February 28, 2007

BroadSword at 7
by Rik Offenberger

It’s the 7th Anniversary of BroadSword Comics. While may comic companies have come and gone over the last seven years, Jim Balent and Holly Golightly have been publishing the supernatural adventure, Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose with every issue arriving in stores on time, one of the qualities, they feel, which has led to the longevity of the book.

We spoke with the two about the company, the comics, and where things are going.

Newsarama: First off, how have you been able to maintain your schedule for seven years while most other publishers have had great difficulties doing the same thing?

Jim Balent: I can't speak for the other companies; their internal affairs are their own. But as for me ... it's easy. Now when I say it's easy I don't mean that I snap my fingers and all the work is finished. There are a lot of 10 to 12 hours days that Holly and I are at the board or computer making sure we hit our deadline so that our books hit the stores on time. We've had some close calls. Once an ice storm knocked out power to our town for over a week. But with the help of friends at a local mall, we used their computers to get the last pages completed. We try our best to hit every deadline because that is the way Holly and I are wired. We love what we are doing and that helps a lot but we also know it's a business and things must get done. We also feel the tremendous responsibility to our readers that supported us all these years. We do our best not to disappoint them with any late shipments. Also, I never missed a deadline on my Catwoman run. This lasted 77 issues plus all the side projects that were added to my schedule; annuals, one shots, like Dark Claw. So I'm use to hitting deadlines. If I can do it for DC I can do it for my company, BroadSword.

NRAMA: BroadSword has a few employees but it all requires the two of you to produce the comic, what happens when one of you gets sick, how do you maintain your schedule?

JB: It is only Holly and I that produce the books. We do have a color assistant and editor, but they are outside the studio. If one of us gets sick, we either work through it or we built in enough time that we can take some time off to heal. Twice now Holly has gone through major surgery and it took her a few months to get well. Fortunately we built in enough time so that I could nurse her back to health. She spent most of her time in bed drawing School Bites 2. But if it came right down to it... and we had to leave our publishing schedule for health reasons... I'm sure our readers would understand.

NRAMA: Many comics, both at the major publishers and for the independents,
have started strong and lost momentum over the years. How has Tarot been
able to maintain its readership?

JB: I don't think there's a set answer to that. If there was everyone would be doing it. I believe that we maintain our readership for so long, Tarot #43 hits stores at the end of March, by being on time, putting out a full color quality book, and by treating our readers with respect. Meaning, I don't water down my stories or art to try and sell more copies. I also feel that the readers can sense that Holly and I really enjoy what we are drawing and they respond to that.

NRAMA: Tarot has a large female readership; did you expect this at the beginning?

JB: I did think that my female readership would be larger than your ordinary superhero comic book. Tarot Witch of the Black Rose, is filled with strong, independent women, who are comfortable with their sexuality and involves stories that many women had to face growing up. Prejudices, body image issues and relationship problems. All of these topics along with moral teachings and witchcraft education are mixed together to tell a supernatural adventure tale. Although I have these elements in my books, please don't get the impression that it's some heavy soap opera reading. It's not. There are lots of light hearted issues to break up some of the more serious storylines. And I think the female readers enjoy seeing themselves through the eyes of Tarot or Raven Hex.

NRAMA: When you discovered the larger female readership, did it change you approach to the art or storytelling?

JB: No. I kept my art and writing honest, didn't treat my readers like they were eight years old and I think they appreciate that.

NRAMA: Do you think having Holly appear as Tarot on the cover of the comics encourages fan to dress up as the characters too?

JB: I'm a big fan of people dressing up as their favorite heroes! I have seen some very funny things at conventions... I saw a guy dressed as the TV Batman having troubles with his cell phone. After struggling with it for 5 minutes he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Stupid Bat-phone." I saw two Boba Fetts stuck at a cross walk complaining that the red light was too long. All the while I'm staring at their rocket packs. I saw four Klingons standing in line for autographs at a Battlestar Galactica booth. So if people are inspired to dress up like one of my characters because they see Holly dressed as Tarot... then great!!! But I think that these people don't need any extra encouragement to dress up. They already have that bug in them.

