D
on’t you hate when you’ve defeated another of your fellow wizards from your
hellish home dimension, only to find the U.S. government kidnapped your
buddy the talking platypus?
Browne’s first professional work was a 2007 issue of Stormshadow
written by G.I. Joe creator Larry Hama. That’s the year he also started
writing, illustrating, and self-publishing God Hates Astronauts.
This sci-fi superhero series about farmers illegally launching themselves
into space helped build his rep as a weirdo auteur. As guest illustrator
for Image’s The Manhattan Projects, an alternative history about
the scientists working on the atomic bomb, Browne took readers ringside for
a civil war inside the brain of Robert Oppenheimer’s cannibal twin. When
Browne decided he needed a break from the hand-straining labor of monthly
comics, he began a new project where he worked on each page no longer than
one hour: the result was Blast Furnace, a loopy heist comic that
rivals the best improv comedy.
He has plenty lined up for the future. Besides year two of Curse Words-the project has a planned three-year arc-he’s self-publishing Trash Bridge with cowriter Steve Seeley and artist Jim Terry. Browne calls this comic his “love letter to buddy-cop and postapocalyptic films of the 80s.” He’s also working with other artists on new God Hates Astronauts stories that will be published in an anthology comic. Kickstarters for this and other projects are coming soon (check ryanbrowneart.tumblr.com for details).
By Ryan Browne (Image Comics)
