While some publishers consider deaths to be the hallmarks of anniversary issues, when the creator listens to his characters, the biggest change can be starting a new chapter of life.







“Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose” celebrates its hundredth issue with the handfasting ceremony of protagonists Tarot and Jon Webb, The Skeleton Man. But with the bride currently trapped in another realm and the groom about to marry a doppelganger, the issue promises excitement in addition to romance.







“Tarot” creator Jim Balent describes the book as a sort of modern day sword and sorcery title. The continuing series features all manner of Magickal and paranormal beings including vampires, faeries, were cats and dragons.







Balent and wife Holly Golighty, Broadsword's co-founder and VP, spoke with The Swerve about the journey to #100, and the Kickstarter campaign concluding August 31 for an extended edition of the landmark issue.







The Swerve Magazine: For readers unfamiliar with the series, who are Tarot and Skeleton Man?







Jim Balent: Tarot is a voluptuous redhead witch who is Swordmaiden to the Goddess. She works to protect our world and maintain the balance of Magick with her sister Raven Hex, who is also a witch, although she takes a darker path with her Magick. Jon Webb, or The Skeleton Man, is a gravedigger at a local cemetery, who is a normal guy except that, due to a car accident, can see and communicate with spirits.









They get married in #100, and I see it as the conclusion of a long story arc. Tarot and Jon met in issue #1, and then started dating and became a couple, and now their lives start their next chapter, so even if you haven't been following the story, it is a really good start for new readers because they can see the characters embark on their new journey.





SM: In 16 years, you have not missed a single deadline, a remarkable feat for any current comic. Haw have you managed to deliver that consistently?







JB: I try to approach it with the same discipline that I approached “Catwoman.” Comics are a lot of fun, but you have a responsibility. I remember Joe Kubert telling us when I was attending his school that no matter how talented an artist may be, he's not worth anything to a publisher if he can't hit deadlines. So I always took that very, very seriously where deadlines are deadlines. Yeah, maybe there's some wiggle room, but you really should try to hit as many deadlines as you can.







It also is respect to the fans or the readers who have been following you all these many years. I know whether I'm waiting for my favorite album or my favorite movie or my favorite comicbook, if it's supposed to come out in October, and it keeps getting pushed and pushed and it doesn't come out until the following year or six months later, you kind of lose interest in that project that you were so waiting for it to come out.







There are readers who would love to have our book every week, and I would love to put it out every week. We definitely do it bi-monthly. We've hit that mark for the past 16 years, and sometimes it's been very difficult. There's been times where we've lost power for two or three weeks because of ice storms and we've had to set up shop in a local hotel that had internet.







There's been deaths in the family, and luckily we've hit all of our deadlines.







Holly Golightly: I lost a uterus (laughs).







JB: We've been looking for it, we can't find it anywhere (laughs).







To us, deadlines are written in stone and we do our best to make sure we get the books in on time. That's a big reason why we don't do all the conventions we're invited to. We always do San Diego every year, and then we'll do maybe one or two as a surprise. Earlier this year we went to London and said hello to all of our readers over there. We're usually 24/7 working on the book every morning and every day.







SM: Since the two of you do work so closely together, how does that work for you as a continuing process, both in your relationship and keeping up momentum on your books?







JB: It self-propels really. We wake up every morning and we're excited to get to the computers or get to the drawing board because we're really excited about moving the characters ahead. I always think the characters tell me the stories, and we're just sort of there to render them and bring them to life. There's not really a case where we ever can't stand our work. We love doing what we do. We've always said that as soon as we're not happy with the work, or the fans aren't picking up the books, we'll stop. But right now we're happy with the book, and so are the readers.







It's fun. You wake up every morning thinking about the issue and thinking about future issues because you always have to plan at least three months ahead. That's my feelings on the subject, what about you, Holly?







HG: Ditto (laughs). We're very like-minded. I mean, if you're asking about our relationship and that. We're at the same pace, we're at the same vibration. We both enjoy throwing ourselves into the work, and when I look up and he's there, I couldn't be any happier. I feel like my world is perfect. I get to create fun stuff with the person I love most on Earth, and that doesn't suck.







