Author Monday:: Interview with cartoonist Hope Larson

This entry marks the 5th installment of my Author Mondays, where I shall endeavor to post something “author-esque” each Monday. Whether it's an interview or a one-shot question, here is a chance for various authors to have their say.

I started reading Hope Larson's award-winning graphic novels when I was only suspecting I'd be a teen librarian. I remember picking up Gray Horses from the adult comics section of the Central Library in San Antonio. I was so completely mesmerized by Noemie's expressive features and familiarity that I wrote my first book review on it.

I couldn't find her debut Salamander Dream in San Antonio so I went through Interlibrary Loan. By the end of it, Larson had accomplished something unprecedented. I'd never reacted so emotionally to someone's entire oeuvre (she only had these two titles out at the time). Even now, reading her books this morning, I can’t help but feel she has a gorgeous way of storytelling that is unique to her.

Hope Larson was a total sweetheart by letting me interview her briefly over a year ago. The only reason why I hadn't posted it earlier was because I was waiting to interview more authors so I could post them up in a consecutive series, like I’m doing now. On an evening in June last year, I interviewed both Hope and her husband Bryan Lee O’Malley—that interview is coming next week—and I’m happy to say they were my firsts. In retrospect, I should have asked her more about Chiggers, which hadn't come out yet, and her contribution to Comic Book Tattoo. Still, this was one of the coolest things I’ve done and I’m thankful to both cartoonists for their generosity and patience.

And now, please sit back as this blog proudly presents that interview a year ago:

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VG: Did you have a Eureka moment or did you just gradually make the decision to create graphic novels?

HL: I think I was kind of bullied into making them [*chuckle*] by the comics community. When I started drawing comics for the first time, it didn't click with me. It didn't seem like something that I was going to be any good at or something that I would want to have for a career. I moved to Toronto and started living with Mal [husband Bryan Lee O'Malley] and got more in touch with the comics community, I guess. There's a really good comics store, The Beguiling in Toronto, and I started reading a lot more different types of comics and I just felt like I could fit in. And then I just drew a book. And I can't really imagine doing much else at this point.

VG: Cool. Did your style start off from the very beginning? You have a very... very... [my husband slips me the answer] distinctive, yeah, distinctive style.

HL: Well, it's really evolving. It's changed a lot since the first book. Salamander Dream and Gray Horses-- I was really inspired by the artist Seth and by Charles Burns. They both have really slick inking. And I kind of wound up doing primarily vector work in the W Illustrator. So that was the style I was comfortable with-- like, really clean flowing lines.

VG: In my mind, both Salamander Dream and Gray Horses deal with innocence and isolation. Are these aspects that you're familiar with in your life?

HL: Yeah, definitely, especially isolation. They're both primarily nostalgia books. I was living in Canada and, you know, I missed the US, I missed the South. By the time I got around to writing Gray Horses, I missed Chicago too, a little bit, even though it wasn't the city for me. I missed things about it. As far as innocence... I don't really know. I guess I don't have anything to say about that.

VG: For me, the first one, that's what really touched me about it. Going back to childhood, seeing all the things one abandons as one grows older... It just... It touched me very much.

HL: Thanks. I think now [with Chiggers] I'm dealing more with the down and dirty version of childhood. I'm moving more in that direction.

VG: Right, right. Of all the stories you've done, this is for your youngest audience then, right?

HL: Yeah.

VG: I guess you didn't really choose that.

HL: Yeah. I just wrote the story. My agent and publisher figured out who it was going to be for.

VG: In Gray Horses, your main character is French. Was there a reason for this, as opposed to Italian or Russian?

HL: I have a lot of fondness for France 'cause I lived there for a year when I was a kid. And I sort of remember how it felt. When I moved to France, I didn't speak any French. My parents just kind of took me and chucked me in the local village school and I had to pick it up on the go. So I wanted to translate that to a slightly older character.

VG: Two more questions. Do you have a purpose for your stories other than storytelling?

HL: I don't know. That's a hard question. I don't know what else I would do with my life if I wasn't doing this. All my thoughts run into storytelling, you know? That's what inspires me. It's what interests me. It's really the only thing, so...

