PKD Media Spotlight on: Iszy Iszard of BARG!
Welcome once again to the PKD Media Spotlight, focusing on artists, publishers, podcasts and more that you may not be familiar with, but will be soon.
This week, I would like to introduce all of you to Iszy Iszard, creator of the comic series BARG! (Big Ass Robot Gods). I met Iszy (along with the additional members of the Bad Monkey Brain studio at Heroes Con) and I must say that people are sleeping on this gentleman’s talents.
I took a moment out to interview Iszy, and here’s what he had to say:
- What was the first comic book or piece of art that got you excited about the genre?
My earliest comic book memories were of The Savage Sword of Conan from the mid seventies. One look at John Buscema’s art and I was hooked! I can remember hiding issues under my pillow because my parents would not have approved of the content. Joe Jusko’s covers really affected me too.
I also had the good fortune of growing up about four houses down from Kyle Baker. His entire family is talented, and he put up with me looking over his shoulder on many an afternoon. Kyle even sold little mini-comics to other kids on the block. I wish I still had some of those today! So I would have to credit my time on Kyle’s stoop with putting the “You can do it.” In the back of my head.
Captain Marvel by Iszy Iszard
- When did you decide to jump into the comics game as an artist?
I had plenty of false starts but the single event that pushed me to make a commitment to enter the comics world happened back in 2004. In January of 2004 I suffered a stroke. I spent about a year learning how to read and write again. It was a scary time for our family and started me down a path of reflection. I started asking myself the big questions. One of those questions was: “Can I still create art?” As it turned out, I had to learn that again too.
Art had always been a place of solace for me. As a child in fact it was sometimes my best friend. I thought that if art stuck with me in this time of need, I’d have to give it something in return. The art came back and I swore that I would do what I could to put my art in the hands of as many people as possible. Then came Badmonkeybrain.
Galactus by Iszy Iszard
- What (or who) are your influences?
I won’t go into individual artists or books here as there are too many to mention. I have to say a few words about dreams however. I’ve been a lucid dreamer for years. Basically, lucid dreaming is the ability to exercise control over the content of your dreams. I get 90% of my ideas, images and inspiration from my dreams. I wish more people would tap into this near limitless source of creativity. Most of my dream inspired work has not hit the public eye but stay tuned!
Scarlet Witch by Iszy Iszard
- How did you end up becoming a part of Bad Monkey Brain Studios?
After my stroke in 2004, I was going just a little bit stir crazy. A friend and coworker introduced me to someone that was a part of Artklub. Artklub was a group of local artists that met each Thursday and Sunday at coffee shops to draw and “nerd out” about cartoons, sci-fi, comics and pinup models. Jerry Carr came up with the name Badmonkeybrain and we used it for Artklub’s web presence. After a while, those of us that were more serious about creating comics coalesced like a proto-planetary disc into a “studio”. Badmonkeybrain Studios was born. Badmonkeybrain is Rand Arrington, Jerry Carr, Brian Maze and me.
Bad Monkey Brain Studios (from left to right): Brian Maze, Iszy Iszard, Mariah "The Intern" Arant, Jerry Carr, and Rand Arrington
- To those that are unfamiliar with “BARG!”, what is it all about?
BARG! stands for Big Ass Robot Gods. It’s the story of Sophia Pistis, a 20 something young lady that as spent most of her short life on the wrong side of the tracks. She has dealt with horrific visions since childhood that have driven her to the brink of insanity.
It’s at the edge of insanity that she learns the truth about her visions and what they have been trying to tell her. Sophia is the mother of god. Just as she awakens to this reality, the horror of her visions is set loose upon the world.
Demons and monstrous things begin to crawl into this reality in a search for essence of the goddess that has been hidden within this young lady. In desperation, Sophia calls out for help. The BARG! answer her cries. These giant robot gods have been sleeping, waiting for the day when the goddess would awake.
All of this sets the stage for the biggest brawls the world has ever seen. You’ll have to read the book to find out exactly why each side is fighting over the goddess. All may not be as it seems when cosmic entities are playing a game of chess with our planet as the board.
Crucible from BARG! by Iszy Iszard
RA BARG from BARG! By Iszy Iszard
- I saw that you are working on a toyline for “BARG!” as well. How did that come about?
A few years back I did a sculpt of Thor BARG. It was really just a way to get my head around what he would look like in the real world. I took that sculpt to the Baltimore Comic Convention where Mark Wheatley graciously gave me a spot at the Insight Studios booth. It garnered quite a reaction and that got me thinking about toys.
I used 3d computer modeling to help flesh out my designs for the BARG. and once the designs were done I started looking into 3d rapid prototyping. Since then I’ve been corresponding with Criteria Systems (http://www.criteria-systems.com) and I hope to work with them to bring the BARG to life.
- Where can people find you on the web, and is there anything else that you would like to mention?
For news and the latest sketches in near real time please visit my blog at:
http://iszyverse.blogspot.com
My online portfolio may be found at:
http://www.iszard.com
or
http://iszyiszard.deviantart.com/
For information about BARG! visit:
http://bigrobotgods.com
or find the Big Ass Robot Gods group on Facebook
Follow me on twitter at:
@realiszyiszard
For info about the Badmonkeybrain collective visit:
Mad props and respect to Iszy for taking the time out to do this spotlight interview. If you see him on the convention circuit with Bad Monkey Brain Studios, give him a holler.
Come back to PKDmedia.com tomorrow for some Mercury & The Murd goodness. Peace and good times.
-Shawn
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