NRAMA: You're fairly unique in the medium for a number of things, but one that really stands out is your work ethic. How do you manage to create so many quality pages on a regular basis? What's your schedule like?
MB: I grew up in a military family where we were expected to pull our own weight. Comics were a goal of mine for a long time, in fact I joined the Army out of high school so that I would earn the G.I. Bill for art school. After art school I banged nails in Georgia for a few years, and that taught me what real hard work is. You haven’t lived until you’ve spent a couple of years doing construction, with a wife and child to support, thinking this is what you are going to be doing for the rest of your life. I finally got a job at Lockheed doing technical illustration which got me out of carpentry - thank God. Did that for three years and broke into comics with the Try Out Contest. Now I get paid to do something I love, and I’ll be damned if I’m ever going to be accused of taking it for granted. I work hard because I enjoy what I do, and there are a lot of people who work with me on a book who depend upon my ability to get the job done.
I’m usually at my desk by 8:00 AM, and I put in an average of 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Sounds rough, but I don’t spend a half hour dressing for the office everyday, I don’t commute an hour a day each to and from work, and lunch usually is a quick sandwich. I’m pretty good at maximizing my time at my desk.
