Tag: Comics

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Interview with Meghan Boehman and Rachael Briner, creators of Dear Rosie

Meghan Boehman and Rachael Briner grew up together in Maryland where they attended the same elementary school and eventually became best friends. They live in Los Angeles where they work in TV animation designing and painting background art for Warner Bros Animation, Bento Box Entertainment and Starburns Industries. They have previously produced a 4-year long webcomic and several animated shorts. Dear Rosie draws from their experiences of losing a close friend while they were in high school.

I had the opportunity to interview Meghan and Rachael, which you can read below.

CW: Discussion of grief and friend passing.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourselves?

Thanks for having us, we’re happy to be here! We both grew up in Frederick, MD and met in elementary school, though we weren’t fast friends at first. For years we engaged in silent competition and viewed each other as rivals, but over time we shared enough classes that we softened up, eventually becoming best friends in high school. After college where Meghan pursued Animation and Rachael pursued Sequential Art, we both moved to Los Angeles and found work as background artists in the animation industry. Outside of our art, Meghan loves to cook, Rachael loves to bake, and we both love animals! Rachael has a rescued cattle dog named Libby and Meghan and her husband (our co-writer/colorist!) Thomas volunteer at a cat rescue.

What can you tell us about your latest project, Dear Rosie? What was your inspiration for the book?

Dear Rosie is the story of four middle school girls navigating loss after one of their friends passes away unexpectedly, inspired by our own friends from that time period and our friend Annalee, who passed away during college. We wanted to create a world based on our hometown, filled with color, warmth, and using local wildlife to offer a vibrant, inviting tone despite the somber backdrop for the book.

What are you hoping readers will take away from Dear Rosie?

Grief is not a straightforward journey, one that we all must navigate in our own way. We hope that each girl’s personal path helps our readers come away with a better understanding of their own experiences of sadness, love, and friendship. If they are dealing with their own loss, we want them to feel camaraderie with the characters and know they aren’t alone, we have been there too and made it to the other side.

As creatives, how did you become drawn to the graphic novel/comics medium, especially those geared towards younger readers?

Meghan: I grew up both reading and drawing comics nearly every day. After college, Rachael and I made a few short films together and produced a webcomic in order to stay connected while living on opposite coasts. That project achieved its aims, but eventually we wanted to craft longer narratives. I was drawn to middle grade and young adult comics because a story you fall in love with as a child stays with you for your entire life. The characters and design sensibilities I find special to this day are rooted in my reading from that time and I want to do my best to resonate like that with the current generation of young readers!

Rachael: I fell in love with the diverse storytelling in the alternative/indie section of my local comic book store in high school. At that age, I was able to appreciate the sheer amount of work that goes into a single issue and knew that I wanted to make comics one day. Middle grade content didn’t come on my radar until we started pitching Dear Rosie and our editor recommended adjusting certain aspects for a younger demographic, but after working on the book and doing research into the field, I can now say it’s likely my favorite demographic to make art for. The stories are so sweet and genuine while still tackling complex emotions and there are many I’d recommend to people of all ages to read!

How would you describe your artistic/creative backgrounds?

Meghan: I studied 2D animation in college and initially wanted to move towards directing feature films, but after working in the industry for a while I discovered that I enjoyed designing backgrounds the most. Having found my niche in animation, but still wanting to tell stories of my own, I rekindled my interest in drawing comics.

Rachael: Before college I was interested in fine art and worked primarily in colored pencil and oil pants, but I gravitated back towards comics during my Sequential Art program. After school and thanks to Meghan, I was able to combine my comic knowledge and love of painting to the animation world, first in Background Paint and later Design.

How would you describe your illustration/writing/creative process?

Anyone who knows us would likely classify it as chaotic, but we’d more charitably like say we trade off to suit each other’s strengths! Meghan and her husband Thomas handled the writing of Dear Rosie. For illustration, Meghan designed the cast of main and supporting characters while Rachael began thumbnailing based off the script. The two of us split color script and sketching duties equally, then Rachael inked the characters while Meghan inked the backgrounds. All three of us worked on color to ensure we stayed on track! Like we said, a bit of chaos, but the division of labor works well and we beat every deadline.

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

Meghan: The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale are two childhood stories that I still think about and re-read often. Recent examples would be Virgil Wander by Leif Enger, Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker, and Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama.

As creatives, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration?

Meghan: My biggest inspiration is Hayao Miyazaki, specifically the film Princess Mononoke and film/manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Bone and Elfquest were also very important when I was young.

Rachael: Craig Thompson’s Blankets changed the way I thought about visual storytelling and what was possible in the medium. Other notable artists are Emily Carroll, Rob Guillory, Becky Cloonan, Gabriel Ba, and James Gurney.

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

Why choose animals for your comic?

Dear Rosie tackles some difficult subjects and the story is very personal, so we wanted to create a little distance for ourselves and the people it is based on. Using animal characters allows both us and our young readers that space. Additionally, we simply enjoy designing their looks and the range of emotions you can express via ear and tail positioning; it can help communicate what’s going on to our youngest readers who may not always be able to articulate exactly what they are feeling. As mentioned before, using local Maryland wildlife was an additional nod to our hometown.

Are there any projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

We’re currently working through the pitch process with our editor so unfortunately we cannot speak in detail about our current project, but we can say that it focuses on a new group of friends and tackles an important topic we feel is under-discussed amongst young people.

What advice would you give to other aspiring creatives, especially those hoping to work on their own graphic novels one day?

Draw, draw, draw! Don’t focus too hard on whether or not it came out exactly as you wanted it to, just focus on practice, repetition, and forming the habit of working creatively on a regular schedule. The next one, or the fifth, or even the twentieth might be the one you wanted and you’ll never find out without that perseverance. Read often and don’t be afraid to stretch the boundaries of what you consider to your kind of book.

Finally, what books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

Meghan: I would recommend Grow Up, Tahlia Wilkins! by Karina Evans, Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega and Rose Bousamra, and The Accursed Vampire by Madeline McGrane.

Rachael: Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley is one of my favorites. It shows the complex family dynamics of divorce from a kid’s perspective. The emotional experience was familiar in a bittersweet way and I think it’s a book older readers would also enjoy.

Header Photo Credit Tom Pickwood

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Interview with Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue, Creators of Katie the Catsitter

Colleen AF Venable is the author of indie bestseller Katie the Catsitter graphic novel series with Stephanie Yue, as well as the National Book Award Longlisted Kiss Number 8, a graphic novel co-created with Ellen T. Crenshaw. Her other books include Mervin the Sloth is About to Do the Best Thing in The World with Ruth Chan, The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom with Lian Cho, and the Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye series, also with Stephanie Yue.  

Stephanie Yue is the illustrator of several picture books and chapter books in addition to Katie the Catsitter, and was the colorist for Smile by Raina Telgemeier. Steph travels the world by motorbike and spent the past year and a half converting a Sprinter van into a full-time mobile studio. She’s currently drawing the next Katie the Catsitter from all over North America, and eating and climbing all the things.

I had the chance to interview Colleen and Stephanie, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourselves?

Steph: Hi, I’m Steph, the illustrator for Katie the Catsitter. They/She. I like to ride motorbikes all over the world, rollerskate, build things, and I live full-time in a self-converted Sprinter van.

Colleen: Hello there! I’m Colleen Ann Felicity! She/Her/They (People always want to know what the weird AF is doing in there). I’m the writer for Katie the Catsitter. I like to read, hug every the animal, rollerskate, and make ALL THE CRAFTS—currently learning stained glass, figuring out how to build a room from scratch then turn it into an audio studio so I can quietly figure out how to play a trombone I got for $30, and can make a friendship bracelet in under five minutes. Watch out, potential new besties! 

