Wisconsin Life

>> Jeff Butler grew up with a serious case of hero worship.

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Well, super hero worship.

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>> Batman was this heroic, regular person that made himself something else, just through sheer force of his own will. He willed himself to be successful physically and mentally, and so I was really interested in a character like that.

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>> It wasn't just Batman that held his attention. It was entire universes full of characters.

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>> All the colors and all the interesting characters and everything. Spider-Man and The Avengers and I'm thinking, "I could just die right now." This is just so cool for a kid my age, and that's what did it. I was hooked forever. >> Jeff relentlessly searched for ways to fuel his desire for comics. >> My dad or mom would take me to the barber shop and they'd have these comics sitting on the little table there. And every once in a while, I'd ask the barber if I could take one of them home and he'd say "Sure." I take these things home and I just treasure them. And I would read them over and over again. >> Because he was such an active and energetic boy, Jeff's mom tried to find a focus for his energy. >> My mom was the artist and she was very creative, very gifted, crafty with her hands, but she had to deal with me and four other kids. I had too much energy, and so one of the ways that she would keep me busy was she'd sit me down and have me draw. >> This exercise in patience soon became a passion. One that Jeff was quick to unite with his love of comics. >> It was something that would take me out of the real world and inspire me, and entertain me, and keep me out of my mom's hair.

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One of the very first artistic passions I felt was, "I have to figure out how to do this. I have to create my own character and put him in all these little panels." >> Jeff pursued his passion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, seeking a major in fine arts. Now, when people think about "comic books," they don't necessarily think about fine arts. >> Comics were pretty much looked down upon, especially in the academic world, and even commercial art. Just being somebody that wanted to be an illustrator wasn't something that they were really comfortable with. But I did-- I had a couple of professors that kind of warmed up to the idea, and were very encouraging and helpful. >> While Jeff was still finishing his degree, he was approached by a local writer named Mike Baron. He wanted to know if Jeff was interested in working with him on a new comic book series. Together, they came up with a new superhero and they looked to a familiar city for inspiration.

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>> Let's create a character who's sort of Madison's protector. And, of course, the badger was the only way to go there.

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>> The thing that was interesting is that we devised the character to be this sort of superhero wannabe, who existed in our version of the real world which is Mad City, of course, which is "all bets are off." Of course, he lives with this Druid priest that he met in the insane asylum. I don't even-- How do you start to explain that? >> From there, The Badger was born.

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>> Of course, I had a fondness for Captain America's costume so I kind of liked the sleeve being cut at mid-bicep so I messed with that a little bit. I kind of went with black and red. I thought, "Red

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we're not going to do that." I just thought he needed a very iconic symbol. That's how he came up with the claw on the chest and the other thing was I had to keep his hair flowing because the hair was going to be an actor. >> After working on The Badger, Jeff's career would take him all over the comic universe. He spent time working in Lake Geneva at TSR, Inc., a popular gaming company known for creating the role playing board game "Dungeons and Dragons." There, Jeff would reconnect with some old heroes from his childhood. >> The really great thing about that job offer was not only was I going to be doing fantasy and science fiction, but at the time I didn't realize it... They had the license for the "Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game." So, I just fell right into another wonderful opportunity there because I ended up becoming the primary artist for that game. This is stuff I used to sit at my drawing board and do just for fun. It was so-- It was a very exciting time. I kept waiting for somebody to come and put their hand on my shoulder and say "Uh, son, we've made a mistake and we are sending you on your way now." But it never happened. >> After that Jeff would go on to work on other comics, such as the Green Hornet,

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Jurassic Park,

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and Hercules,

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and in 2010, Jeff took a position at the Madison Area Technical College as an art instructor. >> I teach an art and color theory class, and I talk about fine art, and fine artists, and I talk about illustrators, and I talk about comic books. I talk about all of it-- just because it's all part of the greater creative expression. >> Jeff says it's his job to help students find their artistic voice, and give them the means to express it. >> They want to tell stories. But yet there's a piece of the puzzle that's missing. It's the craft. It's the little things that are harder to learn on your own. You need a mentor almost, looking over your shoulder. >> Someone to look up to. Someone to challenge you and guide you on the path to success. A hero. Maybe even a super one.

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>> Something that we can all aspire to, maybe not putting on a goofy costume and running up, beating up bad guys, but this whole notion that man-- if you really put your mind to it, if you really will yourself to do something, it's possible.

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