Shahzaib Jamal: Comic Book Artist

BABRUS KHAN: ONE OF PAKISTAN'S MOST TALENTED COMIC BOOK ARTISTS

2016

Babrus has a very distinct style instantly recognizable to his fans.

He is the illustrator behind Team Muhafiz and is considered to be one of the best comic book artists in the country. But success did not come so easily for him. Growing up in a humble family, Babrus Khan met many challenges in his life, and worked odd jobs until his work on a commercial caught the eye of head hunters. Soon, he was working for companies like Geo TV, H2O, AdCom, JWT, The Gamestorm Studios, Netsol Technologies, AZCorp, and others.

Recently, Babrus spoke to IGN about his career.

Tell us about where you grew up Babrus.

The bipolar city that is Karachi. Sometimes it’s like Gotham, sometimes it’s like Metropolis, but I love it.

What was your family like?

I come from a very humble family. Parents had some rough early years so they wanted me to be their practical kid with "practical" life choices. That being said, they were very supportive as I grew up with interests in video games, art, comic books, and the like.

Oh, so what were your geeky interests growing up?

My first platform was an Atari. I, my dad and my uncles would have competitions over the weekend. Then, I got a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Contra took over my life. After that I got a Sega Mega Drive and I played Batman and Robin all day and all night on that machine.

As for favorite cartoons, they were SWAT Kats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SilverHawks and some animes. My first comic book was Spider-Man, my second comic was actually a manga called Fist of the North Star.

When did you start drawing?

Ever since I was a kid, I used to draw Ninja Turtles or draw panels from the comic books I had at that time.

When did you and those around you start realizing you had talent?

People always told me my drawings were better than most.

When I finished college I had to look around for work due to some family conditions. I use to learn 3D Studio Max at that time via the internet so I landed a small job as an animator. This one time I was asked to watch over a rendering process overnight at work, and I was drawing to kill time, when my boss from then saw what I had drawn.

That’s when he told me I had skill, and moved me to the art direction department the next day. I was often told I was good at drawing but I never thought I was thatgood. It was actually quite late in life that I realized this.

When did you start thinking of art as a career?

It was never a conscious choice. I just kept doing whatever work I could find without an actual plan. It was difficult but I was desperate. I can make it sound dramatic and be like, I didn’t choose this career, this career kinda’ chose me.

It's been 12 years in the field and it's been a struggle but it's been very rewarding.

You have a very distinct style. Can you walk us through your evolution as an artist?

When I was younger, I was always drawing as a fan of characters that I loved from all my favorite comics and games.

Then, there was this one time I was tasked with designing a character for a product. It was my first time and I enjoyed the process. I then wanted to draw my own characters so I started working on personal projects, which helped me understand and study characters.

At one point I realized that all of my characters are quite dark and similar to my other works, so I wanted to change that, and I ended up experimenting with art styles and eventually developing something of a signature style.

That’s when people started pointing at my work, saying: "This artwork looks like something Babrus would do, it’s his style.”

What can you tell us about your own graphic novel? You’ve written about it onThe Express Tribune.

I worked on Eidolon for years and realized I am no writer. I mean, sure, I think I can draw, but if I want to draw a book I need to work with a writer. Then, I met these amazing siblings online who helped a lot and made sense of things. After spending more than a year on it I was still not confident and wanted to give it more time, so I scrapped a lot of work, reworked it, and then scrapped it again.

Years later, I am glad I didn’t go forward with it because the project has matured so much more now. It’s a passion project inspired by my favorite manga, Blame! I am not rushing it because I want to give it my best shot. In total, I have four graphic novels in the pipeline; one of them is actually done but I am just revising it.

So, what’s Babrus Khan up to these days?

I am a merc' for hire right now. Okay, so that sounded more badass in my head, but I basically work on contracts now, that way I get to work in different environments with different people and I get the kind of work I want.

My current contracts are some international and domestic titles. The international title is gonna launch in late 2017 or early 2018. I can’t say much about it because I have signed NDAs but it was the most exciting thing ever, because it was an international comic book firm. Admittedly, it was also tiring, frustrating, and a struggle, but I loved it to bits.

Any advice for people interested in becoming comic book artists?

Don’t rush it. Just enjoy it. Don’t compare yourself with other artists, you are not them, you can’t be like them, but the best part is that they can’t be like you either. You are unique in your own way, and if you enjoy your work then you can find that one amazing thing about yourself and the work that you do

Oh, and practice a lot!