What can you tell us about your upcoming book, Katie the Catsitter #3: Secrets and Sidekicks?

Colleen: * announcer voice * When last we left our heroes…Katie was officially starting to do sidekick training, Beth and Katie were still figuring out how to get back to being friends, and The Eastern Screech—the city’s highest yelp rated hero—was outed for being a fraud. In this volume Katie deals with not being the greatest athlete, feeling like her friends Beth and Marie are leaving her behind, the Eastern Screech disappearing, 217 highly trained cats running amuck, and a bunch of Killer Robots keep attacking the city. So yeah, nothing too exciting. 

Steph: It’s going to be fun, with lots of action!

What was the inspiration for the original series?

Colleen: I always thought traditional superhero comics simplified things. Good vs. bad. No in betweens. (And don’t get me started about the underwear on the outside thing which I might need to write a doctoral thesis on one day.) I wanted a series where the “good guys” were kinda bad, the “bad guys” were actually good. I also loved exploring how heroes come to be through Katie, an average 12 year old who realizes being a hero is a lot more about heart than falling into vats of toxic things. Also as a kid I was always disappointed that Catwoman didn’t have cat minions, so that gave me the idea for The Mousetress who controls 217 extraordinary cats (as much as anyone CAN control a cat.) 

Steph: Colleen and I worked together previously on a six book series called Guinea Pig: Pet Shop Private Eye. When she approached me with the pitch for Katie the Catsitter, it seemed like a natural fit for our humor and stories around animals.

Colleen AF Venable

How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, particularly comics? What drew you to the mediums?

Steph: I loved the comics section in the newspapers as a kid, and poured over the collected volumes of Calvin & Hobbes, Peanuts, and the Far Side my dad kept in his study. As I grew older, the Sunday funnies expanded to series like the Adventures of Tintin, and manga. I realized the visual nature of comics could quickly introduce a reader to fantastical worlds, and immerse them in a very real sense of action, danger, and emotion. In longer form comics like manga that span many volumes, characters had room to grow and evolve—by the end of a series like Rurouni Kenshin the characters were not the same as they were 28 books ago. That’s what I fell in love with, the ability for comics to share a funny visual gag, convey a sense of excitement and adventure, and handle character arcs, all in one easily accessible medium.

Colleen: Same with me! Those newspaper comics were such a wonderful part of my childhood. I recently did a school visit where I told the students “Imagine every morning someone left a whole pile of comic strips on your doorstep!” I blew the kids’ minds. They couldn’t believe that was true! I also convinced them I was 400 years old. For me, comics are such an incredible medium. I studied playwriting in college, and so many of the things I learned about dialogue, pacing, visual gags, beats, came from my scripting skills. But with comics you can control even more with page turn reveals, dramatic angles, zooming in to important details, scattering visual clues throughout…I truly feel like the true art of making comics is underappreciated. 

As a writer/illustrator, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically young adult fiction?

Colleen: I always wanted to write for kids and teens from the time I learned to read. I hoped to make that book that could help a kid through a hard time and not feel alone. And being able to make kids around the world laugh?! That’s better than any power a toxic vat or outward underwear could give me! I love mixing absolute absurdity with heartfelt emotional story lines of real things kids and teens go through…though in this case, without as many cats in real life, I hope. 

Steph: Landing in young adult fiction was a bit of an accident, to be honest. I started out illustrating for younger readers, but there are so many meaningful stories to tell for this age range as well. I remember how formative some works of fiction were for me at that age. In young adult fiction you can begin to explore more nuanced ideas, concepts, and character interactions while still leaving room to be goofy.

How would you describe your creative process?

Colleen: People watching, reading every comic/play/novel I can get my hands on, animal watching, swimming…if I sat down at a computer 8 hours a day I’d barely get anything done. Instead I write 1-3 days a week and only a few hours on those days. It’s the time between staring at a screen that I get the ideas. I start with handwritten notes. I’d like to say I kept them in a single beautiful notebook, but no, I write them everywhere. On the back of junk mail. On a mile long CVS receipt. In text messages to myself. I don’t even reference them after, but it’s the act of writing physically that gets my brain churning. When I finally sit down they just fall out of my fingers. 

Steph: It depends on the stage of comics making. For pencils, I like to take my iPad to different places and set up with a printed manuscript. When it comes to inking, my favorite thing to do is put on a gripping podcast or some upbeat music, pour myself a beverage, and get lost in drawing.

(For Colleen AF Venable) In addition to the Katie the Catsitter series, you are also known for your graphic novel Kiss Number 8. Could you tell us about the inspiration for this project and what it meant to you writing it?

Colleen: Someone recently asked me why I haven’t done another novel for older teens since Kiss Number 8 and it’s because you have to get in the mindset of your protagonist to write a book…and going back to being a teen…lordie, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! I know I will again, someday, and miiiight even have some secret first drafts, but it’s an emotional journey, and I think all the emotion I put into that book came through. I started it in 2004, which is why the book is set then. It was inspired by my very Catholic family and their reaction to my perfect older sister coming out of the closet. Suddenly I was the “good kid”—and trust me I was NOT, and I was also secretly bi…something I didn’t even admit to myself until my 30’s due to repression. I wanted to make a book that was truthful to what it was like to come out in the early aughts but also didn’t show the church as some giant big bad guy like all the other LGBTQ books did at the time. Even back then I was exploring themes of all the gray areas in life, no good guys, no bad guys. Mads the protagonist is both so likable but also makes the worst decisions of anyone in the book. I’m so proud of the book, which finally came out in 2019 and was even one of the first comic books to ever receive a National Book Award nod. I thought of it as a period piece, but the emails I’ve gotten from teens struggling to come out make me realize it’s less of a historical novel than I’d like. 

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

Steph: As I mentioned before, Calvin & Hobbes is an easy one, and one that inspired many creators. Tintin introduced me to action and adventure in comics, and Rurouni Kenshin was the big series that landed at just the right age for me. When I toured on motorbikes, I liked to imagine I was Kino in Kino’s journey, self-sufficient and exploring the different cultures of the world. Nowadays, I live in a self-converted Sprinter van named The Bebop, after the converted interplanetary fishing trawler in Cowboy Bebop. On some days the name feels extremely prescient—with all the blackout curtains up, it feels like a little spaceship that could be anywhere in the galaxy. Putting away the curtains could reveal a different planet each day. I see myself in Ed, “self-styled”, taking my craft through time in space, and hunting bounties (making comics and taking on freelance gigs). I even keep a little plushie corgi copilot.

Colleen: Ah! I hadn’t realized Bebop was named after that! As a huge Saturday Morning Cartoon dork I assumed it was from Ninja Turtles! I’m going to second Calvin & Hobbes. I feel like every cartoonist of our generation has Bill W to thank for letting us be absurd, bend genres, and create REAL protagonists, flaws and all. Like Katie, my parents didn’t have much money growing up, so I spent my afternoons after school in the library, being annoying and VERY hyper. (Catholic Church, if you are reading this, please consider canonizing those librarians.) Books that blew me away: Amelia Bedelia, anything Ellen Raskin, Agatha Christie. At the time there was no YA section, and definitely no graphic novel section, but if those existed I would have eaten them up. I got into comics through webcomics after college. It was the thing I had been searching for. Now I am forever in love with anything Victoria Jameson, M.T. Anderson, or Urasawa writes. I swear it’s impossible for those three to create anything that’s less than genius. 

Steph: Ha, that reminds me of how influential The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was for me! I read it at just the right age. If I ever build out another van, it might have to be the Heart Of Gold. It seems infinitely improbable.

