Crimson Chains is a self-taught artist who has always loved to create comics and stories. Star themes and aesthetics are some of her favorite things to create, and Star Crossed is her first published work.
I had the opportunity to interview Crimson, which you can read below.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Hello! Thank you so much for reaching out, I am super excited! I go by Crimson Chains (She/her) and I’m an adopted Chinese American and creator of the comic Star Crossed. I’ve been drawing for nearly two decades and creating comics and stories for about the same amount of time!
What can you tell us about your comic, Star Crossed? Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
Star Crossed is about Polaris who is king of the stars and his knight Yildun. Due to Yildun’s lower status he feels unworthy to love Polaris, even though the king is willing to throw away tradition for their relationship. It’s a soft and sweet love story with a little bit of yearning!
The inspiration for this story is rather funny, in my opinion. For Star Crossed the story wasn’t something I thought of and then designed the characters, rather, it was the other way around. I drew a king with white hair, closed eyes and a star cloak and then a knight looking at him solemnly and instantly fell in love with the drawing. I posted it to my discord channel and talked with fans about it and slowly developed the story from there.
How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, particularly comics/graphic novels? What drew you to the medium?
I’ve always been drawing comics as far back as I can remember picking up a pen! I don’t think there’s been a long period of time in my life where I haven’t been creating a comic or two. Back in high school I was working on three at once and the longest one got to be 1800 pages. I think I just love watching a story come to life panel by panel, it’s very satisfying.
For those curious about the development behind making a comic, how would you describe the process?
My process is particularly chaotic! I wouldn’t really recommend it to most people, haha. I sort of have a general outline in my head about where the story will go, points A to B to C and then as I draw I let the parts between those points fill out. I think it can make the pacing a little messy at times, but, for me it’s a lot of fun.
To me, comic making is a marathon and not a race. It requires a lot of focus and it can be hard to slog through some scenes which aren’t as interesting or are difficult to draw. But, looking back on the story and all the places it goes is very rewarding.
As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration?
I feel like it’s hard to name them, as, I’ve just always read a lot of comics and manga growing up and it’s all been very fun and interesting, but, I can’t say if there are any in particular which influence me! When I was much younger I’d often trace panels out of Calvin and Hobbes pages or try and copy a jpeg I found of Sesshomaru online somewhere. I think maybe it was just having access to a lot of really different art styles which inspired me to just keep drawing.
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by, reflected in, or that inspired your love for storytelling?
A lot of the stories I read growing up were fantasy based, I remember checking out basically every book I could find in the library which mentioned dragons! I’m not sure there was any particular story that inspired my love for stories, I just think I had a lot of fun reading and it grew from there.
Are there any like that now?
Lately I find myself really enjoying reading autobiographical comics! Definitely “Fun Home” is a really excellent read which I find myself going back to a lot. It’s very interesting seeing so many different perspectives and life experiences.
Besides your work, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?
Haha, I feel like there’s not a lot to know about me which would be interesting. I really like birds and I sometimes think it would be fun to be bitten by a goose.
What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were (and the answer to that question)?
Oh, another tough one! Perhaps “How long does it take to draw a page of Star Crossed?” In which case the answer is that it takes anywhere from 6 to 8 hours depending on how complex the page is. My favorite part of the process is coloring the page.
Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?
At the moment I am only working Star Crossed! But, I definitely have some plans down the line for my next comic. I’d really like to draw a comic based on the story of Swan Lake, except the cursed prince falls in love with the son of the sorcerer. It would be a light hearted comedy, I think!
What advice would you give to any aspiring creatives out there?
Especially with comics I think my biggest advice is to just start! The biggest roadblock I see with creating comics is that people can get too caught up in the planning and the idea they have to start out perfect. If you look at any comic creator you see their work get better as they go, both in story and in art, it’s okay if it’s not exactly what you want from the beginning. Tell your story, learn as you go, and enjoy the ride!
Finally, what LGBTQ+books/comics would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?
Rose Bousamra is a freelance illustrator and comic creator born and based in Michigan. Frizzy (with Claribel A. Ortega), winner of the 2023 Pura Belpré Award for Children’s Text, is their first graphic novel, with their solo debut graphic novel Gutless also being published with First Second. When they’re not making or reading comics they love baking sweets and playing fantasy video games.
I had the opportunity to interview Rose, which you can read below.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Thank you so much for having me! I’m genderqueer cartoonist Rose Bousamra, I mostly work on graphic novels, comics, and illustration. I’m based in Michigan, where I grew up, and most of my work is inspired by forests, fantasy, and the queer gaze.
What can you tell us about the graphic novel you recently illustrated, Frizzy?
Frizzy tells the story of Marlene, a Dominican-American kid living in the Bronx who goes to the salon every Sunday to get her curly hair straightened because she’s been told that’s what is “presentable” or “good hair”. But Marlene hates going to the salon, going so far as to imagine herself as her super-hero alter ego to cope. She loves her curls, and after trying to wear her hair curly for the first time, she ends up facing bullies at school, judgmental comments from her own family members, and more. Then, with the help of her cool Tia Ruby, she not only learns how to care for her hair, but that all hair is good and beautiful, no matter what. The Spanish language edition, titled Rizos and translated by Jasminne Mendez, is out now.
What was it like working on that project with the author, Claribel A. Ortega?
Working with Claribel was a dream. I feel so lucky that she trusted me with such a poignant and personal story. There was so much love and detail that she put into the script, with such thoughtful pacing and character development, it made my job very easy. I had the privilege of going on a Frizzy book tour with Claribel last year, and can confirm she’s not just a great author but also one of the kindest, most caring and funny people I’ve met.
As a creative, what drew you to the art of storytelling, particularly to the realm of comics/graphic novels?
Growing up, I was a really shy and quiet kid, who only really opened up when talking about my art. I’ve always struggled with social anxiety, but I found art was something I could always rely on to say something I didn’t have the courage to say out loud. Through lots of stressful and dark times in my life, getting lost in a story always helped me survive. Over time I came to love comics as a way to tell stories because while I wasn’t yet practiced in writing, I could use my drawings to help tell the story I wanted to tell.
How would you each describe your creative process?
It’s different for every project, but generally starting a new comic starts with what feelings, themes, or tropes I want to explore. For example I knew for Gutless I wanted to explore the trope of a puppet being brought to life who questions their place among humans, and all the other characters, the story and world were born from there. Then I sketch character designs, places, and interactions until I have some idea of what I want the story to be like. I’ll make a story-specific playlist, and listen to it while I plot the story from beginning to end. Then I go in and write more detailed dialogue while sketching thumbnails, or layouts, because developing the words and visual flow helps me better visualize the finished page. Then it’s time for sketching and I sketch the entire thing before I go in with the line work. Then, the word balloons and dialogue are added, then finally the colors.
As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest artistic influences and/or sources of inspiration?
I think early CLAMP manga like Chobits and Magic Knight Rayearth first inspired my need to decorate everything with flower petals and sweeping tresses of hair, as well as a deep love for the detailed, skillful black line work manga is typically known for. My biggest inspiration currently is the manga series Witch Hat Atelier, both for the wonderful, touching fantasy storytelling and the incredible line work by artist Kamome Shirahama.
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?
As a kid I was a feral tomboy who didn’t have the word for what I felt, which was nonbinary, so I identified with stories where girls were subverting gender roles in some way. Sailor Moon was the first story like that I fell in love with, and now it’s not hard to see why the story about a girl who embraces so many traditional girly things and turns them into powerful weapons to fight for the good of the world resonated with little Rose. Princess Mononoke was another story that let me see characters who were somehow going against their gender expectations; in it, Ashitaka is a man who is tender and kind, whose strength is ultimately his compassion, while San is a feral girl raised by wolves and even denies her humanity in favor of the wolves she was raised by. Today one of my favorite depictions of a nonbinary character, as well as the experience of having a big, messy queer family that makes me feel seen is the show Our Flag Means Death.
What are some of your favorite elements of illustrating and the creative process in general? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging?
I love designing characters, especially fantasy characters because there are so many options and possibilities outside of just drawing humans. I love what a good character design can tell you about a character right away, before you even read the story. I also really love collaborating with others to make comics because every person brings something new and fresh to the table.
Many creators would say one of the most challenging parts of writing a book is finishing one. What strategies would you say helped you accomplish this?
