 :: Thursday, January 22, 2004 :: Digging to Chynna Part 1: Long distance to Chynna Okay, here it is. A little while back the lovely and talented Chynna Clugston-Major graced me with the privilege of speaking to her over the phone (she's extremely shy and not big on talking on the phone). This is the first part of about three, and they'll be showing up on a weekly basis. But never mind all that lets get into Chynna! SUPER CHYNNA (A bit of hellos and how are ya's pass between us before things get going. We'll skip those.) Jay: So, for those who don't know, who are you? What do you do? And why should we love you? Chynna: Ahh. my least favorite question, of any question. Jay: Yeah I know, such an obvious question. Chynna: Well, I'm Chynna Clugston-Major. I create comics, I draw Blue Monday, I do Scooter Girl. Other odd jobs, too, you know- the usual. Grave robbing, things of that sort. What's the last bit? J: And why should we love you? C: I have no idea. What kind of question is that?! Because I'm a mental patient, I don't know... J: That's a good answer. Now, what is your general process of putting together a comic, when you're starting a project like Blue Monday or Scooter Girl? C: Usually I end up sitting, drooling, then I start sketching. I'll probably put on a record or something, that's usually where it begins... it's where I'll get my ideas from. I start sketching out the major players, then writing out the plot line, which is where I'll flesh it out... then I'll start writing the actual script. I'll write and write 'till there's something substantial that I'm happy with on my laptop. At this point it still doesn't have completed dialogue... Then I'll do thumb nails, which is also when I'll do the next-to-final dialogue. Next it's off to pencils, and inks, and checking over the book to see if the story flows... and then I send it out for the whole world to see. Woo. Well, I send it to Jamie and a letterer before that happens. Isn't that exciting! J: Okay, next question. You've mentioned in the past that a good chunk of Blue Monday is somewhat based on personal experiences and the characters are all based on friends of yours. How much of this factors into listening to a song and thinking "oh yeah I remember all this happening." C: Just about all of it really. There's definitely a soundtrack to various pieces of time. If I'm trying to write I'll sit and listen to music and let that conjure up images for me, bring back memories of what was going on at the time, and then I'll either start writing or go and be depressed. J: Depending on how things are going at the time. C: Yeah. J: We'll go onto another standard one, what are the best parts of working in comics and what are the worst parts? Aside from having to do interviews. C: Akk. I can't say interviews. Worst part. Deadlines. J: Deadlines? C: Yup. But on the other hand they're also probably my favorite, because without them I'd never get anything done, ever. J: So what's the best part? C: I want to say giving me the chance to evolve, but that makes me sound like such an asshole. J: Well that'll add in nicely to the next question: what are your strongest and weakest points as an artist? Either as an artist or a story teller. C: What are my strongest parts? I don't even know how to gauge that. I know what *I* think sucks... but my friends tend to tell me I'm high when I tell them what I'm unhappy with. J: Well what are they? C: If I point them out, then everyone will be looking to confirm them. I don't want that! It's like knowing I have shitty skin, yet the last thing I want to do is say to my boyfriend, "God, I'm nasty- just look at this skin!" and have him be all, "Oh damn, baby. You ARE nasty with them zits of yours. Why am I dating you?" J: Standard artist insecurity, they say you're a genius and then you go around "what kind of asshole are you?" C: Yeah. "If you like me, I don't trust you!" Actually, if I wasn't satisfied with my work It probably wouldn't get out. J: Aside from cramming too much at the end of the first Blue Monday trade. [The Kids Are Alright]. C: Well yeah, lay it out there. You're a pain in the ass you know. You know, I was doing it on purpose. I used to love comics that would cram in stuff like that. Comics that you could actually sit and-- J: Spend and hour reading a single issue. C: Well a little more specific than that... Comics that you could open in the middle and... well not in the middle, but you could eat a whole bowl of cereal while still having only read two pages. No worrying about flipping the pages. Like Evan Dorkin, with his early stuff, (well, all his stuff) I'd always have such a great time. I'd read him early in the morning and suddenly realize it was time to go, and I'd've only read like five pages. As compared to so many other books- you're already finished and you haven't even had a bite. But now I've noticed that as I'm getting older I like more space, not only in my work, but in my life, my house, what not. Of course I say that, and my desk is fucking cluttered and I have stacks of stuff unpacked, from a move the year before last. J: Well you mentioned Even Dorkin as an influence on your stuff, anyone else? C: Oh God, I think the biggest one is Rumiko Takahashi, who is obviously the manga style influence. Then you already know there's Evan Dorkin. Then to name a few more, there's Jamie Hewlett, Philip Bond, Adam Warren, The Hernandez Bros., Nabiel Kanan, Posey Simmonds, blah blah blah. I could probably rattle on if I was thinking about it. But whenever somebody asks something like "what are your top five bands", things like that, I completely blank out. It's like when ever I go into a record store, I have all this music I want to buy, but I can't remember one fucking band. J: Okay, one more standard one. I start with the standards, and then I'll try to get more quirky as we go along. What would you like to see more out of American comics? Do even