Stephanie Yue

As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general? 

Colleen: Honestly, for me it’s more comedy icons: Monty Python, Gilda Radner, Mr. Show, Carol Burnett, The Muppet Show, The Marx Brothers. If I had to name comics, I’d have to give a nod to The Tick and The Far Side. I’m a huge comedy history nerd and read anything I can find on the subject. Even in my more serious books like Kiss Number 8, humor is the thing that drives the reader through the angst. Without comedy these stories would never be as powerful. 

Steph: I know I keep coming back to it, but Bill Watterson was formative for me. I also really enjoy the mixed media work of Shaun Tan, and the life and work of Edward Gorey. His former home is now the Edward Gorey House, and it offers a wonderful peek into his life as a creative. It’s one of my favorite stops if I ever find myself going to Cape Cod.

What are some of your favorite elements of writing/drawing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging? 

Steph: Cartooning is a surprisingly physically draining profession, with long, lonely hours at the drawing tablet. Whenever available, I do my best to get some social time, outdoor time, and maintain an exercise routine. At the desk, I try to be careful about ergonomics and my posture, to avoid painful aches or repetitive stress injuries. Like many creative occupations that blur the line between work and play, it’s commonly misunderstood. Even after this long I still find myself justifying to people that yes, this is indeed a job, and no, I cannot do this for free.

Also, robots and horses are hard to draw.

Colleen: Whenever I write Katie I have a smile on my face and am often giggling out loud. I also adore the editing process, especially when I get to work with an editor as brilliant as Shana Corey, who’s notes always blow me away. I’m a big fan of jigsaw puzzles and mysteries and figuring out how to reshape pieces so they fit together perfectly. For me the frustrating part is not having more time. I have a full-time day job and can only fit in writing early morning. I’m good at meeting my book deadlines and my job, but my personal inbox and ability to have time for friends suffers more than I’d like. Other frustrating thing: I think I’m the only writer in the world who doesn’t drink coffee, so my love of writing in cafes means a whole lotta brownies and muffins, which I’m fine with but my dentist and non-stretchy pants might not love. 

And sorry about all the robots and horses, Steph!

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

Steph: I live to ride and travel and I love to build things!

Colleen: Steph is being modest, when they say travel they’re doing it on a motorcycle, Vespa (to 49 of the 50 states!!!), and in their amazing van. I’m in awe of them. They’re basically more badass than any comic book hero you could imagine. I can’t even do a somersault and cried the one time I did a tourist-y zipline. (The 10-year-olds and 70-year-olds also ziplining were very confused.) While I might be afraid of heights and worms, I’ve got a handful of things I’m weirdly good at. For instance I once broke a national co-ed jump rope record that hadn’t been broken in 30 years. I’m ranked in the top 50 of Dance Central international high scores…a game series that if I ever have enough money I will pay Harmonics to make another version. I also have an internet famous connect-the-dots tattoo that George Takei said was “the perfect tattoo” and Mark Walberg said was “a bad influence on children.” 

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

Steph: What is your favorite flavor of potato chip? It’s salt and vinegar, the saltier and more tart the better.

Colleen: Noooo don’t out me as a weirdo who doesn’t really like chips, Steph!!! I have a sweet tooth. Actually I might have two, one in place of the salty tooth everyone else seems to have. 

What advice might you have to give for aspiring creatives?

Steph: The most daring thing you can do is just make the thing you want to make and put it out there in the world. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s more important that you start.

Colleen: Don’t be afraid to get better! I started a webcomic in 2004 using MS Paint. Four years later I was the sole designer for First Second Books and had my first graphic novel contract. I wrote 31 books that were rejected by publishers before that contract…and even after that I wrote 6 others that never made it to publication. The most important thing to do is to set aside time for you to be creative every week. There will also be a million excuses, but be kind to yourself and make space for YOU. Also read. The more you read the better a writer you’ll become. And did I mention the muffins? They definitely help. 

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

Colleen: This fall I have two books coming out. My first for adults! It’s a humor/inspiration book called The Swayze Year: You’re Not Old You’re Just Getting Started co-written with the brilliant Meghan Daly, with art by the incredible Tara O’Connor! It chronicles one person from age 35 to 100 who got their start at that age. It’s super inspiring but also SUPER absurd, more of the tone of your best friend saying “SHUT UP YOU AREN’T OLD!” than a cheesy self-help book. 

The other book is a short story collection called Creepy Cafetorium, which is part Sideways Stories and part Gravity Falls. I get to be the Rod Sterling of the series and write all the intros for every tale as a very weird 600 year old lady. It’s incredibly goofy, heart-felt, and has stories from amazing writers like Jadzia Axlerod, Carol Burrell, and Marcie Colleen. 

Steph: I’m always working on my van, my bikes, and future travel.

Finally, what LGBTQ+ books (comics included)/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

Steph: Gender Queer spoke to me, by Maia Kobabe.

Colleen: I’m putting my vote in for Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado. It’s a love letter to the Bronx and a horror novel that bases those horrors on real events. But the queer romance was sweet and like little breaths of solace during the gripping thriller. (Note: if you read this book you will never look at the subway the same way again.) 

As for comics, the one that got me recently was Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axlerod and Jess Taylor. DC’s first trans hero! Written by an amazing woman I’ve known since our days making hand-stapled mini-comics to sell for a buck or two at small press cons! Not only is the story so compelling, but the character designs and the candy-colored art are delicious. 

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Interview with Victoria Ying

Victoria Ying is a critically acclaimed author and artist living in Los Angeles. She started her career in the arts by falling in love with comic books, this eventually turned into a career working in animation and graphic novels. She loves Japanese Curry, putting things in her shopping cart online and taking them out again and hanging out with her husband and cat, Bandito. Her film credits include Tangled, Wreck it Ralph, Frozen, Paperman, Big Hero 6, and Moana. She is the author and illustrator of her own series “City of Secrets and City of Illusion” through Penguin/Viking and the illustrator of the DC series “Diana Princess of the Amazons.” Her upcoming graphic novel projects her YA debut, “Hungry Ghost” and the Marvel/Scholastic “Shang-Chi and the Secret of Immortality.”

I had the opportunity to interview Victoria, which you can read below.

CW: Discussion of eating disorders

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT. Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Hey there! I’m an author and illustrator of the new graphic novel, Hungry Ghost! I started my career in animation working at Disney on films such as Tangled, Wreck it Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero Six and Moana. I wanted to tell my own stories so I left to pursue my dream of writing. Hungry Ghost is my YA debut based on my own experiences but fictionalized.

What can you tell us about your upcoming graphic novel, Hungry Ghost? What inspired you to write this story?

I struggled with an eating disorder for nearly a decade and the thing that surprised me about media surrounding ED was just how much of it didn’t reflect my experience. As a child of immigrants surrounded by western culture, I saw the stories of worried families and emaciated young white girls and didn’t see myself in those stories. I wanted to share what the experience is like beyond the gory details of protruding bones and write a story about what it FEELS like to actually live with an ED.

Doing some research, I noticed that the term “hungry ghost” is a common concept in Buddhism and Chinese traditional religion. Was that intentionally chosen in mind when choosing the title and/or developing the story itself?

It is definitely a concept in folklore, but in my family, it was used with derision if you ever ate quickly. “You’re like a hungry ghost!”

I wanted to use the phrase because it felt appropriate for Val’s struggles. She’s hungry, not just for food, but for love as well.

How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, specifically comics? What drew you to the medium?

I had always loved comics. Comics drew me to an artistic career in the first place when I was in middle school, but once I got to college, someone told me about the tough working conditions in comics and I pivoted. I came back to the medium after working for a few years and was able to advocate for myself in the labor market. I got to work with amazing editors at First Second for this project and I couldn’t be happier with my comics experience.

