One of The Boys’ artists wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of saying ‘yes’ to working on the violent superhero satire. Russ Braun is known for his work on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s iconic series and while he’s happy in retrospect to have worked on The Boys, part of him was terrified to do so.
The Boys Omnibus Vol. 6 features bonus material, including commentary and notes from Garth Ennis and Russ Braun. Braun in particular gets a sketchbook section where he showcases his original art before offering up his final thoughts on The Boys.
In a surprising admission, Braun reveals that he was afraid when he took on the artist job saying he “didn’t want to do it“. Braun mentions that he was a fan of Ennis and his comic and that Russ feared damaging his friendship with Ennis or ruining The Boys if Braun screwed up his duties as the artist.
Russ Braun Was Afraid He’d Ruin The Boys
The Boys is an over-the-top parody series known for its adult humor and graphic violence. While Darick Robertson co-created the series and served as its main artist for the initial issues, he wasn’t the only artist. John McCrea provided art for The Boys: Herogasm and Russ Braun provided art for over 20 issues starting with The Boys #44. Braun also served as the main artist for the eight-issue spin-off series The Boys: Dear Becky. Braun and Ennis also worked together on Sixpack and Dogwelder; Hard Travelin’ Heroz, a sequel to Ennis’ work, All-Star Section Eight.
Despite Braun serving well in the role as The Boys’ artist, his fear is understandable. Being a fan of both Garth Ennis and The Boys must have made the prospect of stepping in and handling art duties quite nerve-wracking. Thankfully, Braun’s worst fears about providing The Boys’ art never came true and he wound up creating a sizable chunk of the series. Braun’s reflection in The Boys’ Omnibus Vol. 6 is a good reminder that even for comic professionals, anxiety can be something that distorts people’s thoughts and feelings about good opportunities.
Russ Braun Succeeded Despite His Fear of Working on The Boys
After several dozen issues of The Boys under his belt, Russ Brun can look back on his time and realize he had nothing to worry about. But people can often get in their own heads and think the worst of things. For Braun, nothing was worse than the idea of ruining his relationship with Garth Ennis and sinking a comic Braun loved. But Braun got over his fear and wound up creating some of the series’ most well-remembered issues. It’s hard to believe that one of the best creative talents on The Boys felt he wasn’t up to the job.
