Good day, everyone, hope all is well! I've been under the weather so some of the blogs got a bit backed up, and though I'm not 100% yet, the show must go on, especially with the next spotlight! There are very few artists that has had the type of career Jim Balent has had. He is founder of Broadsword Comics, where he alongside fantastic artist Holly Golightly, who produces other titles as well, produces the long running indie comic Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose for 21 years now, with no signs of slowing down. He had a spectacular run at DC comics, where he designed the 90s look for Catwoman. His art was in many of the great Batman crossovers of the 90s, Knightfall, Contagion, No Man's Land, to name a few. I have always been a fan of Balent's art, to me it's just poetry in motion watching the characters flowing on the page or gracing a cover or pinup. I may have tried to copy his Catwoman style one or two times when I started to get interest in drawing. Or three or four times. Maybe more. So, it is definitely my honor and pleasure to pick the brain for a bit of a creator that defined the look of an iconic character for a generation and then blazed his own trail with his comic Tarot, here is Jim Balent. What are you currently working on, or have you launched a crowdfunding campaign recently? Currently I am working on Tarot: Witch of the Black rose # 132 which will hit stores and on my Website www.jimbalent.com at the end of February! I will launch a NEW KICKSTARTER in the beginning of January! It's a Trade paperback called "Raven Hex: Return of the Dark Witch!" What made you want to create comics? Since I was five years old I was drawing!!! I had a collection of comics when I was a kid... Loved Spider-man and Batman ! And I still do! What advantage would you say making an indie comic have over working on a mainstream comic? I never looked at Advantages or Disadvantages when I worked on Mainstream or Independent comics. Sure there are differences... but... if you like a Project, none of those differences matter. What would you say to anyone that’s on the fence about creating an indie IP? Feed your Dreams and one Day your Dreams will Feed you! What’s your biggest influence? Frank Thorne, Frank Frazetta , Frank Miller and many for Comic and Fantasy Artists. What lessons have you learned from creating independently that you wish you had known before you started? Lessons I've learned? Well...I have always been a Self Employed Artist... A Freelance Artist. So I am always learning everyday. I have been Creating Independently since I was five like I said. Technology keeps changing... and you adapt to that. What do you suggest to indie creators do to make their work stand out on the stands or on virtual stores? I tell Creators to Create what they Like. Draw or Write what they like. An Audience will find you. Readers can tell if you are not being honest in what you create or if you don't Love what you create. That's how you stand out. Give us your elevator pitch about your project and why it’d make a great gift! HAHAHA! I hate Pitches. They always sound so phoney! I can tell you about My Book and Broadsword Comics.( The Company that Me and my Wife Holly Golightly run.) Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose is a ongoing Bimonthly comic series, (That is still going strong for 22 years coming this March of 2022!) Its a story about a Voluptuous Female Red Haired Witch who is chosen by the Goddess to be her Swordmaiden and to keep the balance between Man and Magick! Tarot has lots of monsters and nudity in the books. It's a Mature Readers title... and it's filled with Adventure... sometimes it's serious and sometimes its funny! so pick it up at your local Comic store or go to my website www.jimbalent.com Thanks to all the Readers out there for their two decades of support and counting! Once again, thank you so much for sharing a bit of your time, Jim Balent, and I will be quoting "Feed your dreams and one day your dreams will feed you" many times! What a great quote! Thank you all so much for reading, you can check out www.jimbalent.com to stay up to speed on any Broadsword news from Jim Balent or Holly Golightly, order their comics and merch, stay p to speed on social media, or sign up to their newsletter.
Thank you all for reading, next spotlight is a young up and coming Puerto Rican comic book creator, JL Aviles. Catch you all next time! -Alvaro
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