Growing up, were there any books/media that inspired you as a creative and/or that you felt yourself personally reflected in? Is there anything like that now?

As a second generation child of immigrants, It’s difficult to see yourself in any media. As a kid, I saw token representation for Asians sometimes and when I would express my alienation, people would tell me to watch Chinese media. But I wasn’t Chinese either. I couldn’t speak fluently and it just made me feel even more alien. I’m glad that we live in a media environment where we’re talking about immigrants and kids of immigrants. We’re in the golden age of diaspora stories! Films such as the Oscar winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once” prove that our stories can be relatable and unique.

As an artist, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration?

My inspirations are changing all the time, but I love people who follow their creative spirit. I love watching directors like Taika Waititi tell wildly different stories and yet still hold onto their special voice. Whenever I can tell that an artist is being true to their creative vision, I am most drawn to them.

For those curious about the process behind a graphic novel, how would you describe the process?

It’s like the process for making a drawing, but expanded out into a longer process. You start out with the script, get that working, and then move onto thumbnail drawings, where you draw the whole book in tiny scribbly little doodles. Once that’s working, you take those scribbles and tighten them up to something that people can actually look at. Once it’s presentable, you can add color. I worked with a fantastic colorist Lynette Wang for this book and others. Last but not least, you add in the final text.

What are some of your favorite parts of the creative process? What do you find to be some of the most frustrating/difficult?

I love the first draft of something and the inking phase. I love telling myself a story and seeing the whole thing come together. It’s fun and feels organic and natural. I also really enjoy the inking phase because I can actually let go of my storytelling brain and just get lost in making the artwork look the way I want it to. I find artistic flow most easily here.

Spoiler, regarding the main character’s mother, I really appreciated how you depicted a familial relationship that was filled with both love, but also misunderstanding and some toxicity. Would you mind speaking about that here?

I felt like a lot of parental relationships in media never rang true for me. Our parents are human. They have their own flaws, their own traumas, and to treat them as cardboard cutouts of “good parents” never really works. I was really inspired by “The OC” in high school because the parents were complicated, they had their own lives and that effected how they related to their kids. I wanted to write a mother like that. I wanted to show how ED is often passed down and how sometimes, we don’t get a fairy tale ending with the mythical apology, but we still have to move on and build a life for ourselves.

What are some things you would want readers to take away from Hungry Ghost?

It’s okay if the people you hoped to rely on can’t be there for you. You can be there for yourself and even though that’s not ideal, you can build your own support system and heal yourself.

What advice might you have to give to other aspiring creators?

Write short stories and write a lot of them. I had to learn how to tell stories with structure and catharsis and if I had only done full length stories, it would have taken me a long time to fix the mistakes. If you write short you can see the whole thing laid out in front of you and learn to be a better storyteller faster.

Besides your work as an artist, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?

I’m an elder millennial and it took me this long to have something worth saying. My path to publishing is long and winding, but I don’t regret a single moment of it because it all led me to the place that I am now.

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were (and the answer to that question)?

“How do you manage your time to avoid burnout?”

One of my biggest things I advocate for with young comics artists is never to schedule yourself to the max. Yes, you CAN work 7 days a week, but that can’t last and you’ll be an absolute husk of a person in a matter of months. Whenever you are figuring out how long a project will take, protect your weekends and evenings. 8 hours a day MAXIMUM. Also, remember to build in two weeks of sick time! You’re your own HR department, so be that for yourself!

Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?

I have a book coming out with Scholastic for Marvel’s Shang-Chi on October the 6th! I was allowed to write a fun, twisty little story for this character and I can’t wait to share it.

I’m also working on a second YA contemporary about growing up on the internet and navigating inappropriate relationships.

Finally, what books/comics would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

Ooh! I just finished Ryan LaSala’s “The Honeys!” It was a fun, queer, horror romp that I can’t stop thinking about!

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Interview with Cartoonist Wes Molebash

Wes Molebash is the creator of several popular webcomics, most notably You’ll Have That (Viper Comics) and Molebashed (self-published). He has also created cartoons for companies and organizations such as the Ohio State University, Target, and PBS Kids. Travis Daventhorpe for the Win! is his debut graphic novel.

I had the opportunity to interview Wes, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT. Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Thanks for inviting me to participate! I’m honored! My name is Wes Molebash, and I’m a cartoonist in Southern Ohio. I’ve been drawing comics for a couple of decades now; mostly webcomics, but I’ve recently published my first graphic novel!

What can you tell us about your debut graphic novel, Travis Daventhorpe for the Win!? Where did the inspiration for this story come from?

Travis Daventhorpe for the Win! is my first graphic novel, and it came out at the end of March from 01:First Second Books. It’s the first in a four-book series. The story follows a socially awkward eleven-year-old who discovers he’s the prophesied hero of a kingdom in another dimension. The book has robots, wizards, magic, dinosaurs, and tons of video game references. It’s a lot of fun!

The biggest inspirations for the series are my two sons, Parker and Connor. When they were really little, I started brainstorming ideas for a story I thought they’d enjoy. The initial idea for Travis Daventhorpe popped in my head while I was playing with them on the living room floor one afternoon.

How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, particularly comics? What drew you to the medium?

Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved cartoons and animation. Newspaper comics were also fun to read, but I didn’t fall in love with the medium of comics until I discovered Calvin and Hobbes. That changed everything. It inspired me to learn everything I could about making comics.

During middle school, I began collecting comic books like Batman and Superman. They were fun, but I didn’t love them the way I loved Calvin and Hobbes. But then I found Bone by Jeff Smith, and that book was another game changer. It had the heart, imagination, and visuals of a comic like Calvin and Hobbes, but it was in this much larger comic book format. So the worlds could be bigger; it felt like there was more to explore. I loved that, and I wanted to make comics like that.

As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration?

Well, as I said before, Bill Watterson and Jeff Smith are the BIG TWO. But I’m also inspired/influenced by other cartoonists like Mike Cavallaro, James Burks, and Michael Jantze. Movies, books, and video games are also huge influences. Speaking of video games, Travis Daventhorpe was heavily influenced by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn. So if you like those games, you’ll probably find some nods to those series in my books.

Besides your work as a creative, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?

I was the 3rd Grade Spelling Bee Champion, I was class president my junior year of high school, and I can play the guitar.

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were (and the answer to that question)?

No one has ever asked me who I would want to voice Belazar if Travis Daventhorpe for the Win! was made into an animated movie. The answer is Andre Braugher from Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?

Right now we’re wrapping up the edits on Travis Daventhorpe Book 2, and I’ve started writing Book 3!

Finally, what books/comics would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

Here are a few of my faves:

The Nico Bravo series by Mike Cavallaro

Agent 9: Floodageddon and Agent 9: Mind Control by James Burks

The Real Friends series by Shannon Hale and LeYuen Pham

The Margo Maloo series by Drew Weing

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 “No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics” to Premiere on PBS

‘To be black and queer and learn about Rupert Kinnard’s work — only two years ago! It was very profound to me, yet also sad… How many other Rupert’s are there that I didn’t know about? ….’ was the reaction of cartoonist, Lawrence Lindell, when he discovered the Brown Bomber and Diva Touché Flambé, drawn by black gay cartoonist, Rupert Kinnard. It’s a bittersweet moment.

Decades later, the works of the five pioneering queer cartoonists are still being discovered by the next generation of artists (including myself).  Lindell reflected on how Kinnard’s work could have aided him on his artistic journey — “…It would have been nice not to struggle.”

