SRM: In addition to the rhythm of the images, many of your comics feature some surprisingly poetic prose narration. How do you approach prose? Are there any authors whom you emulate, and if so, in what respects?
MB: When I started, my only spiritual guides were Carl Barks and Philip José Farmer. I try not to emulate anybody else. I have tried to develop my own style.
SRM: In terms of executing one’s own style, I imagine that writing a novel is a much less collaborative process than writing a comic book. Is it a relief to be able to present your ideas directly instead of having an artist translate them, or is the extra pressure on you as an individual more stressful?
MB: There is no stress in writing a novel. There are only decisions. There is a great deal of stress, sometimes, collaborating with artists and editors.
SRM: Speaking of that collaborative process… your partnership with Steve Rude on Nexus is one of the most storied in comics history. His illustrations have this sleek, retro quality that perfectly suits the operatic grandiosity (and the occasional goofiness) of your writing. What kinds of personal and professional qualities have you found to be essential to a working relationship of this kind, not just with Rude but with other artists?
MB: Patience and diplomacy.
SRM: What degree of oversight do you exercise over your comics? Would you, for instance, describe things like composition in your scripts or ask that artists redraw panels that don’t fit your mental image?
MB: I’ve been blessed with sympatico artists for the most part, but every now and then I will request a change and they will make it.
SRM: Running with the theme of compromise and cooperation: you’ve written a number of protagonists (Nexus, Badger, Marvel’s Punisher) who act on very uncompromising (if somewhat warped) ideals, but in ways that are often counterproductive. They’re not saints, which makes them interesting as explorations of how far real superheroes might go overboard. But what, for you, would make a real saint, a real hero?
