The RKMBS Norm Breyfogle Interview. Norms responses are in italics
Norm,
There was quite a response to having the chance to ask questions of you, many serious some silly and some very strange. Feel free to answer as many or as little as you like. I really appreciate you taking the time for this.
Here they go:
TTT asks: It was just a few months before he started on his DETECTIVE COMICS run that I started collecting all the Batman comics, and, to me, the Norm Breyfogle version of Batman stands alongside Neal Adams and Dick Sprang for quality. The cover featuring Batman swooping in behind the Crime Doctor in one of his early Detective issues still sticks in my mind. I am definitely a fan (though I still wonder why he did the /Mr. T and the T-Force/ comic).
So I'd like to know how you landed the Batman gig. Did the DC editors (i.e. Denny O'Neil or others) like your work from elsewhere and approach him for the job? Or did you approach DC looking for work specifically with the Batman character?
Your work was completely new to me when I saw it in Detective Comics for the first time -- what experience did you have in comics before then, and how much did it have to do with his getting the Batman gig?
Hey, TTT. So, are you three times tougher than Mr. T?
The Crime Doctor cover was the very first of my DC Comics covers ever, if I remember correctly.
I did Mr. T because they offered me $1000 / page. I initially turned it down because I had no time to squeeze it in, but they kept upping the ante until I had to say yes. That's still, to this day, my best paying job in comics I've had.
I attended the San Diego Con in '84 and entered the art shows. Mike Friedrich (of the now defunct talent rep company Star Reach) saw my work hanging there (I won 2nd place behind Mobieus, btw) and later contacted me and began repping me. I told him from the beginning that I wanted to draw Batman, so a couple years later (while I was drawing Whisper, from First Comics) when DC was looking for an artist on Detective Comics, Mike set up a meeting between me and Dick Giordano (who was visiting near me on the west coast when I lived out there), and soon DC gave me a trial issue, which they liked enough to hire me for the monthly book.
As an amateur, I'd been a Batman fan since I was a tot, and as soon as I could draw I remember drawing Batman (as well as other characters). Growing up, I learned to paint as well, and got a well-rounded education as an artist (which can be read about on my website's biography at normbreyfogle.com). By the time I got the Batman gig I'd been working in comics professionally for two years or so, first on single stories for DC's New Talent Showcase and Eclipse's Tales of Terror, and then on the monthly features Bob Violence and Whisper (First Comics).
Rob Kamphausen asks: How much artistic influence are you allowed to make, as an illustrator on a flagship character? i.e;, say, for example, you hates the outside undies batman wears. Are you allowed to voice your concern, then omit them from the design during your tenure? Are you allowed to argue your point or make a case for something like that to an editor? Like kelley jones, you seem to be a big fan of the larger-than-life "ears" on batman's costume, which i'd think would be a similar type of suit alteration (or at least visual presentation of such). did that have to receive the same kind of "clearance"?
Hi, Rob.
An artist is allowed to voice his opinion, but where and when he can implement it is variable, dependent on the character and what company he's working for, even dependent, I suppose, on the individual quirks of his specific editor. And opinion-voicing can always benefit from a good dose of tact, of course.
I always assumed I could play with ear length and batmaobile designs, since I'd already seen different artists interpret these items differently for decades, but not with much else. Subtleties re his chest emblem could be altered, as well; I remember making the chest bat either fatter or skinnier with no complaints. And my design of the utility best was influenced by Frank Miller's first Dark Knight saga.
I'd never have assumed I could just remove his blue shorts without getting permission.
After the Batman movies, things became more regulated: The bat-artists were all told to draw the batmobile and Gotham City of the films, and Batman's costume was made all black by offical editorial decree.
Animalman asks: What was your favorite Detective Comics run, not counting your own? Do you still keep up with the title, or the numerous other Batbooks?
Who influenced you as an artist?
Who would be the one writer you've yet to work with that you'd like to someday?
Hi, Animalman. Why not call yourself "manimal" for short?
My fav run on Batman stuff outside of my own would have to be the Neal Adams / Dick Giordano run in the 70's.
Artistic influences from comics: Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Joe Kubert, Curt Swan, Murphy Anderson, Nick Cardy, Bernie Wrightson, Alex Toth, Frank Frazetta, Alex Nino, Alfredo Alcala, Jim Aparo, Burne Hogarth, Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, and a ton of others - mostly artists from the 70's (my teen years).