“…I wanted to create a film that I needed when I was a queer youth…” was director Vivian Kleiman’s mission. Inspired by queer comic artist and historian Justin Hall’s anthology of the same name, No Straight Lines — The Rise of Queer Comics is a celebration of the history of comics by and about LGBTQ people, telling the stories of the five pioneers of queer cartoonists: Alison Bechdel, Howard Cruse, Mary Wings, Rupert Kinnard, and Jennifer Camper.

No Straight Lines is a labor of love that started as a conventional documentary then later evolved into a cross-generational think piece that intersects everything from the AIDS crisis, coming out, and same-sex marriage, to themes of race, gender, and disability.

It’s highly-stylized editing creates the illusion of a comic book coming to life. It cuts between candid interviews of the five pioneers, then to comic panels featuring commentary from contemporary queer cartoonists, and lastly a heartfelt tribute of the founder of Gay Comix, Howard Cruse.  

No Straight Lines is a rare gem, a brilliantly crafted masterpiece that crosses historical preservation and inspiration. We’re reminded that all one needs to tell their story is a pen and paper. It remains a powerful idea to write about yourself when not seen.

Premieres Monday, January 23 at 10:00 pm EST and streaming on PBS.org starting Tuesday, January 24

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Interview With Writer And Editor Suzanne Walker

Suzanne Walker is a Chicago-based writer and editor. She is co-creator of the Hugo-nominated graphic novel Mooncakes (2019, Lion Forge/Oni Press). Her short fiction has been published in Clarkesworld and Uncanny Magazine, and she has published nonfiction articles with Uncanny Magazine, StarTrek.com, Women Write About Comics, and the anthology Barriers and Belonging: Personal Narratives of Disability. She has spoken at numerous conventions on a variety of topics ranging from disability representation in sci-fi/fantasy to comics collaboration. You can find her posting pictures of her cat and chronicling her longsword adventures on Twitter @suzusaur. I had the opportunity to interview Suzanne, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself? 

Sure! I’m a writer and editor based out of Chicago, IL, which means that I have very strong opinions about hot dogs. I’ve written a wide variety of fiction—short stories, graphic novels, prose novels—and love storytelling in all forms. In my spare time I take medieval longsword classes, hang out with my partner and cat, and I recently started taking aerial circus classes as well, because why not. 

Your debut graphic novel, Mooncakes, was based on a webcomic made between you and your creative partner, Wendy Xu. How did you two come to work together and what was that process like working on the comic, from its initial start in one medium (indie comics/webcomics) to another (traditional publishing)? 

Wendy and I were friends for years before we started working together—our first “collaboration” came when she drew fanart for a fanfiction story I wrote, and from there we started working on short comic ideas together. Mooncakes was originally a pitch for a 10-page comic in an indie anthology, but when we got rejected from that we decided to launch our own webcomic. And I’m so glad we did! From there we posted the first few chapters online before we were solicited by some traditional publishing houses, and the rest, as they say, is history.  

Where did the inspiration for Mooncakes come from? 

The inspiration for Mooncakes came from a variety of different outlets—we were both influenced by various witchy/fantasy stories when we were younger, including the Halloweentown movies, Practical Magic, Studio Ghibli films, and of course Harry Potter (although most of my desire there was to counter parts of Harry Potter that I found frustrating, hah). Wendy always wanted to tell the story of long-lost childhood friends reuniting, so from that basic concept we built out the rest of the story/characters. 

One of the main characters of Mooncakes, Nova Huang, is portrayed as hard-of-hearing, something that’s based partially on your own experiences. Could you discuss the thoughts that might have gone through your mind writing this into the comic? 

Mostly I wanted to create the representation that I’d not yet seen in fiction. Hard-of-hearing/deaf representation in media (comics, prose, or film) is scarce, and of those available, only Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye really resonated with me. In giving Nova a hearing loss, I wanted to show how a character works around different abilities and accommodations but still not have it define them. 

For those curious about the process behind a graphic novel, how would you describe the process? What goes into creating a script and collaborating with an artist to translate that into panels? 

Before I started working on the script, Wendy and I sat down together and had a whole series of conversations around the big concepts and characters. From there I got to work outlining the plot (both the main arc and the finer details) and wrote out the first draft of the script. Wendy and our editor at Oni both gave me notes on the draft, and from there I created the final version that Wendy began drawing. As a writer, it’s important be very visually and spatially aware, while keeping in mind what’s possible to translate onto the page, so often I would check in with Wendy to see if she thought something would work or if I needed to find another way to write it. It’s a collaboration the whole way through! 

What are some of your favorite things about making comics? 

The collaboration is a big one!! I truly feel that two minds are better than one—it gives you a chance to bounce ideas off of each other and build them in a way that you can’t when you’re on our own. I love writing dialogue and conversations between characters, and that’s obviously a huge focus of comics writing. 

What advice would you have for those who want to write and create comics? 

Practice!! Practice writing scripts on your own and then thumbnailing/drawing them out (you do not have to be a good artist, trust me). It gives you a sense of spatial awareness—what works in a set series of panels and what doesn’t. And really communicate with your artist—the best writer-artist duos are ones who really know each other and have a feel for each other’s vision. 

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet, but wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)? 

“What are your favorite things to write”? I already sort of answered this (dialogue), but I also really love writing action sequences—it always feels like a puzzle to be reverse engineered, and then you have to add emotions on top of them. And I also love writing big party scenes, which you can see in Mooncakes. The mid-autumn festival was super enjoyable to work on. 

Are there any other projects you are currently working on and at liberty to talk about? 

I’m working on two different prose novels right now—one is about mariners and sea monsters while the other is set in a desert empire where everyone rides raptors instead of horses. 

Finally, what LGBTQ+ materials would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

GENDER QUEER by Maia Kobabe; THE MERMAID, THE WITCH, AND THE SEA by Maggie Tokuda-Hall; THE UNBROKEN by C.L. Clark, THE BLACK TIDES OF HEAVEN/THE RED THREADS OF FORTUNE by Neon Yang. Just off the top of my head!

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GEEKS OUT CREATOR SPOTLIGHT: Luciano Vecchio

For this Pride addition of the Geeks OUT creator spotlight, I had the pleasure of speaking with the extremely talented Luciano Vecchio, a queer comic book artist from Argentina.  Luciano has most recently worked on the New Warriors re-launch for Marvel.  Prior to that, he did a run on Marvel’s Iron Heart with writer Eve L Ewing and fellow artist G. Geoffo.

Luciano began his American comic book career working for DC for the online initiative “Zuda,” as well as digital first TV-based and custom comics.  He soon jumped over to Marvel doing the same type of content.  He then began work on his creator owned queer-lead superhero team “Sereno” and “Unseen Tribe.”

It wasn’t long until he caught the eye of editor Alanna Smith, then working on the short lived yet critically acclaimed “Iron Heart” series starring young African-American tech genius, Riri Williams.

Chris Allo: When did your interest in comics begin? What was your first comic book? What was the thing that got you into comics?

Luciano Vecchio: When I was very little in the 80s in Argentina, the Superfriends cartoon was on TV, my older brother used to collect the Spanish edition of DC Comics, and there was a lot of trading cards, toys and merch illustrated with the DC Style Guide by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. I was immersed in that and it was a big part of my imagination. 

I have a vague memory of the first comic book my parents bought for me specifically, one of Batman and Robin, a storyline with Nocturna and the vampires (Looking it up now, it was the Mexican edition of Batman 349 by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan.) I must have been 5 or 6 years old, and I remember having that feeling of “I will do this when I grow up”.


Chris: Who are the artists–any kind of artist, doesn’t have to be comic artists–whose work inspires you?