NRAMA: BroadSword has a longer then average shelf life, how do you account for this?

JB: I have heard that from several store owners. They have told me that unlike other mainstream books, that if you don't sell them within two weeks the public looses interest in them. While Tarot, on the other hand sells steady. To tell you the truth I don't know why we have a longer self life, but we are happy about that. I do hear reports that the new issues of Tarot sell out in 1 to 2 days ... this also makes us happy.

NRAMA: What type of feedback have you received from retailers?

JB: They are very pleased we are on time with our books. It makes their clients happy, so they are happy. They've also noted that we have created a strong community with our readers. Possibly because we include the readers in the comics. Showing their Tattoos, costumes, even wedding photos. There have been some stores that refuse to carry the book because of the nudity or its pro-witch subject matter. Most of these stores have told me it's because of local church pressure or town politics. Other stores have my books right next to Spider-Man and feel comfortable with it. While other feel more comfortable putting it in their adult section. Tarot is a "Mature readers" book. Not an XXX comic book. There is a big difference between Mature readers books and adult books.

NRAMA: After 7 years do both of you still have the same passion for Tarot that you had in the beginning?

JB: Yes we do. If we didn't we wouldn't do it anymore.

NRAMA: The big sellers in recent years have been trade paperbacks. What trades does BroadSword have planned for the coming year?

JB: Our fifth trade paper back will be printed this August. We normally don't go back to press with single issues so those readers who have missed an issue here and there can catch up with the trades. We also have the forth German translated trade of Tarot coming out this year as well. The one thing people miss out when just getting the Trades though, are all the back pages, such as "Interviews with a Witch", The "BroadSword Girl" page. A featured female reader posed with a sword usually dressed in a cool outfit or no outfit at all. And the letters pages.

NRAMA: BroadSword has always had a strong multimedia approach to comics, with posters, t-shirts, coffee mugs and even underwear. How do you determine what is the right one for each character? For example, I understand why you would put a cat on a mouse pad, but Pooka is on underwear and Boo has a wall clock. Why not just make one of each with every character?

JB: We listen to our readers mostly. Some want Tarot on a clock or a T-shirt, while other characters like, Raven Hex, they want on shorts or posters. Sometimes the artwork dictates what product it should go on. An art piece might work better as a mug design then say a button design.

Holly Golightly: Yes, it all depends on the illustration, if it will look good on a T-Shirt or a light switch etc...Then there's the cute factor! Pooka and Boo Cat are just plum cute on a pair of undies! Sometimes I just have a bit of fun designing a holiday mug or a mini button...our www.boocat.us.www.prettychibi.com and www.schoolbites.net have a lot of products from Cafe Press so I can mix and match tons of images plus even take requests from readers who call or email asking "Hey, I love the Cover to ....can you put that on a Tee for me!?" We love our Readers...if there's a mo' I’ll click over and create something special for them!

NRAMA: You also always have a variety of pin up books, what is planned for 2007?

JB: We publish art books, not pinup books. I have two black & white art books. Holly has a colored one called Witches ‘n Whatnot and she has a black & white sketch book as well. I am currently working on a full color one.

HG: Yes, we have mainly Art books Magick in Black & White volumes 1 & 2 featuring Jim's Black & White pencils and some inks. And a little pocket sized art book I did in color called Witches n Whatnot I also put out a sketchbook called "Yeah, I drew it" last year for San Diego Con, which sold out, and now we're offering it through Diamond this year with an exclusive cover! It even comes with a quick Sketch on the 1st page! We may put out a Special 2007 San Diego Con pin-up book as well!

NRAMA: I noticed you are now selling Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose "Spell Cards". What exactly are spell cards? Do they actually have magic spells written on them?