It took a long time for me to understand that finishing something is a skill in and of itself, and it is a massive challenge. When I first was publishing Gutless as a webcomic, I didn’t have a script or outline. I was working page-by-page, and ended up writing myself into a lot of corners. When I developed it for a graphic novel format I had to rework it entirely, giving it a proper beginning, middle, and end. I studied a lot of the structures of stories I considered to be the most satisfying and provoked some kind of feeling in me. It would have been much less of a challenge, I feel, if I had started with short comics first and had more practice with crafting a story from beginning to end. A big goal of mine is getting better at editing my stories down to more digestible lengths so I can tell more of them.
Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?
When I’m not working I play sad songs on my ukulele and play a lot of fantasy video games. I’m really into Final Fantasy XIV and Baldur’s Gate 3 right now, and if I’m not posting about comics I’m usually posting my video game fanart because drawing silly fanart and engaging in fandom is what helped me grow the most as an artist.
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)?
I wish I had more opportunities to talk about what age I got my first real job in comics, because it’s easy to see someone succeeding at a young age and compare yourself and start to panic, thinking you’re falling behind. I was one of many who ended up going to college for something I thought would be more profitable than what I really wanted to do, which was art. When I decided to seriously pursue comics, I thought that I’d wasted valuable time getting a fashion degree instead of studying illustration professionally. The truth is, there’s never a right time to do your dream, and studying things outside of art only made me a better artist in the long run. I was 26 when I got that first comic job, a 50 page chapter of an ongoing webcomic called Ladies Book Club, and 27 when I signed on for Frizzy. I was 30 by the time Frizzy was actually published.
What advice might you have to give for other aspiring writers?
The best advice I can give is to make friends who are doing what you want to do, who are at a similar level as you in their career. The best way to network is to build a community of creatives who lift each other up. I don’t necessarily see other comic artists as competitors, because I understand there’s room for everyone to succeed and no one artist has the same perspective or experience as another. Everyone has their own unique story to tell and that’s beautiful.
Also, start with small projects! You learn a lot about yourself as a storyteller with each project, and starting with many little projects instead of one big one will help you better understand how you function creatively, both practically (ie how long it takes you to sketch a page, or write 2000 words) as well as the content you like to write most.
Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?
Sure! I’m currently in the sketching phases of my first solo graphic novel Gutless. It’s a YA fantasy graphic novel about three outcasts who have to break free from their isolated lives to find community and belonging. Milo, a wooden knight brought to life by a lonely witch princess named Juniper, seeks what it means to be truly alive. Along the way they befriend the last mermaid in the world, and together the trio navigate friendship, the trauma of isolation, and just might be the only ones who can stop a deadly blight from destroying all natural life on Earth. It’ll be out with First Second books and is also being edited by the wonderful Kiara Valdez. I can’t wait to share it with you all when it’s finally out in a couple of years, but I promise it’ll be worth the wait. I regularly share sketches and development work on my socials, so you can find more about Gutless there.
Finally, what LGBTQ+ books (comics included)/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?
Genderqueer by Maia Kobabe is a beautifully honest autobiography that touched on a lot of similar experiences I had growing up as a nonbinary person. Ay, Mija!is a lovely middle grade autobiography by nonbinary cartoonist Christine Suggs about growing up queer and Mexican-American. I recently read Other Ever Afters by nonbinary cartoonist Mel Gillman, a collection of short fairytales that explore themes related to queerness and it’s one of my new favorites.
Anna Kopp is a children’s author who lives in Ohio with her husband, two boys, and two cats. Anna loves creating fantastical stories for children of all ages, from Minecraft picture books to young adult novels. When she’s not writing she’s playing video games or reading the latest books about lost princesses.
Gabrielle Kari is a northern California-based comic artist and illustrator with her weenie dog Pumpkin. She loves creating sapphic stories depicting morally questionable women.
I had the opportunity to interview Anna and Gabrielle, which you can read below.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
AK: Thank you, I’m so excited to be on here! My name is Anna Kopp and I’m the author of THE MARBLE QUEEN. I was born in Russia and immigrated to the US when I was 11. After serving as an IT specialist in the US Army, I settled in Ohio where I now write books. Aside from being an author, I’m the local Pokémon GO Community Ambassador and currently heavily involved in the world of 3D printing and design.
GK: Hello, thank you for having me! My name is Gabrielle and I’m the artist for The Marble Queen. I’m a lesbian artist living in California and I graduated from college in 2018. Since then have been honing my craft to create stories I want to see in the world.
What can you tell us about your latest book, The Marble Queen? What was the inspiration for this project?
AK: THE MARBLE QUEEN is what an author would call ‘the book of my heart’. It’s about a princess who accidentally accepts a marriage offer not from the prince of a mysterious country, but his sister, and must navigate both a dangerous alliance and a confused heart. When I was a queer teen, the only sapphic media I had available to me was anime and manga. Revolutionary Girl Utena carved a place in my heart and inspired me to create a queer fantasy story with princesses, ballgowns, swords, and magic that I could only dream of. Now that dream has come true and I can share it with the world!
GK: Anna and I are both huge fans of Revolutionary Girl Utena. The anime series was huge part of my college years and made me want continue to pursue art as a career
As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically graphic novels/comics?
AK: I’ve written stories for as long as I can remember, but learning a new language was a big roadblock for me in terms of prose and finding the right words to describe the images in my head. When my agent, Claire Draper, proposed that I turn the traditional novel manuscript of THE MARBLE QUEEN into a graphic novel script, it was like the puzzle pieces slid into place. It was the perfect format for the way I think and create, I just didn’t realize it until then.
As an artist, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically graphic novels/comics?
GK: My dad used to talk about reading superhero comics growing up. It made me want to read all the thing he was interested in and from that it graduated into graphic novels and manga. I loved the way the stories melded word and illustration together and read anything I could get my hands on.
Anna Kopp
In addition to being a Sapphic romance, The Marble Queen also features some evocative representation when it comes to anxiety. How did you go about trying to represent that in your story?
AK: Anxiety was something I struggled with as a teen, but I didn’t know what it was, so I just thought there was something wrong with me. As I got older and had to navigate an array of physical and mental symptoms that impacted my life in various ways, I wanted to weave my experiences into my main character, and I hope at least someone out there feels a little less alone reading it.
GK: I wanted to depict Amelia’s anxiety as a creeping entity, a monster that follows her constantly whether she acknowledges its presence or not. Despite its oppressive force I wanted her to learn to coexist with her inner demons and overpower them.
How would you describe your creative process?
AK: I always start with a twist and build the story around it. I don’t even write anything down until I know the flow start to finish. Then I outline the chapters with names like ‘This is where x happens’ to make sure the main parts of the narrative arc are on track. Things move around during the writing process but organization is important to me so I don’t get overwhelmed.
GK: I have a lot of trouble illustrating chronologically. Most of the chapters in The Marble Queen were done out of order. I would work on pages I knew could be reasonably finished faster than pages that I could end up spending days on because a line wasn’t working out that day.
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?
AK: Sadly, I can’t say there were many stories I could see myself in growing up. Where would I find a queer Russian girl who would rather rescue the princess in the fairy tales? The only one that I really connected to was The Little Mermaid (the version she actually died in) and I didn’t understand why until much later in life. Luckily, now that queer books are all around us, I am finally catching up on all my childhood reflections, and it’s wonderful!
GK:When I was younger I read a lot of straight media and while I did love the stories I realized over time I was mostly obsessing over the female lead and her female friends. Most of the lesbian media I found was during the height of my anime obsession in high school. Today there’s a much broader selection of lgbt media and it makes me happy to know more is being made every day.
As a writer, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general?
AK: Aside from other books and my own experiences, it’s definitely rock music. I have a soundtrack for every book I write, and when I listen to it, I can see the story play out along with it in my head. For THE MARBLE QUEEN, Bring Me To Life by Evanescence is its’ theme song. I even made an OMV for it with the graphic novel panels I might share one day.
As a artist, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general?
GK: I love Mary Blair’s concept art for Disney’s Alice and Wonderland, I love the bright colors and expressive silhouettes. I have the Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair in my book collection and its an immediate grab for any artistic slump.
What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or difficult?
AK: I love brainstorming because it’s like watching a movie where I control the characters. The most difficult part is making big decisions like who dies. I still argue with myself about certain character deaths and whether I should have done something different, but I know it’s out of my hands now.
Gabrielle Kari
What are some of your favorite elements of drawing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or difficult?
GK: I love drawing hair, long tendrils, and swirls. Organic shapes are comfortable draw, but I hope one day I can master drawing backgrounds.
Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?
