In the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity in the late 1980s, Tony Bedard was known as the resident comics nerd. He painted comics characters on the door and walls of his room and kept stacks of comic books on hand. After earning his management degree in 1989, Bedard pursued his creative passion and has established himself as one of the top writers in comics, including prominent assignments for DC Comics’ recent relaunch.
When did you start reading comic books?
In high school, I was about 15, and I was really into Conan the Barbarian [the movie]. My girlfriend got me a copy of the Savage Sword of Conan comic. I thought it was a joke at first, but then I saw how much work went into it. Then I read Secret Wars, and I was hooked.
Were you still into comics at Tech?
I had Swamp Thing painted on my door and Nexus painted on the wall in my room at my fraternity house. I was pretty much known as the guy who likes comics; it’s just amazing that I was able to make a career of it.
Why did you go to Tech?
Tech was the toughest and best school in the area. Georgia seemed like a cop out. Anybody could get in there. If you made it through Tech, you had a good head on your shoulders. And after I flunked my first calculus class, I figured maybe engineering wasn’t for me. So I switched to the M-train. But I didn’t want to do the thing that I’d studied. I just wanted to tell stories.
How did you end up making comics a career?
My parents died shortly before graduation, within about a month of each other. I was waiting tables at Buckhead Diner. The bottom had dropped out. I was working on my own book, and I met a girl who wanted to study dance in New York City. So I moved up with her. I figured I’d be back in Atlanta in a year with my tail between my legs.
How did you get started?
I landed an internship at Valiant. They bit the dust about two years later, but it was a good place to get my foot in the door. Then I wound up with an editorial job at DC, and my management degree proved useful after all, managing creative teams, getting books on time.
How did the experience compare to your expectations?
It’s been a real fun job. There’ve been very few days I don’t want to do what I do. There have been a lot of nasty surprises. I’ve had so many places that have gone out of business on me. But that happens in any industry.
What’s your favorite part of it?
I’ve made a lot of great friends. It’s a pretty tightly knit community. Every time we go to a convention, it’s just a lot of good times. And I have worked for companies like DC, where I get to put words in the mouth of Batman, so that’s a dream come true. But I’ve also worked at smaller publishers where we were able to build entire universes from the ground up.
How did you end up working as a writer?
In 2001, I moved to Tampa to be a staff writer for CrossGen. It was the best collaborative experience I’ve ever had. I think my editorial and management experience had really prepared me for that. If things became adversarial, I knew how to defuse it. And I’ve been writing ever since. It was enough of an opportunity to get my writing work out there. Now I’m on an exclusive contract with DC, which I just renewed. With any luck I’ll be there another couple of years.
What are you working on right now?
I have two new titles. One is Green Lantern: New Guardians. There are red lanterns and blue lanterns—basically a color for each of the seven colors in the rainbow. Kyle Rayner has to pull together a team from each of the seven colors. He’s very much off the reservation. He’s looking to replace the Guardians of the Universe. He’s a very special character, and we’re going to find out why. And it’s going to expand the Green Lantern universe. I’ve also got a Blue Beetle series with Jaime Reyes, a Hispanic teenager, as the Blue Beetle. He’s got this suit of armor that was sent to conquer the earth, but it bonds with him, and he turns to the side of good. That was given to me in part because I’m Puerto Rican. They thought I might have an angle on the Latino experience.
Do you have any plans to do more creator-owned comics like your Retro Rocket series?
Since I’m exclusive at DC, it’s hard to work at other companies. We’re trying to release Retro Rocket digitally. Maybe we’ll add a little more material, see what else we can do with it. I’d like to do more.
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