Luciano: I started with the American school of artists. Like George Perez, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez were my first inspirations. Then I started mixing it with other influences, like Yoshiyuki Sadamoto from the Evangelion manga, and Bruce Timm’s tv shows. I liked very diverse things I was consuming at the time and tried to mix it all when I drew. Grant Morrison’s writing shaped a lot of my thinking at creating. Gail Simone’s work reeducated my purpose. More recently Rebecca Sugar’s work made me reevaluate my aspirations on what we can achieve through epic fiction and how.

Chris: When it comes to comics, you’ve primarily done work for hire. You’ve done DC and Marvel in America, plus other places. You’ve also done creator-owned as well, right?

Luciano: Yes.

Chris: What are the positives for working for other companies, as opposed to working for yourself? What do you like about working for those different (companies)?

Luciano: What I like about working with mainstream properties like the characters of Marvel and DC, is that I think of it as a modern mythology and world-affecting metafiction. A collaborative, generation-spanning collective work. These characters and their stories and universes are bigger than any of us, hyper-charged with a myth-power that can amplify a story or message in a way that is unique to this medium and industry. That is what I value the most of being able to tap into these story-streams.  

When I work for myself, I write my own scripts and I value working from the guts with full liberty, and though my reach is far more limited without a big publisher behind, the connection with readers through my work is raw and personal, a much more intimate experience.

Chris: Do you feel with your current comics, like, say, Ironheart, that (has) been collaborative? You are part of the creative process?

Luciano: In different ways depending on the project, but my latest big projects for Marvel are team efforts between writing, art and editorial.

With Ironheart it just flowed because Eve Ewing’s script touched most of my emotional nerves and narrative interests, and we connected and were able to chat about the book and what Riri’s story means to us in ways that were much more personally invested than just drawing a script. In New Warriors, which I’m currently working on with writer Daniel Kibblesmith, I got the chance to be involved from very early stages, and though my input is more visual I was able to insist on including Silhouette in the main roster, who is a favorite of mine and we had recently reintroduced in Ironheart so it gives a sense of continuity.

And in shared continuity there is also this sense of collaboration with past generations of authors who worked on the characters, dipping into previous volumes of the series to make sure I’m invoking the same spirit through my voice, I think it’s a very important part of the job.

Also, I like doing it all myself sometimes, and I’m so honored that I got the chance to write, draw and color my own mini story from my queer and South American POV for the Marvel Voices special.

I started my creator owned comic Sereno as a weekly webcomic while I was working on the Ultimate Spider-Man Infinite Comics series (a digital comic based on the TV show). I was adding more work to a very busy schedule so it had to be meaningful for me. Sereno is an exploration of the superhero genre through a poetic, personal, even spiritual perspective. A sort of essay on what we can do and achieve through epic narratives. And it has the queer lead superhero that I needed to read when I was young and didn’t exist.

Chris: And how long have you been working on that?

Luciano: I started in 2014 and put it on pause in 2018 when I prioritize my monthly series for Marvel. I did other personal work in the middle and after, but shorter stuff.

Chris: Have you collected it? Have you printed it, or are you going to?

Luciano: I have a first volume collected in Spanish. Now in lockdown times, I took the chance to correct the translation for English readers, and it will soon be available through ComiXology.

Chris: In terms of projects like work-for-hire, what kind of projects, or content, that you really like drawing? And what are some of the projects you’ve worked on that really satisfied you as an artist?

Luciano: Superheroes are my main interests, and more specifically underrepresented demographics taking the lead in a medium that is catching up after leaving us behind for decades.

Chris: I assume you’ve worked with several writers. Have there been any writers that really stand out, that you feel like you really gelled with to create a connection, like you guys are feeding off of each other?

Luciano: I would say Eve (Ewing, writer of Marvel’s Ironheart). I feel so lucky I got assigned her first comic work, because her voice and writing, coming from a background in poetry, sociology and education was so fresh and rich I feel it renewed the way I approached making comics. It was a process to get to know each other through the work, because we never met in person so far.

Chris: (laughs) Yeah, that’s how it usually works in comics. So one of your most recent projects was Ironheart, which just wrapped. How did that happen for you? How did it come about, and then what was challenging about it? What did you love about it?

Chris: Well, it was my first shot at the mainstream Marvel Universe, because I was mostly assigned to the digital, animation-based licenses before that, which I had had enough of. I was ready for something more significant. Through my creator-owned work I realized I had my own voice and style, I had my own interests besides just drawing, I wanted to level-up. So the challenging part was making the jump, deciding what I didn’t want to do anymore, go back to producing samples and talk to editors about I what I do want to do and feel I can provide. Then I was given this chance and everything clicked and it’s been quite a ride so far.

Chris: So how does it feel? I’ve been in comics for a long time, and for me, this journey will always have samples. Now it feels, with this younger generation of artists, they don’t want to do samples for free. They feel they should be paid. How do you feel about that?

Luciano: It feels like it’s part of the business.

Chris: It’s just kind of accepted?

Luciano: As long as it’s not unfair. At many points of my career I saw portfolio work as an investment. I won’t work for free, but I will invest in myself if it’s going to pay off reasonably.

Chris: It’s not unlike when you’re an actor and you’re doing auditions, right? You’re not getting paid for them. You’re trying out for the job.

Luciano: Yeah, it’s not the same as a publisher asking you to work for free, or being paid in “exposure”.

Chris: Alright, cool. So you’ve done some work in Argentina. How does that compare to your American comics work? Is it very different?

Luciano: Argentina has a very rich, creative and political comic scene, in a smaller market with small and self publishers, it is a scene fueled by passion and it shows. I consider my creator owned work very successful in this context, but I do it for love and not for profit. My American work is what makes my income besides being enrichening in the ways we talked about.

Chris: Are there any artists lately that inspire you? Contemporaries that are working now?

Luciano: More than specific authors my attention is in this paradigm shift we’re attending and being part of, of LGBT+, female and POC voices progressively taking space in the making of culture. In and out of comics, in independent and mainstream, in fiction and other expressions.

Chris: How has being LGBTQ informed your work? What is it about being gay or bi or whatever that you put into your work?

Luciano: I think as public first we have an unique reading of how fiction and culture shapes the world around us and even how we look at ourselves as a result of that, so then as creators we bring that awareness if we can, which is not as easy as I would hope, it’s more of a constant work of learning through trial and error and observation, or projecting oneself into characters and story from that perspective. My subjectivity as queer and South American -Marika y Sudaca- will affect and shape the work I’m producing, and I think when it works out the best is when I draw (or write) for myself, for the kid I was, and that can resonate stronger and more honestly.

Chris: Obviously, when you’re working for a big company, you only have so much control of what you could do. That’s why you could have your own creator owned, so you could do things like that. So outside of the Big 2, what do you think we could do?

Luciano: I think visibility is super important for creators and any person with a following (if your safety and survival needs allow it, of course). When I was a teenager and Phil Jimenez came out it was inspiring and empowering, and now as a professional knowing about so many LGBT+ colleagues in the industry provides a sense of community that can extend to readers too if we’re visible and vocal. And with our work, we can pick our fights, propose contents that we need and won’t get done if we don’t start ourselves. Hold the door open for the next generation of queer creators so that they will have better opportunities.

Chris: Here’s a lighter question. Who is your favorite existing queer character and why?

Luciano: Wiccan and Hulkling are like the most likable of the whole Marvel universe, they’re cute and wholesome in a way that didn’t abound when they were first introduced, I think they incarnate the self-accepting and loving queer archetype and that’s why they have a very invested following across the globe even beyond comic readers.

Chris: What are the projects you are most proud of right now?

