Art by Chad Hardin

Chad Hardin is a comic book creator. Inspired by the cartoons of his youth and the comics of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Hardin cemented in his mind that he wanted to make a career of drawing for comic companies like Marvel and DC. To this end, he sent regular submissions to each company from the age of 16. With a chuckle, he recalled that he once received “a very encouraging letter of rejection.” A native of Las Vegas, NV, Hardin moved to Utah and attended Southern Utah University. He then attended graduate school at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA, specializing in illustration. Hardin went on to land a job in the video game industry working for Origin Studios. One of the more notable titles he got to work on was “God of War” for Sony of America.
“I had it pretty cushy in video games,” Hardin said. He remembers his time in the video game world with mixed feelings. It was a steady job and he worked with some great people, but he describes others he dealt with as being tyrannical and “the worst kind of capitalists.”
While working at Origin, Hardin began working as a freelancer for independent, online comic publisher Digital Webbing. This is when the big boys of comics stood up and took notice. Marvel and DC, along with Disney’s Boom Studios, came calling.
“Do I stay in video games or go into comics?” Hardin asked himself. There were risks involved in leaving the stability of the video game industry for the potential uncertainty of being a freelance artist. A close friend and coworker, Robert Gonzales, finally convinced Hardin to take the plunge. “I’m living the dream for us both,” Hardin said. Since then he’s worked for Boom Studios, DC Comics, and Marvel.