Our Creator Interview series continues with a set of amazing and insightful interviews with multiple creators of the Ghost Machine team. Today we are sitting down with Bryan Hitch, Co-founder and Co-owner of Ghost Machine, as well as artist and writer for over 35 years. Notable titles include Authority, Ultimates, JLA, Batman, Venom, now REDCOAT!
GlobalComix: For those new to your work, can you tell us a little bit about your career so far and some of your favorite works?
Bryan Hitch: I started aged 16 at Marvel UK in mid 1987 working on weekly comics such as Transformers and Action Force (GI Joe Europe), then Death’s Head before taking over She-Hulk in 1989. Moved between Marvel and DC for a few years until, after 12 years, becoming an overnight's success with Authority. Ultimates followed a little later then so many things for Marvel and DC.
I’m probably most known for Authority and Ultimates and am genuinely proud of those weeks but I also loved working on Hawkman very much; a great deal of fun as well as Batman’s Grave and the upcoming Superman: Last Days of Lex Luthor.
GlobalComix: Ghost Machine is a shared universe composed of multiple creator-owned titles. Do you think that it’s possible that more shared universes like this will appear in the coming years?
Bryan: Hard to say and I wouldn’t really know how to predict it. Certainly if something is successful or perceived to be successful, there’s often a willingness to attempt to replicate that but any success we may have is down to the people working on these books and the way they do it and that’s not always easy to replicate.
We’re all just very passionate about what we’re doing and the way we’re doing it.
GlobalComix: How do you think this will change the industry if it does?
Bryan: Well, we’re certainly developing a new model that isn’t the traditional corporate work-for-hire that we’ve all done at Marvel and DC and it isn’t the traditional creator owned model started with Image in the early 90’s. The business model is new and offers or suggests there are workable alternatives that are perhaps more rewarding for us creators. For us it offers a huge amount of creative freedom, creative control and new opportunities in our business. The overall media landscape is not like it was when we all started making comics in the 80’s and 90’s and we want to be well positioned to work across all of it with the best possible outcomes for all of us creating these characters and stories.
We’re independent but also a very co-operative group and we feel we have a best of all worlds set up with Ghost Machine.
GlobalComix: You’ve worked in a lot of different roles over the years for a variety of publishers like DC, Image, WildStorm, Marvel, and more. For Ghost Machine, you contributed artwork to the Ghost Machine #1 One-shot and The Unnamed, specifically Redcoat. Are there future projects that you’re working on that you can share?
Bryan: I was talking to Geoff the other week and realizing that if I do all the issues of Redcoat we want to do and all the other things I’m bringing to my time in Ghost Machine, I’d have to do 16 issues a year for ten years with what we have already without even coming up with anything new and we always do! Redcoat is a long form ongoing monthly series and I intend to hit every issue, every month unless incapacitated and we think we’ll do 60-100 issues or more. There are also at least five additional projects, some of which relate to Redcoat and The Unnamed and others which don’t. I intend to have the best time of my life here telling as many stories as I can and some of these have been years in the planning. I’m just excited to work every day!
GlobalComix: How do you balance keeping your art style distinctive while also fitting the tone and style of different comic book series?
Bryan: It’s instinctive. There are always differences, but I draw the way I draw and within that I just try to find the natural flavour of whatever the story is and pull that out to the best possible standards.
GlobalComix: How do you manage the pressures and deadlines that come with working in the comic book industry, often on multiple titles and projects at a time?
Bryan: 37 years of practice! I used to struggle to do anything on time but in the last 6 years or so have really got a lot of stuff figured out so the best way I find, is to work out what you need to do each day based on what needs to be delivered on each job. It’s easy to see what you can manage and what you have to say no to. If you do what’s reasonably needed each day, the big picture sorts itself out without having to be stressed or concerned. I generally don’t feel any pressure now because I try to keep things manageable and, being relaxed, I get more done and feel happier about what I do.
GlobalComix: Can you share a moment in your career that was particularly challenging and how you overcame it?
Bryan: So much of it has been a challenge in one way or another. It was almost always a struggle for much of my career. It’s had its successes for certain but a few years ago I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the successful management of that has really changed my game in all respects. Being neuro-diverse (ASC) as well has always had its challenges too but being able to embrace and understand that as well as the BPD treatment as opened things up for me in ways I could never have appreciated before, which is why I could answer the previous question as I did.
GlobalComix: Reflecting on your vast experience, how has the comic book industry evolved in terms of storytelling and artistic styles since you started? How has your process for artwork evolved over the years with it?
Bryan: It happens naturally, really. Technology and processes do change (I’m still Mr. Traditional). It always evolves and changes; the worst thing would be to avoid this changes instead of embracing them and learning what we can from them rather than looking backwards and trying to recreate what things were before. But for me, I just follow my passion for story and try to go where that leads. It’s pop culture and that’s always of the time it’s made in, I think.
GlobalComix: Is the roster for Ghost Machine open to others to join? Is there a process for those who are interested or anything in particular you look for in candidates?
Bryan: We have all the folks we need for our immediate plans and are talking to a few folks here and there (with some to be announced soon). There’ll be opportunities to come for certain and I think if we’re right for you and you’re right for us, we’ll find each other! We’re hopeful that what we’re doing here can influence a new generation of writers and artists who will be inspired by what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and the greatest thing will be to see those creators with us in the future.
GlobalComix: Has there been a title that you’ve worked on in the past that still influences your work a lot to this day?
Bryan: Not specifically. Some things work better than others and you learn from that. I usually say my favourite thing is whatever I do next but with Redcoat and Ghost Machine in general I feel like I’m exactly where I need to be and where I want to be and everything I’ve done before is in part a preparation for what I’m doing right now.
GlobalComix: With so much experience in creating artwork of different publishers, styles, and titles, behind you, is there any advice that you would give to up-and-coming artists who want to break into indie or mainstream comics?
Bryan: Follow your passions, be determined and see everything you do as an opportunity to learn. That should never stop no matter how experienced or how good you get. Don’t worry about anything you might perceive as a setback or failure. That’s word I hate as it suggests only binary outcomes when the truth is a pathway always meanders and undulates; it’s never a straight line. You have to realise that nobody actually learns from success, but with each step you have an opportunity to evaluate what worked and what didn’t and then move another step forward. It takes time to be good but being good is not about raw talent (whatever that may be) it’s about working at it. Inspiration is only the choice of direction to go in, to get there takes effort.
Thank you to Bryan Hitch for taking the time to talk to us about his work and experience with Ghost Machine.
If you want to keep up with all the amazing work Ghost Machine is putting out, we've got a list of pages and profile links right here for you:
- Follow Image Comics to get updates on all the latest titles and releases
- Find titles from the Ghost Machine collection here
- View and purchase the latest PDFs from Image Comics, including the newest Ghost Machine titles here
- Follow Ghost Machine on Instagram
- Keep up with Bryan Hitch on Twitter
- See more of Bryan's work on Instagram!