AK: I love being creative outside of writing too. I make bookmarks, bookshelf signs (like THE BIG GAY SHELF for my own bookshelf), and other fun designs for 3D printing. If you want to check them out, you can find me on Makerworld under Kopp3D and on Etsy under BookshelfShowcase.
GK: I puppy fold my favorite parts in books so I can reread them later. One book I liked so much I ended up puppy folding a quarter of the pages…
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)?
AK: What’s your favorite Pokémon? It’s Snorlax (he likes to eat and sleep, say no more).
GK: What’s your favorite minion in the hit MMO series Final Fantasy XIV?
It’s the Spriggan! I look forward to every easter event for their Spriggan themed quests.
What advice might you have to give for aspiring graphic novelists?
AK: Art is hard. It takes time. It takes so much effort. Whether you’re just the author or also the illustrator, try your best to not get hung up on the details. Capture the feel of your story without having to draw so much that it takes up a ton of time and doesn’t have significant impact. Give those wrists a break.
GK: Don’t give up. Keep working on the story you love, your personal passion and dedication to your story will be acknowledged and celebrated as long as you keep going. No one can tell a story like YOU can.
Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?
AK: I am (hopefully) going out on submission with a new project soon! It’s a graphic novel about a rock band that must perform as tribute to the god that protects their home or be sacrificed. And yes, it’s very queer!
GK: I’m working on an adaptation of one of my favorite classic novellas. I hope I can bring a story that impacted me deeply to more readers.
Finally, what LGBTQ+ books(including comics)/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?
AK: I recently finished SO LET THEM BURN by Kamilah Cole and it was fantastic! If you like dragons in your YA, this is definitely one to pick up. For a darker, adult read, I always recommend THE BOOK EATERS by Sunyi Dean, because how can you not love the idea of eating books giving you their knowledge? For graphic novels, I just discovered ATANA AND THE FIREBIRD by Vivian Zhou and it is so sweet!
GK: Fun Home is a wonderful biographic novel by Alison Bechdel that you should read at least once in your life. Also recently I’ve started to read Kingfisherby Rowan MacColl on Tapas. I love the characters and I can’t wait to see where the story goes!
Sarah Kuhn is the author of the popular Heroine Complex novels—a series starring Asian American superheroines. The first book is a Locus bestseller, an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee, and one of the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog’s Best Books of 2016. She also penned the beloved YA rom-coms I Love You So Mochi and From Little Tokyo, With Love, and a variety of short fiction and comics, including the DC Comics graphic novels Shadow of the Batgirland Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story and the Star Wars audiobook original Doctor Aphra. Her books have been Junior Library Guild Selections and nominees for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults and the Golden Poppy Award. They have also been featured on Best of… and Most Anticipated lists in People Magazine, Barnes & Noble’s Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, Book Riot, Amazon, the AV Club, Nerdist, Entertainment Weekly, the New York Times, and more. Additionally, she was a finalist for both the CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) New Writers Award and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. A third generation Japanese American, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and an overflowing closet of vintage treasures.
I had the opportunity to interview Sarah, which you can read below.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Hi! I’m Sarah Kuhn, a writer of prose and comics. My stories are often about Asian American superheroines and nerds in love—sometimes in the same story, sometimes not! And I like to say my general writing focus is Asian Girls Having Fun. I wrote the Heroine Complex series, which was all about Asian American superheroines in San Francisco—fighting evil things like demonic cupcakes and gigantic porcelain unicorns, falling in love with wild abandon, singing bad karaoke and eating worse junk food, and just generally being complete messes. I also wrote the YA rom-coms I Love You So Mochi and From Little Tokyo, With Love, and I’ve done a fair bit of licensed work, like the DC Comics graphic novel Shadow of the Batgirl (with amazing artist Nicole Goux) and the Star Wars audiobook original Doctor Aphra (which is all about the best Star Wars character ever: queer, chaotic, morally gray space archaeologist Doctor Aphra). And now our book, Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story! I’m also a bisexual, biracial third generation Japanese American, a proud Angeleno (transplanted from the Pacific Northwest), and an enthusiastic enjoyer of fashion and food and art.
What can you tell us about your latest project,Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story?
Our book follows a biracial Japanese American teenage Lois Lane as she embarks on her first big internship in the big city (National City, which is kind of DC’s version of LA). It’s the summer before college, and she’s full of fire, raring to go, and keeping track of everything in her extremely detailed Life Plan notebook, which I believe we described as “your bullet journal on steroids.” But a bunch of obstacles immediately block her perfect summer—an unexpected and annoying frenemy/roommate, a dream internship that morphs into a nightmare when the hip website she was supposed to work for is acquired by a huge media conglomerate. In true Lois Lane fashion, she refuses to give up without a fight. This book is bursting with so much color and joy and movement thanks to Arielle Jovellanos’ jaw-droppingly beautiful art, Olivia Pecini’s vibrant colors, and Melanie Ujimori’s dynamic lettering. It’s so delicious, I want to eat every page.
What was the inspiration for this story?
After I finished writing Batgirl, I really wanted to keep working with my incredible DC editor, Sara Miller. Sara is everything you could ever want in an editor and creative partner—kind, clever, passionate, empathetic, and up for fighting the good fight right alongside you. We talked about a few possibilities, and we really loved the idea of exploring Lois just as she’s falling in love with journalism and finding her voice. I drew a lot from my own experiences as a young journalist with fire in my belly. And I’ve always been a huge Lois Lane fan, going back to the Christopher Reeve movies with Margot Kidder. She was such a force.
Asian American identity is a big facet of Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story. Could you talk a bit about what it meant for you to write/illustrate a story discussing that subject?
I don’t know if I can even express how meaningful this was—at least not in mere words. Possibly some exhilarated screaming would do it? Since I’ve always loved Lois, it meant so much to me to be able to reimagine her in this way, and to think about what this might have meant to the child I was. Like our Lois, I grew up in a really small, really white town and I was always dreaming of what a bigger world would be like. I hope young people of color get a kick out of seeing a legendary legacy character like Lois depicted in a modern and inclusive way. Everyone deserves to see themselves as this kind of larger-than-life hero—and it was wonderful for Arielle and me to be able to include a wide range of specific cultural references drawn from our own lives. Also, apparently a lot of Asians of my generation always thought Lois was Asian. Well, now she is!
As a creative, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically within the comics/ graphic novel medium?
I’ve always been obsessed with comics—I used to haunt those spinner racks at the grocery store like a tiny, superhero-obsessed ghost. There is something beautifully unique about the ways in which comics can tell a story—images and words together, layouts that feel like actual movement, page turns that make you gasp. I love the visual language of comics, and I feel like I’m constantly learning new ways to tell a story through the medium. And I love the collaboration of it—comics are all about teamwork, writing little notes back and forth to each other, getting excited about what your other talented teammates are doing. It starts to feel a bit like you’re all working on a big, shared fanfic—you’re fans of both the story and each other. I guess what I’m trying to say is there’s lots of (joyful) screaming. I don’t know how screaming became a theme of this interview. Arielle and I screamed a lot.
How would you describe your creative process?
I feel like it’s different every time and it depends on the specific project. I suppose the part that is a constant—and maybe the part I love the most—is when you’re really intensely in it and you are just totally obsessed with the thing you’re working on. You hear the characters in your head, specific lines pop up in your dreams, images rotate through your brain on a constant cycle. I’ve always been an obsessive person, so I think that feels like a good outlet for that. I don’t know if it’s a healthy outlet, but I do enjoy it. And while I’m happy to finish a project, I also tend to feel a little sad because I have to say goodbye to hanging out with those characters every day and hearing them in my dreams.
For those curious about the process behind a graphic novel, how would you describe the process?
I think this is highly dependent on what kind of graphic novel—licensed, creator-owned, traditionally published, self-published, print, digital, etc.? So many possibilities! For Lois, editor Sara and I went through a long pitch process before the book was approved. Then we did a few versions of the outline. I think it was around this time that Arielle came onboard and she started doing character designs and figuring out the visual style of the book. The script was written in four parts, so sometimes Arielle was working on Part I while I was writing Part III—which was pretty cool because we could really start playing off of and responding to each other as a creative team. I love the way she does body language and expressive movement, for instance, so I felt like I tried to write even more fervently toward that as we progressed. And then once we got Olivia and Melanie, we started seeing pages at every stage for every step of the creative process before the whole thing came together.
And as a team, how would you describe your collaboration style for this project?
