GVN Talking Comics Interview: Bruce Zick on Dark Horse’s Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time

Artist Bruce Zick has had the career that I always wanted in my youth. I always saw myself working for Marvel or DC and eventually finding my way into animation. But while I dreamed about these possibilities, Bruce has accomplished it. He has worked in television animation for Ruby-Spears, Hanna Barbera, and DIC, as well as for Disney animation and Pixar. Not to mention comic work for Marvel and Dark Horse Comics.

It is through Dark Horse that his latest project comes to fruition, working with iconic comic creator Mike Mignola on the 4-issue series Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time.

On a dark night in 1880s England, the ever-adventurous Whittier family, along with Edward Grey, are attempting to send a man into the realm between reality and the Beyond to free the trapped spirit of a Whittier uncle. But his expedition into space—and time—will take him to places beyond even the Witchfinder’s knowledge. Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time follows an intrepid time-travelling explorer on a journey to a new dimension. He soon discovers that the monsters he encounters aren’t his only problem, as time itself might represent the ultimate danger.

We recently were able to sit down with Bruce to discuss his expansive artistic career and his work with Mignola on this exciting new project. So, let’s welcome talented artist Bruce Zick to GVN’s Talking Comics.

Artistic Inspirations

GVN: Thank you so much for sharing a small bit of your day with us, Bruce. You have had such an amazing career, it’s hard to focus on just one thing. But since this is our first chance to talk, let’s start with your artistic beginnings. What inspired you to take an interest in art and which artists or works made you follow that pursuit?

BRUCE: Many thanks to you guys for this interview! As a kid I was blown away by comics and movies and literature too, but it was the visual mediums that were most powerful. I grew up on Wayne Boring’s Superman and Bob Kane’s Batman and the Sunday Funnies plus movies like King Kong and the Ray Harryhausen movies floored me. And then one day the Marvel comics appeared and Jack Kirby especially struck a nerve in me. For many young years I just wanted to draw the characters in the panels of the comics. And draw and draw and draw. Steve Ditko and Wally Wood’s Mad Magazine art were also exciting to me, and when Jim Steranko came around a few years later I was totally floored.

Working in Animation

GVN: As I mentioned, you have worked for a Who’s Who of animated studios, including some of the classic Disney animated films. When you first started your journey and applied your talents on each new project, were you ever intimidated about a job and what lessons did you learn early on that you carried with you in your career?

BRUCE: I was intimidated every time, and still am to this day. The first days and weeks of a new project are a special and magical time, but also scary since I don’t know what I should do, or whether or not I can produce something special to make my clients happy. In the beginning that desire to do something great was really stressful. But after each movie I’d look back and tell myself that I always did figure out what to do and the clients were happy–every time. So finally I realized it’s normal to go through the early jitters and it will always be okay…every time. So I accept that process as part of the experience and relax with it.

Phasing into Comic Book Art

GVN: Eventually, you channeled your talents into the comic book field including work with Marvel and Dark Horse. What made you decide to take on this challenge and how different was it from your animation jobs?

BRUCE: I always wanted to be a comic book artist first, never thought I’d do animation work. I spent too many young years enthralled with all those great old comics, it was too wonderful and too irresistible and I just had to work for Marvel. One day at a San Diego Comic Con I showed my sample comic pages to some Dark Horse people and they liked them and let me do my first story in Dark Horse Presents called The Argosy. After that I would get a few small comic gigs to keep developing and I kept sending out samples. Finally Marvel hired me to pencil Pirates of Darkwater and then Thor. When doing animation art I worked very large and felt loose and free, but comic art was the opposite–so much detail went into tiny panels making me feel really tight and confined.

GVN: Your latest project is an exciting collaboration with the legendary comic book creator Mike Mignola and his Hellboy Universe in Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time. How did this partnership come to be, and having previously worked for Dark Horse, was this an opportunity you had been hoping for?

BRUCE: I have always admired Mike’s work but never thought about actually working together. Then one day Mike complimented some artwork I posted on social media and I messaged him back to say thanks and how much I’d like to work with him some day. Well, that day came a few years later when I contacted him again and suddenly we were talking in earnest about a collaboration.

GVN: When it came to your creative process, how much communication did you and Mike have during the book’s creation and how much freedom were you given?

BRUCE: To start, we kicked around some general ideas and then Mike told me about a story he had been wanting to do. He spun a tale about Captain Henry and man was I hooked right from the get go. I started designing characters and world building ideas, but I was pretty tight in the beginning. Once Mike approved a second round of sketches I relaxed and cranked out a lot of better ideas. Mike then plotted out the whole series and also scripted around the first ten pages. He then passed the baton to me and let me run with it. He was very accepting of everything I did and I couldn’t have been happier.

The Possibility of Working with Mike Again

GVN: This is a four-issue series. If it is as well received as I imagine it will be, could you see working with Mike on other projects?

BRUCE: I would really love that. It was a great learning experience to be in Mike’s world of storytelling, very different from mine. I feel like we created something very special and if it does well, then I’d hope we could continue the adventures of Captain Henry. Because the concept is so wide open for future storylines, I’d like nothing better than to continue exploring the possibilities of where we could go. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to do a Lobster Johnson series, or maybe even the big red guy himself. And if someday Mike were to tell me about some other idea, I’m sure I’d jump right on it.

Favorite Projects to This Day

GVN: Thank you once again for chatting with me today, Bruce. Before I let you go, I have a hypothetical question for you. As mentioned in the beginning, your career has spanned an impressive list of animated projects, comics and other genres. Someone approaches you and wants to create an exhibition celebrating your best works. If you had to pick 3 or 4 projects or pieces that best defined your career at this point, what would they be?

BRUCE: I tend to love my newest work the best, but there was something magical happening in my earlier work that I was so thrilled with. I’d probably pick work from Titan A.E. and Hercules or Fantasia 2000, plus Captain Henry and Primordial. Half animation and half comic work, half old half new. Wait…I forgot about “I Am Frankelda”, the stop motion feature I recently Production Designed that has really wild concept art. Can I have 5 projects, please?

Dark Horse Comics Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time by Mike Mignola and Bruce Zick is now available where all great comics are sold.