Luciano: Ironheart and my creator-owned comic Sereno. And I’m especially proud of my story in Marvel Voices anthology which I got to write myself, which is a rarity being a non-native English speaker, in which I had all the LGBT+ characters of the Marvel Universe gathering BECAUSE of their queer identity, for Pride. It is something I always wanted to see happen, I took the chance and pitched the idea even though I was invited as just an artist into this special, and it worked out. It’s just one page, but I did it all, even coloring and it is a career highlight for me.

Chris: What lesson or advice would you give to aspiring artists today? What do you wish you knew then that you know now when it comes to being a working artist in today’s industry?

Luciano: It’s weird, because the world keeps changing so fast. My personal experience really doesn’t apply to newer artists.

Chris: Well the mechanics of it are still kind of the same, yeah? I always tell my artists “whatever you do, make sure you keep a schedule. Make sure you think on those terms.” I think having some of those basics will always stay the same, but knowing what you know now, what would you tell somebody? “Make sure you focus on this, this is really important…”

Luciano: I think I took a while to develop the more human, social aspect of the business. That’s what I struggled with the most when I was younger. I find it is fundamental. In whichever way you can make it happen.

Chris: This last question is, is there anything new on the horizon? What’s your next project that you could talk about? Or not talk about. Do you have something coming up?

Luciano: The New Warriors miniseries which has been rescheduled as a result of the distribution stop, so I don’t know when it will come out now. Same with my variant cover for Emperor Hulkling, which is only a cover but it was so cool to get to draw my boy Teddy like this. And I have a short story as writer/artist in an Argentinian anthology coming up, in a much more personal and raw style.

Chris: Well if you could pick your own project, what would you want to work on? Like a mainstream thing.

Luciano: If I can just dream, a Young Avengers or just Wiccan & Hulkling book. I’m starting to fantasize about writing or co-writing something with them.

Chris: So if you could put together your own superhero team from any queer characters who are out there, who would be on your team?

Luciano: Also, I think Wiccan and Hulkling and Nico Minoru and Karolina Dean have so much in common as couples that would make a great team dynamic. But more of a team I would love a book about community, where any queer character can appear and connect and know each other because of their shared identity, as we do in real life.

Chris: I think every character has the potential to be great, it’s just a matter of… to me, comic books are “character, writer, artist.” If you find the right team, they could make anybody an amazing character. I don’t think any character is shit like that. Any character can be great. Oh, one more question. How was your Flame Con experience? How important do you think it is to have our own conventions?

Luciano: It is super significant for me. My first time I attended just as a visitor in 2018, which I hadn’t done in years at any show, and it was so special. For the first time I felt fully safe and with my own community in a comics related event, I went to workshops and panels, met people, learned from LGBT+ peers in the industry. I was at the professional crossroad before making the jump to Ironheart and those two days were defining in my intentions. I said to myself this is where I want to be, and I want to return as a guest. And bam! Next year, 2019 I was part of the guest list, tabling and participating on the Designing X-Women panel, and it was my favorite con experience ever. I looked forward to returning in 2020, I guess given the circumstances it will have to be 2021?

Chris: How does it compare with artist alley in New York Comic Con? (Laughs)

Luciano: Well it’s shorter! (Laughs)

Chris: Yeah, it’s exhausting.

Luciano: Well, it’s a pleasure. I don’t know. Being within our community, it’s more chill, it’s more enjoyable in general. New York Comic Con is also super enjoyable, but it’s so much more intense, and you’re surrounded by people you admire, and… I don’t know. There’s opportunity in every direction. It’s exhausting.

Chris: Was there anybody you met at each of the conventions that you never expected to meet? That you were a fanboy for?

Luciano: Lots of people over the years, I used to be super awkward or just freeze when I met my childhood idols like George Perez, JL Garcia Lopez or Grant Morrison, but contexts like Flame Con or sharing the “New York Times’ LGBT in Comics” panel at NYCC that I did twice allowed me to make the transition from fan to peer with creators I admire and who have positively influenced me with their work but also with their insight, support and encouragement, like Phil Jimenez, Amy Reeder, Steve Orlando, Vita Ayala, and more.

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Review: Fence

Fence is a 12-issue comic series from Boom! Box was written by C.S. Pacat, with artwork by Johanna the Mad, colors by Joana LaFuente, and lettering by Jim Campbell. It has since been collected into three volumes that your local comic book store or favorite digital platform is sure to be carrying. While the series wrapped up its initial run in 2018, the story will continue as original graphic novels starting later this fall.

Fence follows the story of the scrappy Nicholas Cox and his arch-rival Seiji Katayama as the two compete to make the Kings Row fencing team. The first three volumes of the series focus on the tryouts and allude to the looming showdown with their rival school, Exton. The series is brimming with richly textured characters, from stoic team captain Harvard to the arrogant Aiden, who dates and dumps a new boy on the team every week. There’s lots of fencing terms and strategy talk, but it’s never overwhelming. Pacat does a great job of giving just the right amount of information for the story to flow without losing the reader in detail. 

I knew absolutely nothing about fencing before I picked up Volume One. I wasn’t even aware there was a genre called sports manga. But that didn’t stop me from immediately connecting with it. Maybe it was my own history with elite sports (I was an active member of my high school’s crew team for five years), but I couldn’t help falling in love with this story. It was easy for me to recall the all-encompassing intensity and competitiveness that comes with high school sports, and there’s certainly no shortage of that here. But I think my favorite part was how queerness is just a natural part of the world that these characters live in. It’s never scandalous or newsworthy; it’s just a part of who some people are. 

Reading through the first three volumes of Fence has been one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve had in a while. On its surface, Fence is a light-hearted American take on sports manga with queer themes. I expected it to be fun. I expected I might like it. But I wasn’t expecting it to be so sweet and sincere. If you’re looking for a heartwarming escape from the dredges of reality, Fence would be a great place to start.

DANIEL STALTER – My reviews for Geeks OUT are of queer comics and literature that I felt moved and inspired by. These are not timely reviews of current releases, nor are they negative or overtly critical. They are simply my way of sharing queer stories that I have loved with a wider audience. For a greater variety of my writing, check out my website, danielstalter.com.

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Interview: Nikki Smith

Niki Smith is the writer and illustrator of the fantasy graphic novel, The Deep & Dark Blue, her debut Middle-grade read. Known for her gorgeous illustrations and queer and diverse storytelling, Smith is also the Lambda Literary nominated author of Crossplay, a queer erotic graphic novel. Self-described “Artist, writer, lover of fine comics (and some pretty trashy ones too),” Niki Smith currently resides in Germany with her wife, Kiri.

Where did the inspiration for The Deep & Dark Blue come from? What were some of the some of its artistic influences? (Was Avatar the Last Airbender one of them?)

I’m sure it was! I loved both Avatar: TLA and The Legend of Korra (and though we didn’t get to see Korra and Asami’s relationship play out in the show, the subsequent graphic novels have allowed the world and characters to be so much more openly queer and I couldn’t be happier.) More than a direct influence, though, I think it’s a matter of shared influences– the styles and pacing of Avatar and The Deep & Dark Blue are both inspired by manga and anime, stories about kids and teens saving the day while still dealing with the day to day struggles of being a kid. There’s something about that mix of adventure, sincere friendship and inventive magic that will always appeal to me. Story-wise, The Deep & Dark Blue was inspired by characters like Mulan or Alanna– girls who took new names and disguised themselves as boys to have adventures, to learn to fight and save the day. But in all of those stories, the main character went back to a happily cis, straight life– I wanted more, and I know I wasn’t the only queer kid out there who wanted the same.