Of course I was influenced by much art outside of comics, as well, including the classical artists (Greek and European artists of history), the impressionists and expressionists, and many artists I saw featured in publications like American Artist or Southwest Art.
I'd really like to work with Grant Morrison or either of theVietch brothers, but there's a ton of good writers out there I'd be happy to collaborate with.
Uschi asks: If you're still taking questions:
Hi, Uschi (do you like sushi?).
Uschi asks: How often do you use models?
Mostly only for faces in close-up, and not all the time, by any means.
Uschi asks: Do you start with gesture drawings or just make it all up?
I sart with made-up gesture drawings. There's an article on my website (which I wrote for Wizard's "Basic Training" years ago) that describes my page layout techniques, btw ...
Uschi asks: Who is the funnest character for you to draw? Who is your favorite and least favorite?
The funniest character I ever drew for publication would probably be Bob Violence, but I really got a kick out of the humorous qualities of Prime, too.
Teh Ventiloquist was pretty funny, too.
My fav character I've drawn would probably be Batman, but I really loved Metaphysique (for Malibu Comics), since I created and wrote it as well.
My least favorite I've drawn would be ... hmmm ... Maybe Mr. T., in spite of the fact that I did like the page rate I was getting.
Y'know, maybe Mr. T was the funniest character I ever drew, too ...
Uschi asks: What do you absolutely hate drawing (cars, landscapes, hands, noses, crotchpants etc)?
Uschi asks: Any little-known but rad-as-hell comics you can clue us into?
No, sorry, I hardly ever read comics any more. You might want to check out my decade-old Metaphysique, though.
Uschi asks: Are you going to the International Comic-Con this summer in San Diego? I need to know what issues to pack...
Probably not (unless I'm invited as a guest); I don't like spending the money otherwise. However, I will be at the Motor City Con in Detroit in May, as well as the Mid-West Comic Con and Wizard World Chicago in August.
Uschi asks: Will you father my children?
Send me a few photos of yourself, your terms in contractural form, and I'll let you know.
Uschi asks: Don't you just HATE Superman?
Er, no. Why would I? He's a sweetie.
I'm Not Mister Mxypltk:
Well, then, hi, whoever you are.
I'm Not Mister Mxypltk asks: Are you a regular in any bars?
I'm Not Mister Mxypltk asks: If so, do they scream "NORM!" whenever you come in?
Never; only at store signings have I gotten that.
Joe Mama:
Joe Mama asks: Who are your influences in the business?
See my above answer to Animalman.
Joe Mama asks: What is your favorite issue/storyline that YOU drew in your career?
Metaphysique. Not because it's my best art necessarily, but because I wrote it and own it, as well.
Joe Mama asks: Whose work do you regularly read/enjoy?
No one's. I don't have a comics store within a hundred miles of me, and I haven't yet taken to buying comics off the net.
Joe Mama asks:What project or projects do you have coming up?
I recently wrote 1314 haikus and a lot of other poetry, and got up to page 100 in a sci-fi novel I'm writing, but I had to quit writing because I'm now a full-time comics artist again, pencilling and inking a new title (Of Bitter Souls) for a production company (Relative Comics), to be published by Speakeasy Comics. The first issue will be on sale in August, and is written by my friend Charles Satterlee.
I'm calling Of Bitter Souls "Cajun ghostbusters with Matix style."
Check out Relative Comic's website:
www.relativecomics.com
And here's Speakeasy's website:
www.speakeasycomics.com
Joe Mama asks: Would you consider dating my sister?
Send me her photos and we'll discuss it if she's not a minor.
Animalman:
You again? Happy to oblige.
Animalman asks: How was working for a smaller company like Malibu different from working for a huge company like DC?
I was their biggest artistic star, and got a lot of respect. At DC I was a regular size fish in a large pond, while at Malibu I was a big fish in a small pond.
Animalman asks: What is your opinion of Jason Todd being brought back from the dead?
You mean in the Hush storyline, or something later (which I wouldn't have seen, since I stopped receiving my DC comp copies right after Hush)?
Any plot developments can be either good or bad, depending on the quality of the treatment.
Animalman asks: Are the bat-editors as difficult to work with as they are rumored to be?
Don't know; they've all changed since I last did a Batman project.
Thanks again I really appreciate this, I hope there arent too many question. I know you're busy and I appreciate you taking the time.
I'm flattered you asked me to.
Norm
