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July
2003
Pat Broderick:
Artist of the Future
By Rik
Offenberger
Rik
Offenberger: You
started in comics in the 70’s doing title pages and splash pages for DC
Comics, how did you get this job?
Pat
Broderick: Back
in the early 70's, DC comics sponsored the junior bullpen program. This was a
nationwide art and writing contest in which contestants were to bring their
samples to the July 4th convention at the Commodore hotel in New York
City. At the time, I was fresh out of high school and saw this as a great
opportunity, so I spent weeks polishing up my samples, and saving all of the
cash I could put together for the trip from Tampa. This was also my first comic
book convention, so I was really excited; till I saw the line of other
"contestants," which seemed like at least a thousand strong. I felt
that it was a wasted trip, but I got in line anyway and waited my turn for what
seemed like an eternity. When my time came, I presented my work to Sol Harrison,
who was sitting at a table with Joe Orlando. They looked at the work without
much expression, then took my name and asked if I would return that evening
after the contest was over to meet Carmine Infantino. I was stunned.
Rik: How did you and Dick Giordano meet?
Pat: I first met
Dick Giordano while I was on staff at DC, but he didn't really ink any of my
work until I joined Continuity and Associates later that year.
Rik: You seemed to be doing odd jobs at DC and Marvel thought
1974.
Pat: 1974 was a
transitional year for me. I was in between jobs for Marvels' black and white
line and finishing up my work for DC's junior bullpen program.
Rik: In 1975 you
left DC and Marvel for regular penciling work at Atlas, Atlas was bringing in
some pretty big named artist for their launch, and you were a relative newcomer,
how did you get this break?
Pat: I first
learned about Atlas Comics while working on staff at Continuity. It seemed like
everyone was getting work from them and I didn't want to pass up that
opportunity
Rik: You left
Atlas to work for Marvel on Iron Fist.
Pat: Yes. It was
after Atlas that I started to work on Iron Fist, which was my first Marvel book.
Rik: At Marvel
Jim Starlin had a long run on Captain Marvel, then inker Al Milgrom took over
penciling and was replaced by you, how did it feel to get the regular assignment
and was it hard to follow a team like Starlin and Milgrom?
Pat:
I had always been a huge Jim
Starlin \ Gil Kane fan, and still am, so when Marvel offered Captain Marvel, I
jumped at the chance.
Rik: After
Captain Marvel you had a long run on the Micronauts, were you a fan of the
Micronauts?
Pat: The
Micronauts was a very special series for me. I was in love with the concept. And
was totally blown away by Mike Golden's art. But after seeing the really
horrible Howard Chaykin issues I felt that I could get the series back on track,
which I did for about two years. I think I produced some really good stories
during my run on the series.
Rik: In 1982 after 7 years at Marvel you left for DC,
why?
Pat: In 1982, the
editor-n-chief at Marvel had all but informed me that, in his opinion, my art
sucked and that I would never get another raise there, regardless of how well my
books were selling. So one quick phone call to DC and I was in.
Rik: Things were
obviously better at DC?
Pat: Yes. They
LIKED my work.
Rik: How did you
become involved with Captain Atom?
Pat: Dick
Giordano had completed the deal to get the Charlton characters for DC and called
me to see if I would be interested in working on the Captain Atom series. I'll
admit, I was hesitant to accept the job. But he had expressed to me that he
really needed me on that book so I agreed to do it for a year. It turned into
three.
Rik: After all
those years at DC why would you go back to Marvel?
Pat: After 10
years at DC our relationship had gone sour. I was being abused by my editors,
Helfer and Dooly, and was really just fed up with their attitude. So Rob Tokar
had offered me Captain Planet and I took it to get my feet back into Marvel's
door .
Rik: Your most
notable work at Marvel was Doom 2099, how did you get involved with the 2099
line?
Pat: Doom 2099
turned out to be a huge break for me. At the time, I was still doing Alpha
Flight and wanted to pick up a second title. Joey called and offered Doom. I was
thrilled.
Rik: After Doom,
there was a series form Techno Comix and a Bug one shot, then nothing, where did
you go?
Pat: After Tekno,
and a brief 5-issue stint with Shadow House, I had no option but to leave
comics. All of the work had dried up and as I'd had my hands in advertising for
the last ten years, I just turned to it full time. At that time, Tracy Locke and
Partnership in Dallas had hired me to head up an in-house creative department.
We handled all packaging, print and TV ads for Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Pizza Hut ,
Fed-Ex, Harrah's Casinos and Hasbro. It was an incredible experience. That
experience led to design work for DNA Productions on the Jimmy Neutron movie.
Rik: How is
advertising work different from working in comics?
Pat: Advertising
is a very different animal; far more pressure than comics and extremely more
demanding.
Rik: What brought
you back to comics?
Pat: When I
returned to Florida, I acquired a job as an adjunct instructor for the
International Academy of Design and Technology, in their Computer Animation
Department. It was during this time that I met with Bob at his new office in
Brandon, Florida, and was introduced to Future Comics.
Rik: Why future
comics?
Pat: Why Future
Comics??? The opportunity to work with both Bob and Dick.
Rik: You are not
just an artist but also the assistant to Editor-In-Chief, what does that entail?
Pat: Being
Assistant to Bob entails being able to free up his time to concentrate on the
Business of Future Comics.
Rik: You have a
new series for Future Comics, Peacekeeper, what is it about?
Pat: Peacekeeper
is an action packed series telling the story of Ian Marshall Justice, the last
Peacekeeper. More than that I really won't go into; it would kill the surprise.
But I will say this: there's nothing like it out there and hasn't been since
Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Peacekeeper will appeal to both old fans and
new.
Rik: After a
career with such long runs, we can probably expect you to be with Peacekeeper
for a long time.
Pat: I'll be with
Peacekeeper for at least a year, and with my history, I guess that means three
years.
To visit Future Comics on
the web go to www.futurecomicsonline.com
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