House Petrelli Interview with Jason Badower, Part 1
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HP: Okay, is there anything you wanted to talk about before I get into it?JB: Um... not really? Just, I’m a little out of it. You know when you wake up in the morning and you’re just not with it? I realized... I got to work, and I’m wearing two totally different pairs of shoes. But I’ve got some coffee, so I should be all right.
HP: *laughs* All right. My first question – How did you get started doing graphic novels?
JB: I used to art direct Aron Coleite on a comic that he was working on, and he eventually got to the stage where he couldn’t do so many things at once. And he goes, “Guys, my TV show is taking off, it’s requiring all my time.”
HP: Gee, what a shame.
JB: *laughs* Yeah, I was like, “Whatever, go off to your stinkin’ TV show,” I didn’t really watch TV at the time. And a couple of months later somebody said to me, “Jas, you really should watch Heroes,” and I watched it and I saw his name and I went “Ohmigod, Aron, this is the show he was talking about!” I sent him an email and said “Aron, congratulations on the show, it’s fantastic,” and he said “What are you doing these days?” And I showed him Zero-G, the comic I was working on, and he said “Do you want to draw our comics?” and I was like, “SHYEAH! Definitely!” So within two hours I had my first script, and I even had to put my hand up and go “Um... excuse me, how much am I being paid?” And it was just great. And that was “Road Kill” back in number... 20?”
HP: Yeah! But before that even, how did you meet him, and how did you get started? Because I’ve seen some of that early stuff from Australia... Southern... what was that?
JB: I did some covers for a fanzine called “Southern Exposure.”
HP: Yeah!
JB: That was... wow. I was... 17, 18 there.
HP: And that’s just monster stuff for a 17-year-old to be able to do. Because when I was 17 I was hanging out with artists and a guy that was trying to break into comics, and you’re just a bajillion times better than he ever was.
JB: That’s funny, because I don’t think I ever did anything that was any good until I was about 27. I’ve tried to hide everything I ever did before the age of 27 – it’s all just a little bit rough around the edges.
HP: Oh sure, it’s all learning. But is that where you started really? I mean, you’ve got the natural aptitude of course, but...
JB: It’s funny, people say “natural aptitude” and say “talent,” but to me that kind of undermines the amount of work that’s gone into it. For example, I reckon I’ve probably drawn comics for two hours every day of my life. And when I look at what I’m capable of now, and the amount of time that I’ve put in, actually I’m probably a little bit retarded. *laughs* I should be so much better for the time that I’ve put in. For me, I think it’s just a stupid, stubborn persistence. I just don’t want to give up! And I love it. For some reason, I love it. I used to do motivational lectures for kids in danger of dropping out of school. And those who were interested in getting in to art, or into comics, I’d say to them “If you want to make money, get into advertising. If you want fame, get into movies or TV. I do comics because I love them. There’s very little fame or money, comparatively, in comics as there are in movies or TV.
HP: That’s true. I think it’s really an underrated medium. But obviously it’s crossing over quite a lot into other media now.
JB: Absolutely. One of the things I realized that I love so much about it... after the Heroes premiere I organized to meet up with a bunch of the writers, the Heroes writers, for some drinks. And what was funny was listening to them talk shop, and listening to them talk about the actors... some of their needs and demands and requests and things like that. And I realized that at the heart of it, a TV or a movie, eventually the fictional reality breaks down, like people go “cut!” and everybody goes back to being who they are. The beauty of comics is that my characters are always staying my characters, you know?
HP: Oh, right.
JB: You’re never going to get somebody like Superman going “If you want me to do another monthly book, I’m going to need a raise.” You know? He just appears in another monthly book. And as long as you get the creators on board, it’s fine. It’s so funny listening to these conversations from them and having this wonderful world broken down. You actually don’t want to know what goes on behind the scenes, because then when you’re watching the show, you’re like, “Ohhh yeah. Right... yeah.” You’re putting together things you were told with what’s on screen. Like peoples’ personal agendas? And it kind of ruins that beautiful fictional reality that they’ve created.
HP: Right. I can see that, yeah.
JB: And I eventually had to go, “Guys, just stop telling me these things, it’s ruining the show!”
HP: Yeah, a lot of people don’t realize all that kind of stuff goes on behind the scenes. And you got to visit the set during shooting at one point, right?
JB: I did! Yeah! And that was great. I mean, what an incredible experience. Ollie Grigsby and Zach Craley, the two guys who wrote “Root and Branch,” invited me down. They said “when you come to LA, come and visit.” So yeah, I rocked up there and they took me through... I watched a scene being shot with --I think I can say now because we’ve seen the characters – Claire’s biological mother and Sandra Bennet. So that was great. And being taken through all the sets, everything from Mohinder’s new lab to the rooftop, what was Isaac’s old lab, Level 5, the Primatech corridors, Bob’s room... which is an incredible set. It was just great, wandering through all these places, and realizing the attention to detail.
