Interview: Jason Badower!

Some of you have been waiting for a while for this one – those of you who follow me on Twitter remember that it was a while ago that I sent the email with the questions to him, and I have good news: I’ve gotten it back, complete with answers!
Jason was very informative, and as anyone who has interacted with him before will know, very friendly. I’ve talked to him over instant messengers a few times before, and he’s an all-around awesome person to know.
So, without further adieu, lets get into the interview. :)
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Random Ramblings: Hey Jason! Thanks again for agreeing to have an interview for Random Ramblings. I know that a lot of people, myself included, were thrilled that you agreed to it. The first question comes from felix777. He’s a little curious about Power-copy Petey:  “Will we see any Peter-centric GNs in the upcoming season four?”
Jason: I really hope so. More importantly, I hope I get to draw them. I think I've only got to draw him twice! The season one finale page and Rebellion graphic novel 139.
RR: Only twice? Wow, that’s a shame! Now, LowerTheBar gets into the giving mood with her question: “You’ve donated a lot of your work to the SArmy* to be sold for charity (and we appreciate it!). Do you have any charities that you personally support?”
Jason: I don't. Although I do tend to lean towards charities involving animals and children, especially education related charities. I'm obsessed with learning and education.
RR: Very good obsessions, if you ask me! mrmichaelt has a few questions, to get into the ‘how and why’ of your work: “How many comic books do you work on at the same time (which do you prefer)?”
Jason: Because of the production line nature of comics and the time it takes to make them it varies. Although I tend to be working on up to four or five books at any one time. They vary in development stages from me writing concept pitches, outlines or scripts or even drawing or coloring. Given most people work on 1-3 at any time, I've basically given up sleep.
RR: “How has the shorter 8-page format of the Heroes graphic novels affected your work in     comparison to the standard comic book format?”
Jason: The beauty of the shorter 8 page format is that it's like a sprint rather than a 5 mile run or a marathon. I find myself a lot more energized at the start and at the end. It's a good, fun length to draw. I think it keeps me really hungry to keep coming back and draw these characters. Longer stories tend to grind me down after a while and they start to become a little tedious. For example drawing the same character again and again is a real challenge for someone with an attention span grown from MTV.
RR: “Why did you decide to draw in references to friends, whether it be anything from graffiti to characters in the chapter?” (And as an aside, Jason, I’d like to thank you for the shout out you gave me a while back!)
Jason: Sometimes it's requested by the writers. For example Zach cast his girlfriend Abby and Ollie cast his fiancée Abby, Foz cast his girlfriend also. But sometimes it's just the best way I know how to say "hi" and "thank you" to all the great people out there who have (and are) supported me. Other times it's my way of saying "hi" to all those people I miss back in Australia.
RR: That’s a cool way of doing things. :) Now, to give someone besides mrmichaelt a chance, OrangeSodaMan (Hey, that makes me thirsty!) wants to know “What are some of your favorite pieces?”
Jason: I really like 138 - Rebellion with Ollie Grigsby. I pulled out all the stops and I think it worked. Then Sum Quod Sum parts 1 and 2 (which Ollie also wrote). And going way back, I still love my first story Road Kill.
RR: 9thWonders moderator themightytruk goes back to Heroes, with his questions: “What Heroes character or characters in general have you not drawn yet, or are you most interested in drawing?”
Jason: I would really like to do another Sylar story. I haven't drawn him page to page since my first graphic novel, Road Kill! I also don't think I've drawn Micah enough. I'm not sure if around a hundred pictures of the little guy is enough. Seriously, I'm a bit done with Micah.
RR: “Where would you like to see Heroes go with the show or graphic novels in the future? Any story ideas you would want to do the art for?”
Jason: I still love the between or behind the scenes stories that flesh out the world and the episodes. As for the future I want to see a smaller cast with more of a team based feel but with their feet firmly planted in the real world. Jobs. Bills. Families. Spiderman is just another guy with powers. It's his circumstances that make him legendary. The HEROES characters need to go back to being defined by their circumstances and not their powers.
RR: “With Heroes: Rebellion out of the way, what are you going to be working on next?”
