We sat down with the 46-year-old Atlanta resident to chew the fat-while he's drawing, no less-and got his take on his take-no-prisoners approach to comics, working with Bendis, and what it's like balancing his work load with his familial obligation.

MIKE COTTON: The big misconception in the industry is that most artists wake up around 2 p.m., play video games, then draw for a couple hours and cash a big check. What's it really like for you?
MARK BAGLEY: First off, I suck at video games [laughs]. I grew up looking at guys like [Jack] Kirby, [John] Buscema and [Gil] Kane, guys who could do three or four issues a month and still do really nice stuff. So there's that, plus I didn't break in till I was 27, so I'm still a kid when it comes to this stuff. And I've had jobs that I really hated, and thought I'd never get to do comics for a living. I was bound and determined not to be a 30-year old man going to conventions with an old portfolio saying, "Duh, look at my stuff." I just wasn't gonna do that. If it wasn't gonna happen, it wasn't gonna happen. I'd have been very happy with my life. And I say this: Everybody who breaks into comics should have to work on a slab in Georgia banging nails all summer-and think that's what they're gonna have to do the rest of their lives. You wanna see grueling? Haul plywood for six hours a day. Come home with your shoulders burned because it's still hot when it comes out of the factory.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1 KB EDITION - SIGNED VERSION

COTTON: So what is your actual page rate? Can you bang out more one page a day?
BAGLEY: I probably average about a page and a half a day; some days I'll do one page, others I'll do two and a half, so it averages out. I'm kind of pushing it hard right now for a number of reasons, but I still manage to have somewhat of a life.

COTTON: You're married and have a daughter, right?
BAGLEY: Yeah, my wife Peggie and my daughter, Angie, although she's not a kid anymore. She's 20, and we just married her off. She's Angie Fitzpatrick these days.

COTTON: What do you do to stay sane when you're working 80 hours a week?
BAGLEY: I shoot quite a bit of pool, and I'm actually pretty good. I'm no Paul Jenkins [writer of Spectacular Spider-Man], but I'm still pretty good. Don't ever play Jenkins for money. First time I played him was for three hours in San Diego about two or three years ago, and for three hours straight, I didn't win a game, and I'm pretty good. I didn't even luck a game. We played again about a year and a half later, and I think I won about every third or fourth game, so I started to hold my own a little bit. It wasn't too humiliating. So I do that. And I read a lot, I like to exercise, go to a movie, hang out at home with my family.

COTTON: Is having a family one of the reasons you work at home? You keep a studio in your house, right?
BAGLEY: I've always found it easier working at home. I wouldn't want to wake up every morning and get dressed and go to a studio. I like schlepping down the hallway in my sandals, and half the time I work in my pajamas. You know, to me, that's one of the perks. I get to put on the radio and listen to the traffic reports and go, "That's not me!" I don't have the distractions of having other guys around, either. I can see the positives, though. In a studio, you have a great artistic atmosphere, you can learn a lot from the other guys, but the negatives are the distractions, and sometimes you can feed upon each others problems and feed upon each other's faults when it comes to discipline or whatever. I've seen it a lot times in a lot of studios. I've always worked out of my house, and I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, we designed this house so I've got a really nice, comfortable studio right at the front of the house; it's a good thing.

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