on the phone line, that he didn't care how well my book was doing in direct sales [Second only to the company top seller at the time] that he was never going to give me a raise period for as long as he was in charge.
The next month, my new editor, who had replaced my original editor, had requested 12 pages of changes, which I refused to do, then my new, new editor asked me to just do 3 or 4 pages of changes just to make the company editor happy, which of course I'm sure they understood why I refused.
A month later I was doing another series for their competitor.
Then there was the time a company made the "mistake" of not knowing that the contractor's medical benefits capped out at 30,000 life time coverage. A mistake they said, but unfortunately one which could not be rectified for the sake of my son's mounting surgical bills, unless I agreed to sign a 4 year extension to my exclusive contract. Which would only roll over to another 30,000 limit and my son's needs were far greater than that at the time.
CES: Sounds like some challenging times. I know most pros have horror stories from various experiences. But obviously the good must have outweighed the rough spots for you to stay in it so long. What were some of the best experiences you had working for the big guys?
Pat: I was born to create comics. It was in my blood from a very early age. The good times were always when I could meet the fans directly at the conventions and get their reactions to the work. Hard as I tried to do my best on every issue I worked on sometimes life would get in the way. The illness of my children, my wife Pat, the personality conflicts with the creative people I worked with some times were all part of this life. I felt that this was what I would be doing for the rest of my life and I worked hard at my craft .I felt that the creative collaborations which I had established would last through out my career in the comics field. I had produced some very successful series for them. I was the first artist to break into TV marketing of comics related sales on Home Shopping with an open agreement to bring unlimited material to their network.
CES: What made you decide to get out of comics for a while there?
Pat: The fall of '96 is what did it for me. Marvel had made some really silly decisions about what sales level will sustain a series and at what point that series should be canceled. They also changed my editor, and my writer for the series I was working on at the time. This following their decision to try to form their own distribution company, do the multiple cover issue # 1 rip offs of that time, etc. All of these events led up to the market's crash, which put about 100 or more freelancers out of work. Some of us lost homes, some of us lost family, some of us lost lives, some of us lost all of these things.
CES: Sounds like a tough time for a lot of people, and the industry still has its struggles. So, what were you up to in those years?
Pat: During those years of '97 through 2000 I worked in advertising, a hearty "thank you" to Neal Adams for the training that he gave me which allowed me to make the crossover. I ended up in Dallas Texas managing an in-house creative studio for Tracy Locke and Partnership for two years. Pepsi, Pizza-hut, Federal Express, and Lays potato chips were our clients, then later Hasbro toys joined. We handled all of their TV, on site promotion, and package design. Then I landed a job with the people at DNA Helix productions as a Prop and concept designer for the Jimmy Neutron Movie and Cartoon series.
CES: What brought you back?
Pat: The Marriage of my children in Tampa and impending expansion of our family. I landed a job in education with IADT in Tampa with their animation Department and have been with those fine people for 8 years now.
After all of these years in other careers I still missed comics terribly, but this time I wanted more control over what I produced. Also Hollywood is now looking at all comic properties, not just at what is left of the carcasses offered by the big 2.
CES: Awesome, thanks for your time Pat!
Since his return to comics Pat had began a 6-issue adult series for Fantagraphics, and is now launching a number of projects through Bluewater Productions in its partnership with Visionary. He did full artwork on Vincent Price Presents #10: Road Rage on sale now, go buy it! He is also the main series artist on William Shatner Presents Man O'War. (Check out the preview pages scattered throughout the interview.)
Pat's first new creator-owned project, a dark, post-apocalyptic horror story entitled T-Rex will be debuting from Bluewater next year as a four issue mini-series, written and fully illustrated by Pat. A second property is slated for later.
And, here's the best news for the hardcore fans, Pat does commissions. Check out his gallery info on Comic Art Fans! Tell him CAV sent you!
Take A Look Inside Vincent Price Presents
Next...
To coincide with our series on Self-Publishing, I will be featuring an in-depth interview with the man behind the now third largest comic publisher in the United States: IDW's own Chris Ryall. (This may be a two-parter even!)
Join the discussion and add your thoughts on this edition, or the column in general. If you have any questions or suggestions for resources, post them or email them to Sellner so they can be included in future columns. Are you an aspiring or up and coming creator and would like to share your story? Email Sellner and let him know who you are and what you've done.
C. Edward Sellner is the co-founder and Creative Director of Visionary Comics Studio, a studio that within its first three years has drawn high praise from the media and attracted the attention of legendary creators in the comics industry. They have been digitally and print published in the mainstream market and their creators currently work with over a dozen different publishers. Their work has been featured on television news shows, radio programs and internet podcasts as well as featured in every major comics news site online.
Contact him directly at cedwardsellner@aol.com
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