Tim Sale is a comic book superstar. But even if you’ve never laid eyes on any of the “Batman,” “Spider-Man” or “Hulk” comics he’s illustrated, there’s still a decent shot you’d recognize his handiwork.

That’s because Sale also created some of the most memorable images from the hit TV show “Heroes.” He’s behind those precognitive paintings various characters use to see the future. Sale actually draws those “paintings,” scans them and e-mails them off. Then set designers apply his work to canvas, rocks and other surfaces for the show.

On Saturday, the former Seattle resident will appear at Tacoma’s Comic Book Ink for a signing and Q&A session. But before then, we thought we’d call and ask a few questions of our own.

A lot of people know you from doing the Isaac Mendez paintings from “Heroes.” Have you ever really predicted the future?

(Laughs) Not through artwork. I suppose anybody has had times in their life where they felt … “I knew that was gonna happen.”

If you did have a power, what would it to be?

Well, I’m 52, and my metabolism has changed in the last few years. At some point, Greg Grunberg, who plays Matt Parkman on the show, was asked that question, and he said super metabolism, and I related to that.

I can relate to that, too. Good answer. But seriously, how did “Heroes” come about.

It really fell in my lap … through my friendship and working relationship with (TV and comic book writer) Jeph Loeb.

Jeph wrote a movie called “Teen Wolf” and (“Heroes” head writer Tim) Kring was brought in right out of school to write “Teen Wolf 2.” So they’ve known each other since then.

Kring has never read a comic, as far as I know. But he realized he had an idea that had comic book overtones – people with powers. So he called Jeph and said, “You know artists. Give me somebody fast who is good and who is local.” Jeph suggested me.

So were you initially drawing for the character or for storyboards and that sort of thing?

They needed half a dozen illustrations for the script itself. (For a while) I don’t hear anything, and a few months later I get a call from Kring saying “Can you come up to my office?”

Kring says, “Can you paint?” And I say no. I’m colorblind. But I see a computer over there. Let’s go to my Web site, and I will show you what I do in comics to fake that kind of thing. And they saw it, they liked it, and that was the first that I knew that they would want me for the show.

And for “Heroes” Jeph works with Tim Kring?

Jeph has actually just been fired.

What happened?

It happened about a week ago. Because the ratings are down, NBC was getting excited, and they called Kring and said, “You need to do something. Some of that involves you’re gonna have to fire a couple of people.”

But you’re still on board. You could give us some spoilers. The cheerleader buys it, right?

(Chuckles) Well, that would be very foolish. I don’t imagine they’d be doing that. … No, I don’t have any spoilers. I wouldn’t tell you if I knew them, but actually I don’t know them. I worked really closely on the pilot, and I ended up really feeling sorry that I was as familiar with everything as I was at the time the pilot aired. And I made it a point to not read the scripts, to not know what’s going on. I wanna watch the show when it’s coming out on Monday nights.

Actually, the biggest spoiler is that I still have a job. So somebody, somewhere, somehow will be drawing.

You grew up in this part of the country, and I’m guessing Seattle is where you got interested in comic books.

Well, it predated a little bit. My family moved there when I was 6, in 1962, and I was already interested in comics to a certain extent at that point. And, when we drove across country, my father bought comics for me to amuse myself in the back seat of a car.

But you know, look, every little kid draws. I just didn’t stop. That’s the easiest way to put it.

How did you break into the comic biz?

A publisher came through town, Seattle, and I got a call from the manager of a store called Golden Age Collectibles at the Pike Place Market. I had a friend that worked there, and he said, “Look, these people are coming through, and they’re looking for talent.” And I came down, showed them my portfolio, such as it was, and got hired. And that was my first work. My first work was as an inker.

Tell me about the Hero Initiative. (Sale will sell limited-edition prints of his art in Tacoma to benefit the charity.)

It’s a nonprofit charity for comic book professionals who, for various reasons, do not have health insurance. … The history of comics is pretty shameful in that regard. Traditionally, it’s work for hire, which means you get paid per page. You don’t own anything you do.

Today, comic book franchises are such big business. Can you think of an example of people who created a popular character and didn’t make any money off of it.

(Jerry) Siegel and (Joe) Shuster were teenagers in Cleveland when they created Superman and sold it for a few hundred bucks to DC Comics. And I’m sure they thought that was a fortune. But a few billion dollars later, they were in failing health. This was in the late ’70s. And there was, fortunately, a big enough fuss raised that DC eventually did give them some money and help them out a little bit.

There’s a guy named Jack Kirby who is one of the titans of the industry. He created Captain America in the early 1940s, and he was a superstar all the way through the 1970s. So an enormous career, hugely influential. But for most of his career he got, certainly, a lot less money than I get paid. And a lot of his artwork was destroyed or given away or stolen or things like that just because of a matter of disrespect. That was the norm in the industry.

Ernest Jasmin: 253-274-7389

What: Tim Sale comic book signing and Q&A

When: 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday

Where: Comic Book Ink, 1625 E. 72nd St., Suite 800, Tacoma

Admission: Free; $15 prints available to benefit the Hero Initiative

Information: 253-761-4651 or www.comicbookink.com