It was a beautiful thing. Arielle and I have been wanting to work together forever—we both had our first official comics gig in an anthology called Fresh Romance, which focused on modern romance comics. We were on different stories, but I keep saying we saw each other across the pages of the book and developed artistic crushes on each other. So it just felt like it was meant to be. When I was writing the script, I had Arielle’s art style playing out in my mind—imagining how she might bring it to life was so exciting, and definitely shaped the overall voice and tone of the script. I think it was Judd Winick who said that he envisions a script as a letter to the artist, so I felt like I was basically writing Arielle total fangirl letters on cute stationery the whole time. And the more we worked together, the more it felt like we were sharing a brain.
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?
I was a story devourer, so there were many I was touched or moved by or that stick with me to this day. There wasn’t as much that I felt truly reflected in, though—when I was younger, the casts of the sci-fi, superhero, and fantasy stories I loved so much were usually still all or mostly white. Perhaps the earliest reflection of myself I saw was Claudia Kishi in the Baby-Sitters Club books—she wasn’t like any Asian American girl character I’d seen before. She was artsy and creative and an incredible dresser and really bad at math—truly relatable. And like me, she was Japanese American and growing up in the suburbs. She’s still an icon to me and many others, and I think she showed a lot of us that being an artist was possible for an Asian girl. And now we have many more Asian American storytellers getting to write narratives that truly reflect who we are, in so many different genres and mediums—I love seeing that and am grateful to be part of it.
Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?
I have a short story in the anthology From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi. This is part of a series of books telling stories about various supporting or background-type characters in the Star Wars movies. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it helped me heal a very specific childhood trauma. And last year, I wrapped up the Heroine Complexseries, which was very satisfying. I’d been with those heroines since the beginning of my career, and it felt wonderful to be able to give all of them much deserved happily ever afters.
Sunny Funkhouser Aka Sunny (they/them), is a neurodivergent, queer creator who has been writing ever since they were a teenager. Sunny is autistic with ADHD and likes to collect dolls, make reborn dolls, crochet, act, and sew. They love learning how to do things creatively. An avid table-top gamer, Sunny is a big fan of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering. Musical theater is their other love aside from writing and Gloomy. They’re also an ENFP for people that like that sort of thing.
Angel Aka Gloomy has been making comics since they were 10, starting with a lovingly crafted Sailor Moon rip-off. Despite the soft magical girl influence in their work, their favorite genre is horror. Besides drawing, Gloomy loves to bake and garden (in theory, if they could only keep things alive), as well as collect merchandise from whatever is currently suiting their fancy, typically cutesy things like Ghibli or Sanrio. Opposite Sunny, they’re as introverted as they come, but consider themselves friendly anyway. They’re also obsessed with bagels.
CW: Brief discussion of post traumatic stress disorder and maladaptive daydreaming.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourselves?
Angel: I tend to keep to myself most of the time– it can be difficult sometimes to get me out of the house and away from drawing. When I’m not drawing either professionally or for personal pleasure, I’m usually playing gamecube-era games, watching horror movies, reading webcomics or baking.
Sunny: I’m the reason Angel gets out of the house. I’m a nonbinary writer, and I love to be constantly doing things. I love theater and learning how to do things myself. I love to sew and crochet. I enjoy spending time with people. I like going to restaurants and amusement parks, and just playing Jackbox with my friends. I work at a special needs elementary school, so I’m always busy running around with the kids. I only really sit still to write and to binge shows with Angel. I’d never be able to work an office job.
What can you tell us about your debut graphic novel, Rainbow!? What was the inspiration for this story?
Angel: When we first made RAINBOW! when I was about 14, there were a lot of boys-love type comics getting popular on the webcomic hosting sites I visited, but almost no comics about girls to match them, and what little there was were usually sexualized. We wanted to see something that reflected ourselves more (at least, who we were at the time anyway), and so, RAINBOW! started. The characters were even originally based a bit on us, though I wouldn’t compare myself at all to Mimi anymore!
Sunny:RAINBOW! started as a way to explore our queer identities we were both just figuring out. Over time, RAINBOW! became a way for me to tell a story about a girl like me (though I wouldn’t compare myself as much to Boo now) finding her place in the world and rejecting the influences in her life that were hurting her. It became something really special to me. Boo is a girl that tries so hard to be good that she doesn’t really consider herself and her happiness beyond fantasies that are a way to cope with the difficult parts of her life. She learns to stand up for her own happiness and to fill her life with people that help her grow.
Can you give us any trivia (that hasn’t already been given) about the characters from Rainbow!?
Angel: Way back when we created them, Boo’s fashion sense was meant to be heavily influenced by fairy kei, and Mimi’s by scene fashion. Boo has stayed quite similar, though toned down since she couldn’t realistically afford many fancy clothing pieces. Anything particularly cute or detailed in her outfits, she more than likely made or altered it herself. Mimi, on the other hand, completely changed her fashion sense since her inception. Though it happened slowly over time rather than all at once.
(Spoiler) From what I’ve seen of your comic, it appears that Rainbow! explores some elements concerning mental health, including depictions of maladaptive daydreaming. Could you discuss your decision to include this in the comic?
Sunny: While we never intended Boo to have any specific condition as far as her daydreaming is concerned, it has been very interesting to hear from people that can relate to Boo and her issues with daydreaming. Her daydreaming is meant as a coping mechanism to deal with her less than ideal life. Boo likely suffers from some form of post traumatic stress disorder at the very least, but her daydreaming represents her desire to escape from reality and enter a fantastical realm where she is something special and important because that isn’t how she feels in reality. She loses control of her coping mechanism when her real life problems become harder to ignore. A fantastical land that once brought her comfort starts to become corrupted. It takes healing her real life to heal her inner world.
As creatives, what drew you to the art of storytelling, particularly to comics/graphic novels?
Angel: When we met as teenagers, we both drew and told stories individually, each with a specific interest in anime, manga and comics. My first comic was at 10, and was essentially a Sailor Moon ripoff. Sunny would often write and was more skilled in telling a wider story, but they were less interested in drawing them, while I was more focused on drawing and better at smaller character details than full plotlines, so we decided to combine our strengths to make comics together instead.
Sunny: In a way, I think it’s magical the way Angel can take my words and paint such beautiful pictures with them. I see my own words in picture form and suddenly it isn’t something I created, it’s something we created, and it’s better for it. Angel adds so much in beautiful backgrounds and subtle expressions. It’s incredible the way they make me see RAINBOW! in a completely new way.
How would you each describe your creative process?
Angel: I’d say I can’t quite turn mine off, it’s always in the back of my mind when I look at just about anything, when I’m doing anything, it’s always churning in some way or another.
Sunny: I agree with that! My creative process is just a part of who I am and the way my mind works. If I’m listening to music, I’m imagining my stories. If I’m taking a walk, I’m stopping to jot down ideas in my phone notes app as they come to me. I like to write down every idea I have, but I don’t often look at what I write down. I see what stays with me while my ideas turn and turn like a rock in a tumbler getting smoother. I lose a lot of detail, but Angel has always been better at remembering details.
As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration?
Angel: For me, Naoko Takeuchi and Osamu Tezuka’s art influenced me a lot growing up. Nowadays I really love the art of Leslie Hung and Rii Abrego.
Sunny: I grew up really loving to watch any anime I could get my hands on and it’s probably still obvious in what I write now how much influence anime had in my early development. Actually, the thing that has been most influential to me, Avatar the Last Airbender, was also inspired by anime.
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?
Angel: I’m sure I’ve mentioned Sailor Moon enough, but… Sailor Moon! Still one of my favorite things to this day. Also, Treasure Planet was one of my favorite movies as a kid and still is. I always found its story and protagonist to be more unique and relatable than a lot of others that I saw as a child. He quite influenced the protagonist of our next adventure, even.
Sunny: I have a bad memory, especially in the moment, but I’ve already mentioned Avatar the Last Airbender. What that show was able to do truly made me a better writer just from experiencing it. It was one of my earliest fandoms. I used to make amvs for it. I love how they were able to make something that was accessible to a young audience, but didn’t talk down to them. Avatar the Last Airbender told a story of trauma, loss, friendship, doing what you believe is right when no one else will. It is special and I aspire to make something so special. I hope RAINBOW! is also able to make certain conversations accessible to a teen audience in the same way without talking down to them.
What are some of your favorite elements of writing/illustrating? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging?
Angel: I find laying a comic out to be the hardest part— just planning out the panels, where the speech bubbles will fall, etc. It can make starting an episode difficult sometimes, but it’s all smooth sailing for me once I’ve finished sketching. My favorite things to do is probably coloring and designing outfits to suit each character’s different fashion senses.
