Broadsword Comics

Jim Balent
Balent photographed with his wife, Holly Golightly
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Penciller, Inker, Editor, Publisher
Notable works	Catwoman Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose
http://www.jimbalentstudios.com/studio.htm

Jim Balent is an American comic book writer, artist, and publisher from Pennsylvania. He is best known for his long run on Catwoman between 1993 and 1999. Balent has also drawn Batman and Lobo for DC Comics, as well as some of the issues of Purgatori for the independent comic book publisher Chaos! Comics.

Balent's early work for DC Comics includes backup stories in Sgt. Rock such as "The Deadliest Casualty" in issue #393 (October 1984) and "The Ninja" in #397 (February 1985). An Atom story drawn by Balent was published as a Bonus Book in Power of the Atom #4 (November 1988). Balent and writer Jo Duffy launched an ongoing Catwoman series in August 1993. Balent drew Catwoman through issue #77 (February 2000). He and writer Chuck Dixon created Geist in Detective Comics Annual #6 (1993). As the artist of Catwoman, Balent worked on several Batman crossover stories including "Contagion", "Cataclysm", and "No Man's Land". In 1999, Balent left mainstream comics to form his own company, BroadSword Comics, which publishes Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose, which Balent writes and draws himself. In an interview with Project Fanboy, a comic book website, Balent spoke of his interest in both entertaining as well as educating his readers about the folklore and actual theology of Wicca and witchcraft with interviews with leading witch authors and spells from witches around the world. The main characters of the series are often nude.