Jim Balent () is an American

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

, writer, and publisher from Pennsylvania. He is best known for his long run on ''

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she ...

'' between 1993 and 1999. Balent has also drawn ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' and '' Lobo'' for

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, as well as some of the issues of ''

Purgatori Purgatori is a fictional comic book character, created by writer Brian Pulido and artist Steven Hughes. A crimson-skinned, winged vampire goddess, she first appeared in ''Evil Ernie: Revenge'' #1 (October 1994), published by Chaos! Comics. She ha ...

'' for the independent comic book publisher

Chaos! Comics Chaos! Comics was a comic book publisher that operated from 1993 until 2002, mostly focusing on horror comics. Their titles included ''Lady Death'', ''Purgatori'', ''Evil Ernie'', ''Chastity'', ''Jade'', '' Bad Kitty'', and ''Lady Demon''. Chaos! ...

Career

Balent's early work for

includes backup stories in ''

Sgt. Rock Sgt. Franklin John Rock is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Sgt. Rock first appeared in ''Our Army at War'' #83 (June 1959), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. The character is a W ...

'' such as "The Deadliest Casualty" in issue #393 (October 1984) and "The Ninja" in #397 (February 1985). An

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

story drawn by Balent was published as a Bonus Book in ''Power of the Atom'' #4 (November 1988). Balent and writer

Jo Duffy Mary Jo Duffy (born February 9, 1954) is an American comic book editor and writer, known for her work for Marvel Comics in the 1980s and DC Comics and Image Comics in the 1990s. Biography A native of the New York City area, Duffy attended Welles ...

launched an ongoing ''

'' series in August 1993. Balent drew ''Catwoman'' through issue #77 (February 2000). He and writer

Chuck Dixon Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s. Early life D ...

created

Geist ''Geist'' () is a German noun with a significant degree of importance in German philosophy. Its semantic field corresponds to English ghost, spirit, mind, intellect. Some English translators resort to using "spirit/mind" or "spirit (mind)" to he ...

in ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...

Annual'' #6 (1993). As the artist of ''Catwoman'', Balent worked on several Batman crossover stories including " Contagion", "

Cataclysm Cataclysm is derived from the Greek (), 'down, against', and (), 'wash over, surge'. It may refer to: Common meanings *Generally, any large-scale disaster *Deluge (mythology) *Doomsday event, see hypothetical risks to civilization, humans, and p ...

", and "

No Man's Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

". In 1999, Balent left mainstream comics to form his own company, BroadSword Comics, which publishes '' Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose'', written and drawn by Balent himself. In an interview with

Project Fanboy Project Fanboy (PF) is an American website that publishes news, interviews and reviews about the American comic book industry. In addition, the site is host to comic book fan-voted awards. It was founded by Stephen Jondrew and Scott Williams in ...

, a comic book website, Balent spoke of his interest in both entertaining as well as educating his readers about the folklore and actual theology of Wicca and witchcraft with interviews with leading witch authors and spells from witches around the world. Balent drew a retailer exclusive variant cover for ''

'' vol. 3 #50 (September 2018) for Jetpack Comics /

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story ...

Awards

On March 1, 2009, Balent's company, BroadSword Comics, won three of the 25 categories in the inaugural

Awards and was nominated for ten other categories at the

MegaCon MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large speculative fiction convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy, and gaming communities, often occurring in spring at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The ...

convention. His title ''Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose'' won in the categories of "Best Title" and "Best Indy Title", and the character Raven Hex from the aforementioned title won in the category of "Best Indy Villain".

Bibliography

BroadSword Comics

* ''3 Little Kittens: Purrr-fect Weapons'' #1–3 (2002) * '' Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose'' #1–132 (2000–)

Chaos Comics

* ''

: Prelude'' #1 (1996) * ''Purgatori: The Vampires Myth'' #1–3 (1996)

Dark Horse Comics

* ''

Dark Horse Presents ''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...

'' #71–73 (1993)

DC Comics

* ''

'' #507 (1994) * ''Batman 80-Page Giant'' #2 (1999) * '' Batman: Batgirl'' #1 (1998) * ''Batman: Brotherhood of the Bat'' #1 (1995) * ''

'' vol. 2 #1–30, 33–77, #0, #1000000, ''Annual'' #2; #31–32 (layouts) (1993–2000) * ''Catwoman/

Vampirella Vampirella () is a fictional vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969), a sister publication of ''Creepy'' ...

: The Furies'' #1 (1997) * '' Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham'' #1–2 (1999) * ''

Darkstars The first Darkstars were a group of intergalactic policemen that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics. They were introduced in ''Darkstars'' #1 (October 1992 in comics, 1992), and were created by Michael Jan Friedman and Larry Stroman. ...

'' #7 (1993) * ''

'' #660, ''Annual'' #6 (1993) * ''

Green Lantern Corps Green Lantern Corps is the name of a fictional intergalactic law enforcement organization appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residin ...

Quarterly'' #4–6 (1993) * '' Green Lantern: Mosaic'' #9 (1993) * '' Legends of the Dark Claw'' #1 (1996) * '' Lobo's Big Babe Spring Break Special'' #1 (1995) * '' Power of the Atom'' #4 ( Bonus Book) (1988) * ''

'' #393, 397 (backup stories) (1984–1985) * '' Showcase '95'' #4 (Catwoman) (1995)

First Comics

* ''

Evangeline ''Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie'' is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written in English and published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during t ...

'' #11–12 (1989) * ''

Nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and Border control#Expedited border controls, expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members ...

'' #42 (1988)

Harris Comics

* ''

'' #1–3 (1992–1993)

References

External links

* *
Jim Balent
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{DEFAULTSORT:Balent, Jim 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists American comics artists American comics writers American company founders American publishers (people) Artists from Pennsylvania Comic book publishers (people) DC Comics people Living people Writers from Pennsylvania Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)