Artist Portfolio Christian Ward

Britain’s hottest comic book artist talks to Garrick Webster about his Eisner winning Black Bolt series, creating surreal worlds and his artistic inspirations…

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Thor!” shouts Christian Ward down the phone line. It’s a blustery morning and he’s out walking in a London park.

Clearly, this is not the ideal time for an interview with ImagineFX. “I’ve got a dog called Thor, by the way,” Christian says. “I’m not shouting at a Norse god.”

There will be no prizes for guessing who the artist’s favourite superhero is. However, this rising star in the world of comic art should probably reappraise that choice. Although he’s done a short run on Thor with Jason Aaron, it’s his work on Black Bolt that is winning all the plaudits. In June last year, Christian and writer Saladin Ahmed won the Best New Series Eisner at San Diego Comic-Con, and the achievement has given his career a tremendous boost.

EXTRA EXPOSURE

“They send you this globe when you win and it’s weirdly heavy,” Christian says, excitedly. “But it’s a thing – a real thing! And I’ve really noticed a bit of an up-kick in my exposure and the amount of projects that I’m doing since winning. I don’t know whether it’s just because more people have seen my work because of Black Bolt, or whether the award does carry more kudos.”

The book itself offers something truly different for readers. Black Bolt, a member of the Inhumans, was a marginal character in the Marvel Universe… until Christian turned him into a mysterious and enigmatic hero. “One of the reasons I wanted to draw Black Bolt is because he can’t talk. Well, he can talk, but his power is in his voice, so even a whisper can destroy cities,” says Christian.