The Deep & Dark Blue features one of the first cannon trans protagonists in a book geared towards younger audiences? How do you feel the landscape of kids/ young adult comics is changing in regards to queer representation?

Things have come so far since I was a kid, and it’s wonderful to see. Growing up, it was rare to see an LGBT character that wasn’t a two-dimensional stereotype, and even more rare to have that identity go beyond subtext. We still have a long way to go in many regards– particularly when it comes to diversity– but the graphic novels I’ve seen come out over the last few years give me so much hope. Young adult books like The Prince and the Dressmaker and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me are winning awards and helping pave the way for the next generation of artists. The incredible reception that Molly Ostertag’s The Witch Boy received was part of what gave me the courage to finally pitch The Deep & Dark Blue— it looked like the world of publishing was ready, and I’m so happy I was right. We’re slowly moving beyond “coming out” stories. Authors like Sarah Searle, Melanie Gillman and Katie O’Neill are all creating wonderful queer graphic novels for kids and teens, where a character’s journey with gender or sexuality is an undeniable aspect, but it’s only one of part of a much richer and more complex story.  

The comic also features one of the first nuanced non-stereotypical depictions of twins I’ve personally seen in general media? Did you take into account the fictional obsession about twins to counteract the stereotypes? How did you develop the twin siblings’ personalities?

I decided early on to make my main characters twins. The two find themselves in a situation they never expected, forced into hiding, living as girls to disguise their identities. Being side by side lets the reader see just how stark a contrast there is between their reactions– Hawke resents having to live in disguise, yearning for revenge, while Grayce blossoms. It’s the first time in her life that she’s been able to live as herself and she doesn’t want to lose it.

Since The Deep & Dark Blue is a graphic novel, the most important thing to me was that readers could tell the twins apart even if they were wearing the same uniform. There are no Parent Trap hijinks or speaking in unison, just two kids who happen to be identical. The two have wildly different personalities, and I wanted their body language to reflect that. Hawke is bold and hot-headed, while his sister Grayce is reserved; she has a lot on her mind and always thinks things through. Body language says so much about a person– a head lifted high in confidence, compared to someone who shyly averts their eyes– and I love drawing that difference. 

As an LGBTQ+ artist and creator, how did you incorporate elements of your own identity or experiences into your comics? 

I think most LGBTQ+ kids can relate to Grayce’s story in some way– a secret you’re not sure you can voice, that fear of feeling like you’re letting someone down, family who have expectations of you that you know you can never fulfill. I wanted to write about the strength it takes to come out, even when your hands are shaking. And I knew I wanted to write about found family, about surrounding yourself with people who love and support you unconditionally. 

Do you have any projects you are working on right now and are at liberty to discuss?

I’m working on a new graphic novel for kids/teens, though this one will be a contemporary story, not fantasy. But still just as queer!

Finally, are there any LGBTQ+ authors and/or books that have inspired you and your own work? Can you recommend any titles or authors for other readers?

I listed some above, but there are so many! For graphic novels, Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son, Yuhki Kamatani’s Our Dreams at Dusk, Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeam, Blue Delliquanti’s O Human Star, and Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer. Ashley Herring Blake’s middle grade novels are some of my favorites from the last few years. 

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A Look Back at Sina Grace’s run on Iceman.

Back in June of this year, Sina Grace shared a blog post about his experience working at Marvel. The post has already been subject to plenty of media coverage and online discussion, including on the GeeksOUT Podcast. For those of us familiar with the historical treatment of marginalized voices in publishing, the experience he described is equal parts frustrating, familiar, and disappointing. With that new context in mind, I decided to take a look back at his acclaimed run on Iceman.

Before I dive in, I should cover some of the history for those who didn’t the saga from the beginning. The Iceman solo series came about after the problematic outting of Iceman (aka Bobby Drake) in the All-New X-Men #40 back in 2015. The issue has become the subject of widespread criticism due to the way it was handled. In the story, a time-displaced younger version of Bobby Drake was prodded to admit that he was gay by his teammate, the telepath Jean Grey. After coming to terms with it, the young Bobby then confronted his present day older self. This left the adult Bobby Drake of the present day timeline to grapple with a reality he had been hiding from for his entire life. This is where the solo series picks up.

Thawing Out — Collecting Iceman (2017) #1-5 by Sina Grace, Alessandro Vitti, Edgar Salazar, Ibraim Roberson, Ed Tadeo, and Rachelle Rosenberg.

The first volume of Iceman dealt with a lot of familiar queer themes. It centered around Bobby’s already strained relationship with his mutantphobic parents, where he tried to make peace while trying to figure out the best way to come out to them. There was also some nice awkward conversations with his ex-girlfriend Kitty Pryde, and a storyline where he tried to rescue one of his students from the charming and deceitful Daken. Bobby’s efforts to smoothly navigate his new reality as a gay man did not go as planned, but the messy results lead to some raw and powerful character moments. It was refreshing to see who Bobby was beyond his projected overconfidence and affinity for dad jokes. 

Absolute Zero —Collecting Iceman (2017) #6-11 by Sina Grace, Rober Gill, Ed Tadeo, and Rachelle Rosenberg.

The second volume opened with Iceman and his friends mourning the death of Black Widow, which occurred during the Marvel Secret Empire event. The series of events took Bobby and his friends to LA, where he met Jonah and ended up going on his first date since coming out. The story hits all of the beats of a first love story nicely, with the added complications of Bobby’s X-Men lifestyle thrown into the mix. This volume also ties up some of the loose ends from the first volume; namely the storyline with Daken and Bobby’s former student Amp. Daken’s actions ended up making a mess of things, but the second volume ultimately shows some important growth for Bobby’s character.

Amazing Friends —Collecting Iceman (2018) #1-5 and Uncanny X-Men: Winter’s End by Sina Grace, Nathan Stockman, and Federico Blee.

The original run of Iceman was canceled after 11 issues, but was renewed for 5 more in 2018. The third volume picks up after yet another timeline reset of the Marvel Universe. There is now only one Bobby, who has absorbed the memories of his younger self and gotten himself a new Iceman costume. The main arc of the story dealt with the Morlocks, an underground group of mutant misfits who are unable to pass as human and live beneath the streets of New York. It also featured an excursion with Ema Frost where Bobby helps her rescue her gay brother, a team up with Spiderman and Firestar that pokes fun at the perils of superhero dating, and a face-off with classic X-Men villain Mr. Sinister. This collection also introduced the new drag performing mutant Darkveil (formerly known as Shade) to the Marvel canon. The closing issue also saw Bobby finally confront Jean Grey about the way she outted him and why it was wrong. 

Reading through the series, I was reminded once again how refreshing it is to have queer stories in set among familiar worlds and characters. While it would have been nice to see an Iceman story that wasn’t so tied up with the ongoing Marvel canon, Sina Grace’s run tells a unique story about an omega-level mutant learning to be emotionally vulnerable for the first time. The themes and situations may not be new, but their context within the popular X-Men franchise is.

For many of us, Bobby Drake has been coded queer for quite some time. I can remember how validated I felt while watching X2: X-Men United back in 2003, just months after I had come out of the closet myself. When Bobby’s parents asked him if he had tried not being a mutant before ultimately turning against him and his friends, it hit close to home. It was the first time that I could recall seeing my own experience represented in a mainstream film.

The X-Men have always been layered in queer themes. From the ostracization of a group of people rejected by their own families, to portraying the fears of mainstream society as a villain. I don’t think it’s what Jack Kirby and Stan Lee intended when they created the series back in 1963, but the queerness is right there it’s premise. That’s a big part of what makes it so disheartening to read about Sina Grace’s experience with Marvel. Stories like this are important and uniquely empowering. I want to see more of them, and I want to Marvel do better.