really care or are you just here for the party until the ship goes down? C: Probably more along the lines of the party, which sounds really bad. No, no, I care, but I don't really have time to read comics myself, I've been trying to catch up on novels and classics, stuff like that. As far as comics go there's some really good stuff out there, although I would like to see more of the alternative books do well. J: That's the unfortunate side of all this business. C: It really is. I just want to see people tell the stories they want to fucking tell and not the crap that they think people want to read. Instead of shoveling crap and throwing things together and feeding children this drivel. And adults. J: Mostly adults in the American market. C: Well I was thinking of the mainstream readers. J: Well children one way or another. C: Ouch. J: Well, now for a new and original question: Now that Jamie [S. Rich] is leaving Oni as Editor in Chief... C: Hey, you're the first one to ask anything about that. J: Yeah? Well I've caught from both of you that him that you two met at San Diego a few years before Blue Monday had ever come out and he sort of helped you with developing your talents and such. C: Well no, he gave me some pointers, told me to go back to the drawing board with some of my earlier stuff. My other comics, that is. I hadn't even bothered to show anybody Blue Monday yet. J: With his leaving Oni is it going to affect your work? C: I don't think it's going affect my work at all, I think it's going to affect the letters column. Not to sound mean at all. I mean, seriously, Jamie is the kind of editor who is dead set in letting the creators do their own thing. He doesn't want to meddle, and there are a lot of editors who like to meddle. It's actually one of his policies. J: Not to meddle in the creative work itself. C: Exactly. The work he sees, the work he's editing are actually a product of the creator and not the subject of collaboration or... J: "Editorial input". C: Exactly. J: The second part of the question is who is going to be replacing him as editor on your stuff over at Oni? James [Lucas Jones] or Joe [Nozemack]? C: Or somebody else, you know about as much as I do. Don't get me wrong, Jamie's going to be sorely missed, I have so much fun working with him, like I said he doesn't meddle, which makes it nice. So that when I do have a question he obviously encourages me to go to him and say "look this panels not working" or "this dialogue is stupid," and he'll tell me if what I'm doing is sucking or if I'm much to worried about it to be really objective. It's what he does and he's really good at it. I have nothing but respect for him. What's funny is that he didn't really intend to being an editor, he just got caught up in the job, which he sort of happened upon, and lost track of things. Being an editor wasn't his ultimate goal- so now he's going off to do what he really wants to do. I can't wait to see what he comes up with. J: Oh I'm dying to see what else is going to be coming out from him. Here's the final bit of this line of questioning: are we going to be seeing any projects with him writing and you drawing? C: Umm. I don't know. If he comes up with anything that he'd like me to draw, probably. But he's also really sensitive to the fact that I'm going to continue drawing Blue Monday and I have a few other projects that are going to take up a lot of my time. But if there are any projects that he'd like me to draw, he'd call me and I'd likely do it. J: Well, I was just about to ask you about future projects, and you mentioned something, what is it? C: It's an original graphic novel, (woohoo!) it's called Brains On Vacation. It'a actually the project that I'm working on with Marco Pirroni, the original guitarist of Adam and the Ants, and it's going to be through Oni. It's basically about the beginning of Punk, starting before it was even a musical movement in London through the eyes of someone who was actually there. I also have the new Blue Monday project coming up that starts this Spring. J: So what's going on this round in Blue Monday? Is anyone in that group going to start having sex? Or are they just going to be running around being very frustrated with each other? C: That'd be telling! You'll have to see next series. You might find out. J: How long is this one going to be? C: This ones going to be four issues. We have actually yet to catch up with the Holiday books. On the time line we're between the second book [Absolute Beginners] and the holiday issues [Inbetween Days] so you're going to find out all sorts of stuff. J: So how far are we going to be seeing this group go in this series? Into their twenties? C: Oh Yeah, and it's going to be an entertaining ride. J: Weddings? Assassinations? Who gets sent to jail? C: All the good stuff, all the bad stuff. You see it all! Trauma, trauma, trauma! J: Nothing like some good trauma to add into a comic book series. C: There's so much material to get through with these guys. J: Wanting to go into some of the other stuff you've done. Probably your best selling single issue to date, and it's not even your characters, the Ultimate Marvel Team up with Bendis. C: Hey that's no fair! That's a mainstream comic! It's got Bendis, It's got X-Men and it's got Spidey it's not fair to compare it to Blue Monday! J: I'm not comparing, I know that Bendis was going to the artists and saying "who do you want to draw?" C: Was he? J: Well that was the implication that was given out from the beginning. Or did he just decide "Here, we'll just give Chynna the most popular people possible." C: That was probably closer, but I don't think that was what he was thinking. I think he came up with the idea and thought that I would do a good job with it. _ _ _ Okay that's it for this week, be back next Thursday (with a recap) for more fun and frolicking on the phone with the lovely Chynna! -Jay 8:49 PM + Jay D'Ici + permalink |