Sunny: I tend to struggle with the finer details. Some people have to take a lot out of their first drafts, but I have to add a lot in. I start out with laying out the critical parts of the story. Angel often tells me to flesh out things I gloss over so they will be easier to convert to comic form. My favorite thing is to put together the plot like it’s a mystery to be solved or a giant puzzle. I love to sort out how it all fits together into a meaningful story.
Aside from your work, what are some things you would like readers to know about you?
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)?
Sunny: I base a lot of my work on my own experiences, but usually by taking just enough of the real experience to make what I write more real, so I can make a lot of experiences work for a lot of different scenarios. If someone were to ask me if RAINBOW! is based on my life, in a way it is. Anyone that feels seen by RAINBOW! know you aren’t alone!
What advice might you have to give for other creatives?
Angel: Whatever art you want to create, start it! Planning is necessary of course, and it’s good to have a solid path laid in front of you to start with, but all of the planning in the world will be no help if you are always waiting to start because you think you aren’t ready, or you aren’t good enough. The best way to learn is to get experience!
Sunny: Always remember the reason you create. Never lose sight of the childhood wonder that causes you to pick up your creative tool of choice. I started writing because I wanted to read what I wrote. I wanted to create for me, and soon after I met Angel and wanted to create for them too. I might not be as far along with my writing if it weren’t for Angel reading my writing over and over and begging me to write more. I felt so motivated. If possible, find yourself an Angel. If you can’t, just write for you. Never lose sight of the initial spark that made you want to write in the first place. Childlike wonder is so important.
Any specific advice for those hoping to make their one graphic novel one day?
Angel: Start a webcomic! I’d suggest starting with a shorter one-shot to get an understanding of your own process, what parts you like best, what parts you struggle with, how much time you need, etc. It might be hard, but try to resist starting with a project that is your “baby”— experiment with things that you won’t stress the need to be perfect and that you can be more malleable with.
Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?
Angel: We have plans to begin another webcomic after RAINBOW!, and similarly, it’s also a story we’ve had together since we were teenagers. It’s a ghost story, but not one that is particularly scary despite our affinity for horror. Rather it’s about friendship, love, loss, trauma, and perseverance, and has a larger cast and story compared to RAINBOW!.
Sunny: That story has been a challenge because of the large cast! I’ve always been better at telling small stories, so I can’t wait to spread my wings and finish a story to that scope. I’m so happy when I work on it, and I can’t wait for people to read it!
Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/comics would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?
Jasmine Wallsis a writer, artist, and editor with former lives in professional baking and teaching martial arts. She still bakes (though she’s pretty rusty at martial arts) and has a deep love for storytelling, creating worlds, and building tales about the characters who inhabit them. Along with Levine Querido, she has works published with Boom! Studios, Capstone, Oni Press, The Atlantic, and The Nib. She lives in California with two dogs and a large stash of quality hot chocolate.
Teo DuVallis a queer Chicanx comic artist and illustrator based in Seattle, WA. They graduated in 2015 with a BFA in Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts and have had the immense pleasure of working with Levine Querido, HarperCollins, Dark Horse, Chronicle Books, Scholastic and more. He has a passion for fantasy, aesthetic ghost stories, and witches of color, and loves being able to create stories for a living. Teo lives with his partner, their two pets – a giant, cuddly pit-bull, and a tiny, ferocious cat – and a small horde of houseplants.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourselves?
J: I’m a comics writer and editor, with a past career in baking and a deep love for hot chocolate. I’ve written for DC, Webtoons, Oni Press, and BOOM!, along with Levine Querido.
T: I’m a comic artist, illustrator and barista from Seattle. I’ve worked on projects for Star Wars, Avatar: The Last Airbender and DC, among others. I love ghosts, witches of color and stories with queer joy. Brooms is my second graphic novel.
What can you tell us about your new book, Brooms? What was the inspiration for this story?
J:Brooms was heavily inspired by my own family, half of which come from the American South. I wanted to tell a story set in a world of magic that was about the people who are often left forgotten on the margins. I also wanted it to be fun. I didn’t think I needed to make another story of hardship and struggle, but one of overcoming the odds and finding joy in a community.
T: It was important to me to draw witches who weren’t only white, cis and straight. Witches belong to all communities, and I wanted to make something that reflected all of the BIPOC witchy folks who exist in the real world – myself included.. Our communities have been long overdue for more representative magic content, and my hope with Brooms was to bring some of that content into the world myself.
How did the two of you come together to work on this project?
J: I was already of fan of Teo’s work and though he’d be a perfect fit as a collaborator for the story. Back then, I didn’t have much of a presence in the comics world at the time, but I sent Teo an email with the story pitch when I felt brave at 2am and was honestly shocked that he replied with an enthusiastic yes!
T: I truly could not say yes to Jasmine fast enough when I saw her email. I knew Brooms was something special, and I needed to be a part of it.
As creators, what drew you to the art of storytelling, particularly the graphic novel medium?
J: I’ve loved storytelling since I was very young, my whole family is very big on reading and I’ve always had an active imagination. The toughest part is trying to narrow down what stories to focus on and to actually get them written down. As for what drew me to graphic novels in particular, I think they are an incredible blend of storytelling mediums, it’s like having a printed movie in your hands, or a prose book that’s come to life, and they can span across every genre. There are also so many incredible ways of experimenting with style, lettering, and color to completely change the tone or mood of a scene.
T: I’ve been drawing stories ever since I was a kid (somewhere my mom has a picture book I drew in kindergarten about dinosaurs going to school). There’s something so beautiful about words and images coming together to create an immersive, emotional experience. Also, art helps bring characters to life in a way that we don’t get in prose novels. I can’t tell you how many times a teacher or librarian has told me that their students who have a hard time reading become so engaged when introduced to graphic novels. Visual imagery is very powerful.
Since Geeks OUT is a queer centered website, could you tell us a bit about the LGBTQ+ content featured in your book?
J: As with any book I write, queer characters are front and center. In Brooms, there are three main openly queer characters: Billie Mae and Luella are in a relationship with each other and Cheng Kwan is a trans woman. There are also plenty of queer and gender nonconforming background characters. Teo did an amazing job of really bringing every person you see on the page to life.
T: I like to think that a good majority of the folks we see in Brooms belong to the LGBTQ+ community, particularly in the race festival scenes. I was deeply inspired by historical queer communities and how they would come together no matter how society fought to keep them hidden or isolated. I wanted the world of Brooms to feel populated by LGBTQ+ folks who would otherwise be pushed to the side by the annals of history, so I designed many folks with an intention towards queer representation. I hope marginalized readers can feel that energy and see themselves reflected in those characters.
Jasmine Walls
Since Brooms is a historical fiction graphic novel, I was wondering if there was any research involved during your creative process? And if so, what kind?
J: Absolutely. I love doing research for stories, and I love history, so whenever I work on a project, especially a historical project, I try to do as much research as I can. Even though the characters and their lives are fictional, the setting (aside from all the magic) isn’t. We wanted to represent the kinds of people who really did exist in 1930s Mississippi, and we wanted to do so respectfully. A few examples on my side of things included looking into my own family’s history, but also doing research on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw which Luella, Mattie, and Emma are part of. Emma is deaf and uses sign language I referenced from Indian Sign Language by William Tomkins which is not entirely regionally accurate, but is period accurate. Loretta uses mobility aids from the time period after having a stroke at a young age, and the foods you see in various scenes are all things that would have been made by people in those places and times.
T: There was tons of research involved, which was great for someone who enjoys amassing folders and folders of reference. I dug through a lot of vintage photography from Mississippi in order to get a sense of the environment and clothing of the period.
Upon reading Brooms, readers discover that there seems to be a unique magic system that the main characters use, in particular referencing root magic. Would you mind going into some of the world-building behind that?
J: Because none of the girls have gone to an official magical academy, they’ve all learned magic through familial knowledge or what they’ve shared with each other, and in the American South, particularly in Black communities, root magic is a very real cultural aspect of life. The magic Billie Mae and Loretta use and teach others is based loosely on the structure of real life root magic practices, which is often based in drawing energy from the earth and seeking guidance from ancestors.
How would you describe your writing process?
J: A little bit messy to be honest! I often think of a particular scene that just sticks in my mind and if I think it’s solid enough for a whole story, I begin to build around it bit by bit until everything starts to take shape. I often have several scribbled ideas on sticky notes all over the place before compiling them into a very rough outline. Then I rewrite it many, many times before showing it to anyone else.
