Bored Panda contacted Jim Benton to ask him a couple of questions related to his work. We wanted to know what he considers the most rewarding aspects of being a comic artist, and what keeps him motivated to continue creating. The artist told us: “You get to decide exactly what you feel like creating. Motivation comes and goes— sometimes it’s very strong and other times you need to push yourself. The strongest motivation is positive feedback. Without feedback, this is like doing stand-up comedy over the radio — creators want to know that people like what they create.”
Asked about how his art style has evolved over time, Benton said: “I’ve always liked to experiment with different tools and those have a big effect on the work. Format size affects the work as well — squares and 4x5 ratios work best online, and if you use text you need to keep font size in mind since most people read stuff on a phone. You can also run into some trouble with political stuff. You can find yourself banned for something you thought was quite uncontroversial.”
Next, we were wondering how Jim balances the creative aspects of his work with the business side of things, such as marketing and promotion. The artist shared with us: “Promotion is difficult. There are so many great creators posting work, it’s tough to get noticed. I just post and hope for the best. (When you read that, cross your eyes and bracket it with the word 'DUH' just to clarify what an idiot I am in that regard).”
We were curious if Benton could describe a pivotal moment or experience that significantly impacted his growth as a comic artist, and we found out that: “Awards, weirdly, have a way of charging your batteries and encourage you to do more and work harder. In the big picture, they don’t mean anything, really: Tons of great artists never get noticed the way they should. But each little acknowledgement is pivotal in its own way.”
Lastly, the artist shared with us a couple of his recent works, which you can find and get online: “My new graphic novel with D.C. Comics is called Batman Squad; ATTACK OF THE STUFF is being relaunched by Mad Cave; CATWAD, and finally IT'S HAPPY BUNNY stuff.”