We don't fight. You hear about that or you see that on TV shows, that kind of dissension is very confusing to me. Like, why would I want to upset the person I love most on Earth? I don't, it's not part of my personality, so we're pretty cheerful.







JB: We are together 24/7, literally. A lot of people think, “Don't you get on each other's nerves? ” and we don't. I think we're very lucky that we met each other, and we have everything in common and we have this huge creative drive in us, so I think that definitely propels us. I like being with Holly (laughs).







HG: Yaaayy! (clapping)







SM: Holly, issue #100 features you doing the Teen Tarot story. How did that come about?







HG: I'm coloring it right now, actually. Well, not as we speak, but before and then after. I was sitting there and everyone's like, “What are you guys going to do for 'Tarot' 100? ” and this was kind of ping-ponging around in my mind. Just the words “Teen Tarot.” I thought, “Oh my gosh, wouldn't that be fun?” I like drawing sweet, happy, fun, frivolous, innocent, silly things, and Jim has that interjected throughout the series here and there. I always enjoy those stories, and those parts of the stories a lot, and I was hoping that he wouldn't think I was nuts going, “What do you think about Teen Tarot, it's silly and fun and happy?” He liked that idea a lot, so I came up with an idea of a story and ran it by him, and ran by the look of the characters. He encouraged me to have fun and be silly. It's nothing deep, it's just happy and a look into the sisters' lives when they were 15 or 16, I'd say, because Raven is older than Tarot.









It could be a typical sister relationship. It just so happens that they're witches. I used to work for Archie, I drew “Sabrina, The Teenage Witch,” and I did have a lot of fun creating some of the stories for that because you want to inject a dose of witch reality because I am a high-functioning witch. Here, I can do it without being edited or suffocated or pushed in a certain direction. It's just me sitting down and saying, “I feel like doing this,” because I don't think I could do some of the story for another company because it's silly.





JB: I also think that you're very connected to the characters, and it works so well with their history, and it's not something that I think I could write as well as you, or draw because there's a fun quality that's involved with the Magick. Once Holly proposed the idea, I thought, “This is perfect. I'd love to see these little flashback scenes before Raven had her body altered.” It's great seeing them reacting, and Pooka as well.







HG: Pooka's a kitten (in this story), and he's naughty. I get to draw things that I love to draw, the innocence of teenagehood, pretty girls and I get to draw.cats. I'm also doing some extra backup stories for our Tarot #100 Kickstarter. I'm doing a Toon Tarot one-page gag for that and it's a crossover with “School Bites,” which is my title.







SM: Speaking of the Kickstarter, what does the Extended Edition feature that isn't in the regular version of the book?







HG: It features an exclusive cover that Jim created just for the Kickstarter. It will have bonus 16 pages of behind the scenes: preliminary sketches, photos from our photo shoot of the photo cover and also the Broadsword Girl because I will be #100 Broadsword Girl.







It will be presented in the perfect bound format, not the stapled saddle stitch. That will come in four or five variant covers. A wraparound photo cover that is a little more risque than what we did for stores, a foil cover which I am so excited about because I like glittery, sparkly things. This is the shiniest foil we have ever seen. And a skyclad version of Jim's variant cover. Skyclad is a witch term for “without clothing,” so that you are only clad in the sky.







We also teamed up with Comixology, and that's a gift for our backers. Comixology is going to make Tarot #100 available in a digital form for the backers. That's apart from all of the stretch goals that we'll be adding.







JB: So definitely check out Comixology. Anyone who hasn't checked them out, you will be amazed by all the comics available to you. So hopefully, this Tarot will be not only a gateway into our series on Comixology but everything else that they have available.







HG: We've been working with them for about a year now. We're trying to get our full library up, which takes time because our older issues are done in an older file format. I have to sort of unarchive a lot of old files if you know anything about digital creation, and you're trying to update Illustrator EPS into a PDF, it takes time. They have a lot of our current ones in the 90s through 100, and 1 through 19, and a few in between ones because there were some specials that I could get up there quicker. It's really very high quality, and we're very excited about working with them.