HP: Wow, cool!
JB: Like the Bennet house. It was just... see, what I love is watching a great production company put together really clever sets. You can see how they fake this, and where they can shoot this from – so clever. Just... astounded seeing some of the great stuff that they did.
HP: And you can really see the money in this show.
JB: Oh, you can. It’s one of the few shows where you can see the dollars on the screen, and moreso. I can’t remember how much their episode budget is, but it looks like that and more. But what really gets me is just watching the first episodes of Season 3... just realizing what a tough writing chore it is. Trying to balance... how many characters is it? I think there’s nine or ten characters floating around there. Giving them all enough screen time, tying them together, and making sure the audience remembers each of the characters before jumping through them all is just such an incredible thing.
HP: Do you know if they have individual... like, “Jesse, you’ve got the Governor and these other three people,” or whatever. Are they assigned, or do they kind of jump around between writers?
JB: Now, don’t take this as gospel, but from what I’ve spoken to Ollie... What apparently they do is have big writers’ meetings. You’re better off probably asking one of the writers.
HP: Oh, I’d like to at some point, yes... (laughs)
JB: I believe they all get together and have a big writers’ powwow, and Ollie writes down all the notes as they all brainstorm the scene together, and then I believe someone gets given the episode to write out from everyone’s notes.
HP: Not just one person though?
JB: Then it’s up to one person to join the dots.
HP: Gee, that’s nuts.
JB: Yeah, but then you have this incredible brainstorming session at your disposal with every episode.
HP: Wow. Well thanks for that insight, I know that’s not your area of expertise.
JB: No problem. I mean, I got to wander through the rooms, and just seeing the... I mean, you go into the writer’s room and there’s two massive whiteboards and a big conference table, with Ollie’s desk off in the corner where he scribes everything down. Then they’ll have pictures on the wall to inspire them with just different images, just... writing all over the boards... My big thing was trying to take it in but not take it in. Like, I don’t want to know all the details. I only want to know what happens ahead on a “need to know” basis.
HP: Exactly. Same here.
JB: Because I want to watch it. I get a lot of people going, “Can you tell me how it ends? Can you tell me this? Can you tell me that?” And I’m like... there are so few things in life which are worth enjoying – this is one of them. Enjoy it in the best possible way you can. You don’t want to have it spoiled by some idiot telling you in an email or in a bar. You want to watch the show in the way it’s intended, and that’s where you really get the maximum enjoyment out of it
HP: Yeah, especially when... Ahhh! They showed the premiere so early at Comic-Con, and there was two months’ gap, and so much leaked out in those two months. And it was like, “You guys, why did you do that?” Because now I found out all this stuff I didn’t want to know.
JB: I’ve actually been really good at keeping my head in the sand. There’s been a couple of times when I’ve been like “Ahhh...” But for the most part I really don’t know anything that’s going on and it’s great!
HP: (laughs) It isn’t often you can say something like that. “I’m ignorant, and I love it!”
JB: (laughs) Yeah, it’s true, it’s true. “I’ve got my head in the sand and I’m quite happy with it there.”
HP: Exactly.
JB: I remember when I had to do “The Death of Hana Gitelman,” and the end of that for the end of Season 1. The final page was this huge splash of the cliffhangers for the Season 1 finale.
HP: I remember in your blog, you were like, “I didn’t want to know all that!”
JB: Exactly! Exactly. And the only enjoyment I got out of it was knowing how it got there. Trying to figure out how they were going to get there.
HP: Right, that puzzle, You were all like “I have no idea how they’re getting there.”
JB: I knew D.L. gets shot, but I was like “Who shoots D.L.? Why has Parkman been shot too?” So I didn’t know who shot anybody or how it came about. So that was kind of fun, trying to figure out how they were going to get there.
HP: Were people pestering you all the time? Like, “You know how it ends! How’s it going to end?”
JB: Oh, totally. All the time. But again, “Why? Why do you want to know? I’m telling you... I know, and it sucks!”
HP: Because you don’t see the journey, you just have that final panel where it’s all come together, and it kind of doesn’t help anything, really.
JB: Yeah. Some things it helped, I mean, I knew that Nathan flew Peter away. So I knew that Peter was the bomb, and that Nathan flies him away. I knew that finish. I knew that Hiro stabbed Sylar, for example, and then ends up in feudal Japan. So, there were things that I knew there, and I was just trying to figure out how they got there. It was a lot of fun.
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Join us in Part 2 for more, including some very Petrelli-centric questions and answers!
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