Jason: Right now I'm on hold with the HEROES stuff. I've written and currently drawing a six issue story for the FLEX CHAMPION series. A line of action figures that I've written a back-story to. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA should be fully released on BARKIT.COM soon. Also I'm doing some props work for an upcoming episode of CASTLE for ABC.
RR: Ooh, props for Castle? I love that show! Anyway, my buddy Requiem191 is wondering about the online side of things: “Any chance that there might be some artwork for the upcoming iStory chapters that you’ve done at NBC.com?” Good question!
Jason: That is a great idea! I should suggest it to them. I'd love to do those. Be great to do some pictures for that.
RR: That might make me actually tune into the iStory for a change! *Laughs* HERO goes back to wondering about the man behind the art: “What would be your dream job? Would you want total creative control over whatever you publish? Would you want to work with anybody in particular, or write your own stories, or what?”
Jason: My goal is to be known for quality storytelling and comics. I want publishers and advertisers to know that my name on a comic will guarantee a good story and good sales. This would give me the creative control and freedom to do whatever I want. In the meantime I need to keep pumping out consistent, strong work both written and drawn. I'm currently loving writing, but there are a bunch of writers and artists I'd love to work with.
RR: Here‘s another one, from the ever-helpful HERO: “What advice would you want to share to anyone who wants to enjoy the same sort of work that you do?”
Jason: Discipline, perseverance and being just a little bit crazy. Comics are tough. There's so few jobs so you have to be professional as well as really love it. I feel that reliability, great storytelling and great energy are the things that will win the day.
RR: Another friend of mine, FutureMuggles (arguably the most terrifying Mr. Muggles yet!) is curious about future GN plans: “I would like to know if there are plans to fill in some back stories from waaaaay back, such as Chandra/Shanti or the time between 1961 (Coyote Sands) and 1968 (War Buddies).”
Jason: I'm sure those times are rife with stories, but I'm sure that unless those back-stories coincide with the current season stories they will probably be left untold.
RR: Sheindie’s a little curious about the company you work for, Spacedog: “Can you explain what you do at Spacedog? Also, AnimeGoddess (Willow) once mentioned that Spacedog is an imprint of Top Cow - is it?”
Jason: Spacedog is a comic book publishing company in their own right that sometimes partners with companies like Top Cow on joint ventures. I draw and do art direction and editing at Spacedog. I could be drawing panels, editing scripts or checking lettering on any given day. I love wearing all the hats.
RR: Now, the fun stuff! I’ve got a few questions of my own to add to the stack up there, so let‘s have a crack at them! First off, the great comic question:
Of the “big two” comic book companies, which would you prefer to work for?
Jason: I love the energy that is at Marvel***. I love what Bendis is doing and my teens were all about the Marvel characters. But right now I resonate with the DC pantheon a little bit more now that I'm older.
RR: I don’t limit myself to either, so you’d still have a fan in me! Getting a bit more into the nerdy side of things (my forte!), here’s another: Other than our lovely Heroes characters, what established superheroes would you like to work on stories for? Being a Green Lantern fan myself, I’m having a minor geek moment thinking of how awesome it would be to see a Badower-illustrated GL storyline.
Jason: I do like GL. He's a great character but you're probably gonna kill me when I say I prefer Kyle Rayner to Hal Jordan, although I'm told the recent Geoff Johns stuff is awesome. But I've got stories in my head for Wolverine, a great Robin story, an Aquaman story and I'm working on eventually telling an absolutely epic Superman story.
RR: Lastly, what is your personal biggest problem with working in the comics industry?
Jason: There's just not enough hours in the day to write, draw and read everything I want to! I love this medium. I love it in a totally irrational, illogical way. I can't explain why or how, just that I do. I've turned my life upside down for it and I want to make it more widely accepted and popular.
RR: And there you have it! I hate to say that I couldn’t ask all the questions submitted, but I think I got a pretty good variety of them. Thanks for your time, Jason! Maybe we can do this again some time. :)
Jason: Thank you! These were some really great questions. I'm impressed by their breadth and thought. It's great to see such familiar names on the list too.
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At long last, the interview is up! Sorry to those whose questions I wasn’t able to ask! Maybe I’ll get the chance to interview Jason again some time, and we can try then! :)