There would appear to be many moving parts (talented artists and writers) in making Zarjaz so remarkable. To torture this metaphor to breaking point SHIFT'S Blog writer Paul N Neal decided to jump onto the buffet carriage of the train and talk to Zarjaz's Dredd artist Brett Burbridge.
Inevitably to start, in an effort to get to know this talented artist on the buffet car, the conversation began with food.
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Paul: Do you cook? Do you have a signature meal you create well? Or do you have a take away option you especially enjoy?
One film was so cringingly bad and embarrassing in parts that I could only watch it a few minutes at a time before reaching for the off button whilst dying inside. Yet I still managed to get through it.
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I’d say that I’m pretty much self taught, even though I went to art college and studied graphic design. I was very lucky at one studio I worked at.
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There was an amazing illustrator who was very generous with his time, saying not to worry about styles and techniques etc and just concentrate on good solid draftsmanship. He helped me realise it wasn’t some magical talent that made good illustrators, it was just hard work and I’ve been working my arse off ever since.
Paul: Would you say you are a fast artist? I am always curious, how many hours would you say goes into creating a single page of art?
Brett: I wish! Unfortunately I am not a fast artist! The working out side of things ie pencils and layouts takes the most of my time when producing a comic page. It usually takes me a day, say 8 hours, sometimes longer, depending on complexity to produce a single page of pencils. Then maybe 5 or 6 hours to ink them up again depending on how complicated the page is. I like to get all the pencils done first in one hit and then once approved start the inking. It’s the fastest way I’ve found that works for me.
Paul: How did you first become involved with Zarjaz ? How did your partnership with writer Pete Howard begin?
Brett: I’d read on PJ Holden’s blog (who is a goldmine of information and helpful advice for aspiring comic artists) on how to go about getting to work for the Galaxy's greatest comic. Which briefly was to get experience drawing pages for anthologies such as Zarjaz. So I approached the late great Dave Evans and he very kindly started feeding me scripts until his sad untimely departure. I’d also entered the 2000AD ThoughtBubble competitions a couple of times and made it to runner up receiving some excellent feedback from the Editorial staff and panels. Off the back of that I came second in their write and illustrate the ultimate one page Judge Dredd story competition.
When I heard that Andrew Lewis was about to take up the reins for Zarjaz Volume 3, I touched base with him and sent in the Dredd page along with some of my previous work. He offered me my first script for The VC’s of which a panel was included in the Zarjaz feature in the Megazine along with the cover I illustrated for the Volume 3 relaunch Sci Fi Special. We’ve had a great working relationship ever since.
In conversation, he mentioned to me that he had a Dredd script by Pete Howard, where the first 3 pages had no art at all and were just black panels with a couple of pages of art at the end and would I be interested in taking a look. Obviously I said yes and that was the beginning of working with Pete. I never knew at the time but those few pages were the set up for a much larger story arc. Pete was happy with what I’d done and asked if I’d like to continue working with him on the rest of the series.
Paul: Your Dredd stories for Zarjaz with Pete Howard are impressive to say the least. How does your creative partnership work? Do you have any story input? Or is there a clear divide between writer and artist?
Brett: Firstly it’s a three way collaboration. Pete produces a script full of fun, crazy ideas and mischief and fires it across to Andrew who edits it and they bat it back and forward for a while before I get to see it. Then it’s sent to me with the caveat of if I see anything I think would enhance or could improve upon, feel free to go for it. I mull it over and then put forward all 6 pages in a slightly more detailed thumbnail form all up together on a single page. There’s just enough there to follow the story so they can see how it flows.
I’ll mention if I’ve dropped any panels or added/combined any to speed up or slow down the pacing. From there they give me their thoughts/changes and I set about producing a set of pencilled pages for their approval. I may throw in the odd one liner too if I’ve thought of something witty for them to consider.
It really is a team effort between the three of us. Once the art is completed I’ll do the lettering. We’ve not got a professional letterer on-board so I jump in where I’m needed to help out on some of the other stories too to try and produce a professional looking product as possible.
Paul: In the past I have compared your art to the 2000AD and Judge Dredd legend Cam Kennedy. Is that a fair comment? Is that complimentary, or alternatively is what Zarjaz fans see simply your natural style and any resemblance is entirely coincidental?
Brett: It’s more than fair and it is certainly complimentary. It couldn’t be anything else. What Zarjaz fans see is probably not my natural style. I don’t think I have a natural style. I’ve worked in design agencies all my adult life and it was par for the course to be given an illustration to do in this style or that depending on fashions and trends at the time. So when I picked up the Dredd script, I looked at some early Dredd pages and his work along with Mike McMahon would have certainly influenced the way I drew him and the world around him.
Paul: Are there other 2000AD, or for that matter ANY other comic, characters, you would be thrilled to illustrate? Are there genres you would like to tackle?
Brett: I love Rogue Trooper and Strontium Dog and I’m very lucky to have worked on them both in upcoming issues of Zarjaz. I’m not a massive superhero fan however I think Batman would be fun to work on. I’d like to have a go at some war scripts. I’ve done a little bit of horror and would love to work on some more of that.
Paul: As an artist what is the dream? If all the opportunities were perfect and the stars aligned, what would be the dream to accomplish as an artist?
Brett: I suppose it’s to have a good body of solid work to look back on that’s recognised by my peers and I’m proud of. I obviously want to see my work in 2000AD one day. I suppose the dream would then be to have an endless supply of interesting scripts and projects to work on with like minded people. I love collaborating and being part of a team.
Paul: Do you have any private sketches of art that is not Zarjaz related that you would be willing to share?
Brett: I have a load of art as I’m always drawing and painting.
SHIFT NOTE: For more of Brett's art check out the end of this interview.
Paul: A final question. What does the future hold for Brett Burbridge? Where can people find your art in the rest of 2025, 2026 and beyond?
Brett: I have been working with Baden Mellonie on 2:57AM. It’s a horror tale of vampires with a unique slant on vampirism. He’s great to work with and my mind starts exploding with ideas and images when I read his scripts! I’m also appearing in ‘Pots & Panels’ an anthology that’s been a successful Kickstarter campaign again with Baden.
Most recently I’ve dipped my toe into the world of writing after scripting a 6 pager for Zarjaz featuring Rogue Trooper with a lot of help from Andrew and I’m working again with him on a Folk Horror tale titled ’The Fossey Hare’ which has been very rewarding to do.
Finally I feel it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention and thank Dave Hailwood and John Freeman who got me started on my comic journey, illustrating the ‘Death Duty’ space opera that they co-wrote. I’ll always be indebted for their help and encouragement.
You can see my work at
https://brettburbridge.carbonmade.com