JB: Yes they do. Each card has a particular spell on the back that Holly wrote up. Spells for love, money, banishment. And on the front there is a new illustration that I drew to match each spell.

HG: Yes we created 12 Spells... 6 are by Tarot (Right Hand Path) and 6 are Raven's (Left Hand Path) on one side Jim illustrated the Spell being performed and on the other is the Spell which I wrote. We've heard back that people have gotten some good results! But they are for Grown-up Witches...ONLY! You can find them at our www.jimbalent.com site.

NRAMA: Jim, in addition to Tarot, you have been doing quite a few Red Sonja variant covers. How did that come about?

JB: We Love Red Sonja! Holly and I both were big fans of Frank Thorne's Red Sonja! So after Nick at Dynamite Entertainment read the interview I did with you last year, where I mentioned I've always loved Red Sonja, he e-mailed me and asked me to do a few covers for him. Holly colored them and it definitely was a dream come true. So big thanks to Nick and Newsarama for that!

NRAMA: You also did a t-shirt design for Thomas Dolby. Is he a fan of Tarot? Are you a fan of his?

HG: I've been a huge fan of his since I was 17-18 years old, when his first album came out. I even named my 1st Tee Shirt company after one of his songs " The Pirate Twins" I wanted to pay tribute to all my idols that have inspired me so with Thomas, his persona in the video "Blinded me with Science" became the inspiration to my character, Professor Corpussal, in School Bites #2. I missed seeing him perform when I was in college and thought I'd never see him perform... but I always visited his web site, just to keep tabs. And one day there were tour dates! One show was just an hour from our home! I also read that if you bought something from his merchandise table and your receipt had a purple stamp on the back, you won the chance to meet him! EEP! Armed with some of our TPBs and School Bites #2, I proceeded to buy everything - one at a time so my chances were kinda high! I won twice! Gave the 2nd ticket with another fan and after the show, trying not to Geek out too much, shared our art with Thomas. I showed him the character he had inspired and gave him our business card and expressed that if he ever needs any art, to call! Well he did call! And I designed two Tee Shirts for him and he graciously promoted School Bites and had my Art in a slideshow before one of his shows. There's a QuickTime movie of that on the www.schoolbites.net site! Currently my art will be used in upcoming promotions as well.

NRAMA: The variant covers are listed as “reorder” covers, what does that mean and how do your fans make sure they get a copy?

HG: We do not have 'variant covers'. Each issue has two covers of Tarot that Jim creates or on School Bites, I do and they are printed 50/50. The only extra cover we do is the photo cover for each anniversary issue like this upcoming issue of Tarot #43.

NRAMA: As we’re bandying it about, let’s talk about School Bites. What made you decide to make this an all ages title?

HG: Gosh I didn't sit down and say...mmm I'm going to make School Bites all ages...some think it's not all ages because a character who is a cat-girl has a crush on Cherri, or that there's silhouetted nudity... or a flash of knickers! Funny how no one sees that there is no violence, other then a couple of pie fights! Sooooo - shooting, stabbing and fighting is all ages, but seeing someone in their undies or their hiney isn’t! Silly heads... teehee. Anywho - I wanted to tell a story and this is how it came out... with Joy, Color and lots of candy!

NRAMA: All you comics have been distributed by Diamond, what made you decide to only self distribute School Bites #3?

HG: I'm just sooooo crazy with BroadSword duties and coloring Tarot, Tarot has NEVER missed a Deadline! Also I did a lot of merchandise work for Thomas Dolby this past year... so I had no way of being able to stick to a schedule that you have to if you wish to solicit through Diamond... This way I can also try and get more chapters out if I can during the year. So nothing ooogy or weird, School Bites is a project that I want filled will Joy not Stress! Maybe I'll gather it all up at a later date and do a Trade though Diamond... it could happen.

NRAMA: Can retailers purchase copies direct from you at their regular discount levels?

HG: Yuppers! They can call us 717-982-0594 mon-fri 10am-5pm!