New York Times bestselling author, Hope Larson has advanced the medium
of comics in many markets and demographics. She is a comic book powerhouse, with a following among
indie comic book fans, children, tweens, young adults, and lately Supper Hero
fans. To date she has earned two Eisner awards and an Ignatz award. She was
kind enough to take time out of her bus schedule to answer a few question for me.
MH: You have experiences with indie and mainstream
direct-market (comicbook store) publishing, as well as traditional book publishers. How do
the editorial and distribution differ?
MH: Who would you list as comic book influences?
HL: I'm a long way into my career, so this is a weird question to get. I've always hated the "influences" question. I love lots of comics, books, films, TV shows, but I wouldn't necessarily call them influences. Being alive on planet Earth is my primary influence.
MH: How does your writing process differ when you write for an illustrator
compared to when you are illustrating the book yourself?
HL: It doesn't, really, except that if I'm writing for myself I have to play to my weaknesses as a draftsman. Ideally I'd be writingcharacters floating in a void, haha. What I'm really saying is that
it's easier to write in an unbridled way when you aren't the one who has to execute it. Coming from cartooning, I'm very aware of when I'm asking a lot of my artist (lots of crowd scenes, for example), and I try to balance things out on the page so they won't get too worn down.
MH: What did you see as the future of comics back when the Flight
anthology came out, and how does it compare to the comics landscape of
today?
HL: When Flight came out, the future I saw for myself was definitely indie comics. Very, very arty stuff. I realized fairly quickly that I'd rather be entertaining people, and the rest of my career has been an attempt to marry my love of literary, lo-fi, emotional stories to commercial, action-packed, fast-paced stories. But I digress...
I don't think I understood the comics and publishing industry back then, so I didn't have any expectations. I'm not even going to pretend I know where it's going. I love doing monthly comics and graphic novels, and I hope I continue to have both kinds of opportunities.
MH: Are there other exhibitors your looking forward to hanging out with a Staple?
HL: Scanning over the exhibitor list, I don't personally know anyone! The only guest I know is Ngozi, and I don't think we've actually met in person. I'm excited to meet some new folks and see what all the exciting up-and-coming comics are.
MH: Do you have any new projects you are willing to hint about?
HL: Sure! I'm still writing Batgirl, and I have a new middle grade graphic novel, All Summer Long, coming out next year. Rebecca Mock and I are working on our third graphic novel together. And I have pitches in for a few different things in both traditional publishing and the direct market, so I'm curious to see which projects "go".
Here are links to were you can find some of her work, and some excellent interviews Hope.
Bookslut’s
“An Interview With Hope Larson”
School Library
Journal “Interview: Hope Larson on ‘Knife’s Edge’”
Comicsverse
“BATGIRL: Exclusive Interview with Writer Hope Larson”
Comics
Alternative Interviews: Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock
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