“A Turning Point in My Career”: An Interview with Berserker Unbound’s Mike Deodato Jr.

Jeff Lemire and Mike Deodato Jr. team up for Berserker Unbound, a story about a Barbarian from another time and place who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a big bustling present-day city. You may know Jeff Lemire from his work on Descender and Black Hammer, and Deodato Jr. from Marvel titles like Thunderbolts and Infinity Wars. The two reunite after their Thanos run to bring us all something unlike either of them has ever done before. Black Nerd Problems was able to chat it up with Mike Deodato at Emerald City Comic Con back in March for some insight on his process and excitement about the book. Black Nerd Problems: You’re obviously not new to comics. But this is your first time doing something creator-owned. Do you see any similarities between yourself and the protagonist of Berserker Unbound, who’s a bit of a fish out of water? Mike Deodato Jr: Yeah, of course. He’s strong like me (laughs). I see some similarities in the way that Jeff Lemire writes his characters. He likes lonely characters. It’s kind of the characters I like to write, too. And to read. I think that the friendship that grows between the two characters—Cobb and Berserker—is kind of like me and Jeff. We only knew each other through email. But I feel like now I’m like a brother. I had fun drawing the best battles ever. The best thing is how they relate to each other. How they don’t have the same language. But they understand each other. And that’s what Jeff does. He makes you fall in love with the chara…