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?
J: One of my favorite books growing up was Her Stories by Virginia Hamilton, which is a collection of oral stories, myths, and fairytales collected from Black folks in the American South. As a kid it was one of the few times I saw people who looked like me in fairytales and folk tales. Now that I’m older, I know there were other books but they were just harder to find. I think things have definitely improved as more queer and BIPOC stories are being published, which has been a joy to see, and I hope that trajectory continues.
T: As a kid, I read and re-read His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and watched Studio Ghibli films whenever I could. Princess Mononke in particular always resonated with me, as well as Kiki’s Delivery Service. I never felt reflected by these stories, but they touched me very deeply. Now, I immediately think of Aidan Thomas’ Cemetery Boys. It was the first time I ever encountered a character that looked like me, and felt like me.
Ted DuVall
As creatives, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general?
J: This one is always tough because I feel like I draw from so many influences from books I read to artists I follow, but I can say that one of my earliest influences in writing was Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles series, which made me rethink the role or classic fantasy tropes and how they’re used in stories. I was also obsessed with InuYasha as a teen so that probably had a lingering effect.
T: Mike Mignola is a huge one for me, as well as Ray Bradbury, Fiona Staples and Rosemary Valero O’Connell. Their works always remind me why I love (and need) to create stories. Music is also really important to my process. I listen to a lot of Wolf Alice, serpentwithfeet and Nation of Language and they never fail to inspire me.
What are some of your favorite elements of writing/illustrating? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging?
J: For me, the best parts of writing are the initial rush where everything is new and exciting, and then the point where it’s all a completed written mess and I get to go in and edit it into something polished. It’s just so satisfying. The parts I enjoy the least are when everything is half done and I have to slog through writing the less exciting scenes, or when I’m stuck and can’t seem to get the words to work the way I want them to. Usually that’s when I need to step away for a bit and take a long walk so I can come back with fresh eyes.
T: I really enjoy designing characters, and when I get to the inking stage for interior pages. I’ve always loved inking, and inking pages in particular is very satisfying. On the flipside, creative stamina is inevitably a huge challenge. I think this struggle is something a lot of graphic novelists can relate to. It’s a very troublesome mental block to experience, especially when you’re working on a project that requires years of commitment.
Many creators would say one of the most challenging parts of writing a book is finishing one. What strategies would you say helped you accomplish this?
J: It’s true, the bulk of working on a book is sitting down and powering through the tedious bits. My motivation (aside from deadlines and never wanting to burden my collaborators by delaying their work) is honestly using the parts of a story that I’m looking forward to writing as a reward for getting through the boring parts. Another factor is balancing the work that needs to be done while also giving yourself space to recharge the creative battery and step away. Work should never take over every aspect of your life. Take breaks, stretch, move around, drink more water, and get your sleep. You’ll come back to your work more energized for it.
T: Communication is really important, in my opinion. Talking with your team, asking for help…I can’t stress enough how vital that was to helping make BROOMS a reality.
Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?
J: I’m not very exciting outside of work, but I do love food and the process of how it’s made. I am a big supporter of agriculture workers and sustainable farming practices, particularly in the spice trade. If you ever need to know a good vanilla vendor, I’ve got you.
T: My spouse and I bought combat-grade French lightsabers and I’m learning how to spin with it. We’re planning on performing a choreographed battle sequence instead of a first dance at our wedding reception, and it’s been a blast to learn. If you’re curious, check out Michelle C. Smith’s spinning videos.
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)?
J: I always secretly hope people will ask for hot chocolate recommendations, and I have several! These are all companies with fairly traded, sustainably grown cocoa, and are owned by BIPOC: Cultura Chocolate’s Mexican Drinking Chocolate, Villa Real’s Vanilla Hot Chocolate tablets, CRU Chocolate’s amazing flavor selection of drinking chocolates, and Lucocoa’s Orange holiday hot cocoa mix.
T: I love rocks, gems, crystals…and I want any excuse to talk about them! It would be fun to be asked what my favorite is. (The answer is obsidian. Mirrors of polished obsidian called tezcatl were used by Aztec shamans as a way to view the spirit world).
What advice might you have to give for other aspiring writers?
J: My advice to aspiring writers is to write what you love, don’t try to jump onto trends for a quicker foot in the door, though it can be very tempting. Writing is a slow process and we only ever see the “sudden” successes from the outside. Take your time, put in the effort to get from start to finish, and write the stories you want to tell. And lastly, be open to feedback (from editorial pros, not internet randos who just want to be mean) because they’re there to help the story be the best it can be, it’s not a personal attack, so don’t be too precious with your first few drafts.
Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?
J: I’ve got a couple secret projects, but I also have a few new pitches I’m excited for. An enemies-to-lovers romcom about two former rival crime bosses, a non-romantic comedy about two ace teens fake dating, and an alternate history western.
T: I have some cool projects in the works, but nothing I can talk about just yet. Though hopefully I’ll be able to share some news soon!
Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/authors (comics included) would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?
T: This isn’t comprehensive, but off the top of my head I would recommend Cemetery Boys by Aidan Thomas, Nimona by N.D. Stevenson and Let Me Out by Emmett Nahil and George Williams.
Deya Muniz was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they grew up watching Pride and Prejudice and reading copious amounts of shojo manga. In 2017, they moved to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in sequential art, where they met and fell in love with a wonderful girl who makes delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.
I had the opportunity to interview Deya, which you can read below.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT. Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Thank you!! I’m Deya, I’m from Brazil, I have a beautiful wife and two dogs. You may know me from my comic strip series Brutally Honest, or me and my wife’s WEBTOON Blades of Furry!
It’s cheesy and silly and gay!! I got the inspiration from my beautiful wife!! I explain it better in my author’s note at the back of the book. Basically, it all came about because of an incident involving grilled cheese sandwiches while we were both brainstorming ideas for a scriptwriting class.
In addition to The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, you are also known as the co-creator of the webcomic, Blades of Furry (a webcomic that said to be a mix of Yuri on Ice meets flurries, co-created with your partner-which is like the gayest thing ever ☺). What inspired this project, and co-creating it with your spouse?
Blades of Furry came about for my MFA thesis! I was writing about suspension of disbelief, so to prove my point I came up with the most out there concept I could at the time! I was at the early stages of my figure skating obsession then, and my wife had turned me into a furry. I have also always loved vampires and had a pretty intense Twilight phase, so that’s how that all came about.
Emily became an official co-creator when it came time to actually start production on BOF! I was already working on Grilled Cheese and realized I couldn’t do both at the same time on my own, so I asked if she would like to join. She had such a big influence in the creation of the concept, and we knew we worked really well together, so it was a natural fit! Little did I know that even doing Blades of Furry with her, I was very far from being able to pull off all the work I had to do on time. Whoops.
How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, particularly comics/graphic novels? What drew you to the medium?
I’ve always liked comics, and even at the tender age of 8 I was writing silly little comics with my friends at school. When I was on the final year of my Bachelor’s degree, I was mostly thinking of going into either animation or video games. However, I started making the Brutally Honest comic strips instead of working on my thesis and they got popular online! One thing led to another and my thesis ended up becoming a comic, and then I went on to get my masters in Sequential Art. I was still considering getting into animation, but my pitch for Grilled Cheese got accepted before I got any storyboarding job offers, and now here we are!! I’m happy with how it all turned out!
For those curious about the process behind a graphic novel, how would you describe the process?
Slow and painful. I like getting attention on the stuff I make, so it was really really hard for me to be putting in all this effort into writing and drawing this story with NO ONE giving me compliments. Yes, I know exactly how ridiculous that sounds, but it’s true!! It’s a big difference between online publishing where you’re interacting with your readers at least weekly, and print publishing where you work in the dark for years and get no interaction or feedback until the work is finally published, however many months of years after you’re done working on it!
As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration?
I could list so many things… For The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich I was very much inspired by Pride and Prejudice (the 2005 movie version specifically) and by shoujo manga/anime. I was obsessed with CLAMP as a kid and LOVED the way they did sparkles, fabric and hair. From there, I became obsessed with the work of Alphonse Mucha, who was a big influence on the CLAMP style.
More recently, and around when I was working on Grilled Cheese, I was mostly inspired by artists I followed on twitter. I get a lot of inspiration from that nowadays, whenever I end up in a new fandom there’s always so many incredibly talented people pumping out beautiful art, it’s wild! Back then I was heavily into this story called Mo Dao Zu She (or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) and the art coming from that fandom was incredible!
