WW PHILLY '08: Doug Braithwaite, Newly Exclusive

At Marvel's Secret Invasion panel at the New York Comic-Con, it was announced that the God of Thunder would have his chance to make mystical uru hammer meet wrinkled Skrull chin in Secret Invasion: Thor. The three issue miniseries will be written by Matt Fraction, and drawn by Dough Braithwaite.

Sorry - it's not just Doug Braithwaite, but rather newly Marvel exclusive artist Dough Braithwaite.

We spoke with the artist about the deal and a little about his coming time with the God of Thunder.

Newsarama: First off Doug, what got you to this place? That is, how did you end up at Marvel - did they call you or did you go seeking them out?

Doug Braithwaite: Marvel approached me with the offer of an exclusive deal last year, presumably to get in before my exclusive deal with DC ended. I had to work through my exclusive deal with DC in the meantime, so I had many months to consider their offer.

NRAMA: I think if you ask 15 creators, you get 15 answers, but you can be #16 - why did you sign the deal? What made the offer so appealing?

DB: In any exclusive deal, the creator and the company are both looking for something extra from each other. An exclusive deal for me was not something I was going to discount out of hand and, as I had been exclusive to DC for two years previously, it was not something new to me. The prospect of working in the Marvel Universe again was appealing and obviously, the deal on the table was able to persuade me to keep my talents within the Marvel Universe exclusively.

NRAMA: Psychologically I guess....what does an exclusive do for you and your work? Does taking away that looming cloud of doing the hustle for the next gig have that much of an affect on how you work?

DB: I’ve been in the business for over 20 years and I cannot think of a time I had to hustle for work – I’m lucky I guess, but the work has always come to me. That being the case, this deal will have no effect on the way I work, as usually, I don’t experience any ‘looming clouds’.

NRAMA: Fair enough. Did you come into the deal knowing you'd be going on to Secret Invasion: Thor, or did that come at some point after you signed?

DB: The deal was offered to me then they offered me Secret Invasion: Thor.

NRAMA: What was the appeal of the project for you?

DB: What wasn’t appealing? Drawing Thor, who is one of my favorite characters from being a kid reading Kirby’s Thor: working with a writer with the talent of Matt Fraction and a colorist of the caliber of Paul Mounts, plus my editor Warren Simons is pretty cool too! All these guys are at the top of their game - all that was somewhat appealing to me!

NRAMA: Your style, at least what we've seen more recently, seems to lend itself toward the more lithe and slender. Thor...doesn't seem to be either. Are you looking to stretch your wings a little or...get back to your earlier style?

DB: I think if you look at my back catalogue, some of the chunkiest incarnations of certain characters have been mine – take a look at my various Punishers, or my version of the Hulk, and I think you’ll agree they are anything but slender – I certainly wouldn’t want them to punch me out! For any character I draw – I draw them slender, bulky or muscled depending on who the character is. So no, I won’t so much be stretching - a little flexing, maybe.

NRAMA: You mentioned him above - what's working with Matt Fraction like?

DB: I think Matt’s work speaks for itself and I’m completely fired up to be working with one of the best writers out there right now. Matt’s pretty rock and roll and, as a big Led Zep fan, I get the reference to his Thor being ‘a Led Zeppelin III kind of Thor’. I think I can express that visually for him no problem!

NRAMA: We know you won't answer if we'd ask if Thor was a Skrull....but...so far...have you had to draw any surprising revelations?

DB: My lips are riveted together.

NRAMA: And after Secret Invasion: Thor? Any hints as to where we'll see your work next?

DB: Again I’m finding these rivets....