“It feels much more like work-for-hire than comics do,” Sale said of his work on “Heroes.” He said NBC had made sure to legally establish ownership of all his original work for the series, which is why he hasn’t sold any to fans.

Describing his creative process with long-time collaborator and “Heroes” producer Jeph Loeb – with whom he’s worked on “Superman: For All Seasons,” “Batman: The Long Halloween” and “Daredevil: Yellow,” among others-- Sale emphasized how often they speak when working on a project together, talking almost every day and giving feedback. “I prefer to work that way,” Sale said. “But at NBC, I only really talk to the prop master. It’s isolating, but not frustrating; it shows we have confidence in each other to do good work.”