VG: That's awesome. It's something I don't know that I could do, so it's very admirable. Um, okay, I lied. Two more questions. [Laughter, on both sides, not just me!] Do you have advice for up and coming [cartoonists]?

HL: Draw a lot. Write a lot. Put your work on the web-- it's really important. Try and make friends in the comics community. People are really friendly and they love to help up and comers. And be patient 'cause it takes time.

VG: And the cookies question. If you could bake homemade cookies for up to three fictional characters, who would you choose and what kind of cookies would you make?

HL: I guess I should think who first, and then figure out a cookie. Okay, I'm gonna say Meg from A Wrinkle in Time. She's one of my favorites. And... for the cookies? Hmmm. Maybe just oatmeal cookies, 'cause it gets cold up in Maine or wherever it is she lives. [Laughter]

VG: That works. Thank you very much.

HL: No problem.

~

As I understand it, Hope’s new book Mercury is coming out next year and she’s hard at work on something new. Also, checkci out her lovable work on Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd as edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castelluci. If you want to follow Hope on Twitter, her handle is @hopelarson. If you are lucky enough to be at the San Diego Comic-Con, then you might see her around, too. And you will be a very, very lucky person, ha ha.

YA Lit:: We'll miss ya, Minx

Wait, WHAT???

I honestly had no idea.

Today I finished reading Mariko Tamaki's wonderful graphic novel Emiko Superstar, which I gleefully put on my Goodreads. I do love to see the list add up. :D Then, in reading others' reviews of this wonderful volume, I found out that Minx-- the lovable girl-powah graphic novels line from DC Comics -- bit the dust. And not even recently. This was last fall.

Why?

Was it the economy? Was it the storylines that were relatively clean (read: low on parental piss-off factor)? Was it the "rumor" that girls don't read comics?

It wasn't for lack of hype. The New York Times was a fan. They got accomplished, award-winning authors like Tamaki, Cecil Castellucci, and Andi Watson to write the stories. And the books themselves were pretty well-received.

Gyaah!

Guys, tell us these things. If sales were so murderously disappointing, then let librarians in on the secret. We'll buy those copies off you. Okay, maybe not all of them, but I do think we could rise as one and slay the rumors that these inspiring and enjoyable comics weren't good enough.

Meh.

Review:: Ojo (Graphic Novel)

I was perusing the graphic novels shelf at the library and saw this one staring out at me with a curious and benevolent eye.

Ojo.

So, yes, I was immediately drawn to it-- partly because it's published by Oni Press but mostly because the title is Spanish for "eye." Culturally, when you give someone "ojo"... well, it's like the evil eye. Bad luck can run rampant simply with an ill-meaning stare. Although this story is more about coping with loss instead of flaky luck.

Annie is a young girl who has lost her mother and is rather obsessed with death. She's struggling, as anyone would, to come to terms with the loss and how it affects the people she knows: her well-meaning grandfather, her rather grouchy sister, and the father that may or may not ever come back. This story could have gone either way-- really sappy or really goth-- but instead it's, gloriously, somewhere in between. The creativity is impressive (watch out for the charismatic mysterious trout!) and the story only lulls right before it ends.

The best part? Seeing Annie love. Seeing her mess up. Seeing her grow. Seeing her begin to acknowledge the pain in her life. In other words, this story is all about Annie, even when you can see her making the wrong choices.

This one has been illustrated by 3 different artists and I found the differences really distracting. Plus, some pages are jam packed with graphics, making the content really hard to read. Clearly, that's the point, and that's quite alright. For every page that didn't work with me, I was given a masterpiece.

Rating::
7.13 of 9.
Characterization::
One of the strongest elements of this piece is the characterization of Annie. She may be a troubled ten-year-old but she is quite maternal and fierce. This is definitely one to be remembered.
Pacing::
Moderate. At times I felt that the page was much too crammed with information and the story definitely lost me right before the last few pages.
Audience::
Mature teens and up. I felt particularly nauseous after a humorous take on inner organs. Nope, not for me, so I would not necessarily recommend it to a younger audience. Although, some of them do love that stuff.
Like it? Try this!::
I couldn't help but be reminded of Emily the Strange through all this.
Further Notes::
I was riveted to this one during the appetizer portion of this book, then it lost me during dinner. The dessert, however, was extra sweet and special. Definitely a worthwhile read.