JB: We definitely want people to jump on board the Kickstarter because there are a ton of stretch goals that (the backers) have unlocked. Every time we finish a Kickstarter, we get people asking “When is your Kickstarter?” or “When's your next Kickstarter? ” so right now it is happening, so now's the time to join.







HG: Also, a lot of people want Jim's original artwork, and now's the only time he opens up for commissions. He had one level where it was a full 11x17 where it was full pencils and inks illustration, and they are gone now, but we have five spots left of sketch covers pledge level, which would be the regular edition with a sketch cover, and he'll sketch one character that (the backer and Jim) will decide. So if you want original artwork, now's the time. I'm doing it too, but I'm not always proud of my stuff.







JB: You do great stuff. It's rockin', too. A lot of people, especially in San Diego, come up to you and ask for sketches and they love what they get.







HG: Except I don't do superheroes. I go “Un-unh, no, something happy.”







SM: One of the backer levels includes the “Handfasting” fragrance. You have been offering tie-in fragrances since the early days of the book. What led you guys to offer those?







HG: It was Laurie Cabot who matched us up with Neil (Morris). She said, “You chat with Neil. He's fabulous. He makes fragrances. He makes them for me.” So we called him, and we loved her fragrance. We chatted and we were adopted by Neil. We call him Uncle Neil. We love him, not only is he talented, but he's also a wonderful person. He ended up being our editor because he's also intelligent and scholarly.







JB: We always need a second or third pair of eyes to go over the script because Holly and I are so close to the characters. He might point out some things that need to be tweaked, so we're really happy to work with him. He makes fragrances professionally, so it's fantastic that we hooked with him so many years ago. When he realized “Tarot” was going to be reaching 100, he's the one who volunteered, “Wouldn't it be great if we had a Tarot 100 fragrance?” and we said, “Sure, that would be wonderful.”







HG: He's a practicing witch, I should say high functioning. We're past practicing, we're doing it! So he has that extra dimension of doing the craft, and loving comicbooks. Neil loves comicbooks, so we share a lot and there's a lot of connected energy with the fragrance and the comic and the love between all of us.







SM: I recently interviewed Tonya Kay, and we were talking about when she was not only featured as a Broadsword Girl but appeared in the comic. What led you feature people like her, Neil, Raven Grimassi and so many others within your stories?







JB: I think it just came down to, we became friends with these people. As I've always said, a lot of my story lines are based on events that have happened to us or have happened to friends of ours. Most of our friends, I consider characters anyway, so they fit right in with “Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose.”







Meeting Tonya was hilarious, well not hilarious, but Tonya is a lot of fun to be with, and a lot of energy, and I knew right away that I wanted her to be in the book.







HG: I do have to say that there was a hilarious moment when we were hanging with her the very first time physically. When we went out to eat and she ordered an orchid. She's a raw-ist, and I just thought that was great. I mean, come on, I felt like I was in “Barbarella” where they're all eating orchids. She's just awesome, she's so unique.







SM: As you are now working on #100 when you look back on your stories, is there anything you wish you had done differently or are you happy with the choices you made?







JB: I don't think I'd change anything. You always sort of want either more time or if you wanted to do something different, you would just do it totally different to make sure it's fresh. I always look forward to the next issues or the next storylines. Even now, I have a few ideas of what's going to be happening to the main characters. If I do look back, I usually look back for inspiration, like, “I should revisit this topic,” or “Wow, what's going on since the last time we saw Izzy or Licky D or Boo Cat?”







I'll look back to see where they were, and now, where are they now in their life? I never really look back and think, “Oh, I wish I had done that differently,” I just add to the energy and put it into the next issues coming up.











For readers looking to learn more about “Tarot” and Broadsword's other projects can visit jimbalent.com or follow the company's Facebook pages. The Kickstarter can be found at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jimbalent/tarot-witch-of-the-black-rose-issue100-extended-ed