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?
Yes, so many!! I already mentioned a few in the previous question, but there’s many many stories that have touched me deeply through the years – Kingdom Hearts, Fruits Basket, Howl’s Moving Castle (both the book and the movie), Yuri on Ice, Banana Fish… I don’t know if I felt reflected by them as a whole, but there’s always little pieces of who I am or want to be reflected in some of my favorite characters.
Right before starting work on Grilled Cheese I was reading TONS of gay webtoons/manhwas and my absolute favorites were Wolf in the House and Dark Heaven (both 18+, be warned!) – both stories had an iron grip on me. Wolf in the House has incredible heart and humor, and Dark Heaven had me extremely deep in my feelings. Those two helped me get through some tough times.
Right now I’m profoundly infatuated with Trigun Stampede. I’m listening to the soundtrack while writing this!! I also just read Monotone Blue and really liked it!
Besides your work as a creative, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?
I broke my skull when I was a baby and I’m fine, so I have reason to believe I might be immortal and undefeatable.
What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were (and the answer to that question)?
“Would you like 10 million dollars deposited in your bank account yearly?” The answer is yes!
Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?
… Unfortunately, I am legally bound to secrecy.
What advice would you give to any aspiring creatives out there?
Be self-indulgent in your creativity. Doing what you think you should instead of what you want to do is going to lead to some serious burnout pretty quickly. Enjoy yourself in your work as much as possible.
Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/comics would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?
Ok! I have already mentioned a fewso here’s some more:
Manga/Anime: Our Dreams at Dusk, Restart After Coming Back Home, Given, the Kase-San series.
Western/US WEBTOONS: Castle Swimmer, Covenant, LoveBot, Not so Shoujo Love Story, Prince of Southland, and Nevermore.
Also, look into Danmei. Phenomenal stories there!
I’m not very good at recommending western LGBTQ+ books/comics because I get anxiety reading them. I’m also behind on every single Webtoon I mentioned for that reason. Everyone is so talented and imposter syndrome sucks! Anyway, I really liked The Prince and the Dressmaker!
Mel Valentine Vargas is a Queer Cuban-American graphic novelist based in Chicago. They hope to draw the kind of illustrations that their younger self, and others like them, could have seen to feel less alone. Mel Valentine Vargas loves singing in Spanish, playing farming video games, and eating lots of gyoza with their friends.
I had the opportunity to interview Mel, which you can read below.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT. Could you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Mel Valentine Vargas, I am a Non-Binary Queer Cuban- American graphic novelist and illustrator. I speak both Spanish and English and currently reside in Chicago, but I am originally from Florida.
I can say that it is as relevant today as it was ten years ago when the original chapter book came out. I loved working on a book that my younger self would have really needed while growing up. I’m very thankful to my agent Elizabeth Bennett, Transatlantic Literary Agency, for getting this book deal for me and connecting me with Candlewick.
How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, especially comics/graphic novels? What drew you to the medium?
When I graduated High school back in 2015, that following summer was such a weird time for me. I didn’t really know what to do with myself and I was about to start college on a biology track. I spent that summer like a bit of a hermit, but I was reading so many webcomics and watching so many animated shows. Something within me was really drawn to those stories and mediums, I wanted to be part of their creation. I’ve always loved storytelling, both listening and creating, so as I tried creating my own comics that summer it’s like things just clicked.
What are some of your favorite things to draw?
My favorite things to draw are people. I love drawing different kinds of people. I love deciding their outfits, coming up with silly t-shirts they wear, styling their hair, it’s like having Barbies all over again. I also love drawing plants, I really enjoy making some up as I go. And while we are on this topic, my least favorite thing to draw is animals… I should practice that.
How would you describe your creative process? And what went into collaborating with MegMedina for the book?
My creative process always starts with immersing myself into the topic and medium for said project. With this book I read the original book twice. You should see the copy Candlewick gifted to me, it’s covered in highlighter marks and little color-coded sticky notes. It’s important for me to really get to know what I will be drawing, and in this case, adapting.
I think people would be surprised how little illustrators partner with authors of graphic novels. I actually didn’t get to speak with Meg very much during the process of this book. Of course, she saw and approved everything in the end, but she and I really did not discuss anything much during the making of this book. Occasionally I would get a note from my editors that Meg really wanted something a certain way and I would of course make sure that what I drew was true to her vision.
As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/orsources of inspiration?
Some of my greatest influences are, of course, other graphic novelists and cartoonists. I love Rosemary Valero-O’connell’s work as well as Leslie Hung’s and Lucy Knisley’s comics. Generally, I get very inspired by work that showcases people.
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there anylike that now?
Growing up I didn’t have many stories that I saw myself in. I grew up Hispanic, bilingual, and fat. It was difficult finding books or movies and shows that talked about that in a positive way. I really gravitated towards media that showcased awesome women though. I remember being awestruck at Raven and Starfire from Teen Titans and Marceline from Adventure Time. Now I am so thankful that there is much more media that showcases different people in a way that I would have loved to witness as a kid. Turning Red, Dead End: Paranormal Park, The Owl House, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, and so much more.
Besides your work, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?
I would want readers to know that illustrators, like me, work really hard on graphic novels and would love it if you spend just a tiny bit more time on every page. Just really soak up the details. I would want readers to know that all comics and graphic novels are a labor of love. I would like readers to know that I watch so many shows while I draw, specifically BoJack Horseman which I watched about 13 times through the course of making this book alone.
What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but wish you were (and the answer to thatquestion)?
I’m not too sure. This is my first book interview. What is my zodiac, perhaps? It’s cancer by the way. I’m a cancer sun and moon, do with that info what you will.
Are there any other projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?
YES! My next graphic novel Pillow Talk, written by Stephanie Cooke, is coming out in 2024! There are also other projects in the works that are a bit hush-hush.
What advice might you have to give to aspiring creatives, especially those interested in making their own graphic novel one day?
The advice I always give people who say they want to get into comics is MAKE COMICS! You can’t possibly get hired or followed or whatever your end goal is with comics if you aren’t producing them. It doesn’t matter if they are bad, or if you don’t post them, just make them. Diary comics, or little joke comics, zines, or fan art comics. Read and make comics!
Finally, what books/authors (LGBTQ+ and/or otherwise) would you recommend to the readers of GeeksOUT?
Books I recommend-
Anything by Nicole Dennis-Benn, Maggie Nelson, and Madeline Miller. Of course anything by Meg Medina! Graphic Novels– Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, Snotgirl series, The Leak, and honestly any graphic novel written/ drawn by women and genderqueer people.
Miriam Katin is a Hungarian-born American graphic novelist and artist. She worked in animation from 1981 to 2000 in Israel and the United States. She has written two autobiographical graphic novels, We Are on Our Own (2006) and Letting It Go (2013). She has won an Inkpot Award and the Prix de la Critique.
I had the opportunity to interview Miriam, which you can read below.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
I was born in 1942 in Budapest and survived the war with my mother “hiding in plain sight” with faked Christian ID papers. In 1957 after the Hungarian Uprising we went to live in Israel where I apprenticed in a graphic art’s studio, then I served in the IDF as a graphic artist. In 1963 I arrived in New York, where I worked in MTV and Nickelodeon and Disney’s New York studio. I did background designs for the animated pictures “Doug”, “Daria’ “PB&J Otters” and Nickelodeon’s Bible stories. From 1981 to 2000, we lived in Kibbutz Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea, where I also worked in animation for Ein Gedi FIlms. We also did work for the Israeli Sesame Street.
What can you tell us about your work, We Are On Our Own? Where did the inspiration for these stories come from?
We Are On Our Own comes from the stories my mother told me about our year of hiding from the Germans in the Hungarian countryside.
Much of your work is autobiographical. What made you decide to explore the personal in your work, especially in such a visual space?
The stories my mother told me about the war, they were like running narratives inside my mind, a daily, painful, uninvited, unwanted presence. They begged to be told. But I am not a writer and also, I thought who needs another Holocaust story.
How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, particularly comics /graphic novels? What drew you to this medium?
So when I discovered comics for myself, I knew I could draw the stories. This was while working in MTV I saw the young artist around me doing comics. So I decided I had something to say. As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration? For story telling, it was Ben Ketchor, also I love his style and he is so New York. My influence for color is the Italian artist Lorenzo Mattotti.
Besides your work as an author/illustrator what are some things you would want readers to know about you?
I always bring out the fact that my formal education was nine years and after that I never went to school. I don’t recommend it, but it tells you how much you can learn in life from the people around you. Lucky to have met many generous people willing to teach and help.
Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss? My father was in a bicycling army unit during WW2. I could never learn bicycling until after he died. I think I like to work on the subject of Military Bicycling. It started in France.
Finally, what books/comics would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?
Oh. Just go to a good library and sit on the floor with the other fans sprawling around and read as many books as you can. And start drawing. And be completely honest. Don’t leave anything out, no matter how embarrassing it may be. And I also tell students that comics is very forgiving, you don’t have to be an accomplished artist to start. There are great stories told just with stick figures. But the story, it has to be good.
Clar Angkasa was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, and graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration. An illustrator, animator, and comic artist with a passion for narrative art, she draws inspiration from stories, nature, and wholesome people. Her work has received such honors as the MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence, an Adobe Awards Top Talent, and more. Stories of the Islands is Clar’s debut graphic novel. She is currently based in Brooklyn, New York.
First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a Brooklyn-based Indonesian illustrator-animator-comic artist with a passion for visual storytelling. I was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia before moving to the U.S. to pursue a career in the arts. After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design in 2019 with a BFA in Illustration, I moved to New York in search of ways to stay in the country as an artist.
What can you tell us about your latest project, Stories of the Islands? What was the inspiration behind this book?
I’ve always been fascinated by folktales and this fascination inspired Stories of the Islands. To be precise, I was inspired by what I felt was missing in folktales. Reading or listening to these stories, while enjoyable, always left me feeling unsatisfied with how the women are portrayed. Traditionally, they are damsels in distress to be rescued, wicked witches to be outsmarted, or just the hero’s love interest. I wanted to go beyond the superficial tropes, to create characters that have agency and depict girls and women as flawed and nuanced people with their own personalities and motivations.
Another big inspiration was my mom, a single mother who in my opinion is the strongest, most independent woman I know. I grew up watching her have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously in her career, and even then, all people cared about was if she had a man by her side. Yet, she never let anyone dictate how she should live her life. I was lucky enough to have had a role model that taught me that my value as a woman goes beyond what society expects of me. My mom taught me to carve my own path in spite of what others may think, and I can only hope that Stories of the Islands can teach young readers to do the same and expose them to narratives that are empowering for women, rather than limiting.
As creators, what drew you to the art of storytelling, particularly the comics medium?
I’ve always loved stories and for as long as I can remember I’ve used stories as an escape. Eventually I started making my own stories through my art and it became a form of self-expression and coping mechanism, a way to process the chaos of everyday life. I didn’t become interested in making comics until I was in college and started reading a bunch of comics when I was procrastinating at the campus library. At that point I was torn between wanting to pursue a career in illustration or one in animation. I saw comics as the perfect in-between medium. Through comics, I can make beautiful drawings and also tell stories through sequential art. Moreover, I sometimes have a difficult time articulating things with just words or just images, so I loved the idea of being able to combine both in comics. When words fail, I can draw it, and when the illustration isn’t enough, I can enhance it with my writing.
How would you describe your creative process?
My creative process is somehow both chaotic and orderly. Creative ideas pop up in my head at a much faster pace than my hands can work so I always start with an overwhelmingly messy collection of notes and sketches. At the same time, I need structure and organization and plans, so I would make detailed spreadsheets to schedule out all the individual tasks involved in the projects I want to work on, which are usually a lot more than I could realistically take on. I always end up wanting to do way too many things at once so to avoid spreading myself too thin, I do my best to limit myself to only two big projects at a time (I don’t always succeed). I think of myself as a chronic multitasker, unable to fully devote my day to just one thing. This means at any point I would usually be chipping away at multiple tasks such as taking breaks from work by doing chores or replying to emails while waiting for my Photoshop files to load.
Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?
One of my favorite stories growing up was Winnie-the-Pooh. I made my mom read the books to me before bed, watched so many episodes of the TV series and got the stuffed animals and bedspreads to match. I think what drew me to the series was the unique personality and quirk each individual character had, some of which I really related to. It wasn’t until much later that I realized a lot of the characters represented different mental health issues. When I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression as an adult, I remember thinking, “That explains why Piglet and Eeyore were my favorite characters.” As I grew older, I kept getting drawn to stories where I related to the characters in some way. There are many like that now but the most recent one I’ve read is Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol. Reading about the main character struggling to fit in and being envious of others’ seemingly perfect life immediately brought me back to my high school days.
As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest artistic and creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general?
I get most of my inspiration from stories I consume, be it from books, movies, TV shows or just stories people tell me over coffee. Most of my art is driven by my love of storytelling so when I experience a good story, it makes me want to write/illustrate my own. This is why one of my favorite places to be is in a bookstore, browsing through books and being inspired by all the covers and blurbs. Every new book I read, especially graphic novels, would generate new ideas and goals. If I’m ever in a rut, all I need to do is grab a book from a bookshelf. Even when I don’t buy anything new at a bookstore, just being around all these books is a great motivation for me to keep making stories and sharing it with others.
What are some of your favorite elements of writing/illustrating? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging?
My favorite part of what I do is being able to use my work as a medium to express myself and even process difficult thoughts and emotions. Sharing things is sometimes difficult for me but being able to write it down and/or sketch it out makes it so much easier. The act of sharing my work with people who resonate with or relate to the story is also one of the most satisfying parts about writing/illustrating. I also love how easy it is to work anywhere – I just need some pen and paper and I can pretty much write/illustrate wherever.
The challenging part of it all is starting. I’m a very indecisive and anxious person who overthinks everything so sometimes it takes forever for me to start a project. Starting something new is always exciting but I would get overwhelmed by all the possibilities. The more choices I have, the more stressed I get. Ending things is even more challenging than starting it. Being a perfectionist makes it very difficult to finish a project because no matter how many times I make revisions and edits, I always see a new flaw or something I want to change. It’s especially frustrating when I’m working with a deadline and I just don’t have a choice but to learn to let go.
Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?
I have a pretty obsessive personality and tend to get very into whatever it is I’m doing. I rarely do anything “casually” so when I’m not obsessing over the littles details of my work, I could easily be found with a different side obsession. I would start new TV shows and immediately binge the entire season or start reading a book and finish it overnight. I would take on new hobbies like needle felting or oven-bake clay and then devote hours to perfecting the craft. I bought a few plants during the pandemic and now I’m an overbearing plant mom with 30+ houseplants and a 3-page instruction PDF on how to take care of each one that I made for my roommate when I’m out of town.
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)?
If I could invite anyone to dinner, dead or alive, who would it be? The answer is my grandpa who sadly died a few years ago. It’s a question I’ve been asked in a random conversation before but it’s one that I always want to bring up when talking about my work. My grandpa was an artist and he was the reason I wanted to make art for a living in the first place. I feel like I’ve only recently found my voice as an artist and I would’ve loved to be able to share my work with him over dinner and see what he would think about it. Stories of the Islands was actually published on the anniversary of his passing. I would’ve loved to be able to show him this project, my debut graphic novel, a labor of love I’ve been passionate about for the past 5 years.
What advice might you have to give for other aspiring creatives?
The main advice I would give is to remember to take care of your mental health. While my art provides a great escape and a very satisfying coping mechanism, throwing myself into work 24/7 isn’t the most sustainable way to live. It’s important to devote time outside of work to lead a healthy and balanced life. To this day I have a really difficult time following my own advice. As a workaholic, my work is pretty much my entire personality but that is something I am actively trying to unlearn. Creators often face the constant pressure to keep crunching out work and that pressure sometimes makes you think that you don’t have time to take a break. I would feel the need to be productive all the time but I know that isn’t the best for both my physical and mental health. What I’ve found to be helpful is including breaks into my work to-do list. Instead of seeing breaks as “not working” I’ve started treating it as an act of kindness to my future self and an investment so that I may work more efficiently in the future.
Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?
Stories of the Islands is part of a two-book deal with Holiday House so right now I’ve started working on the next graphic novel. It’s still in its early stages so there’s not much I can share yet. At the same time I’m also working on developing other story ideas I have that could potentially become another book. I’ve recently started freelancing full time as well so I’m currently looking for smaller projects to work on in between book projects.
Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/comics/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT
There are a lot of great comics and artists that inspired me to start making comics of my own but two in particular stand out in my memory: Nimonaby ND Stevenson and The End of Summerby Tillie Walden. All their works are amazing but these books were the first I read by these creators and they left such a huge impact on me. Tillie Walden even wrote a blurb for Stories of the Islands so that was a really nice full circle moment for me.
