Essential bibliography: Dead Squirrel Girl (self-published)
First comic: “It was Elfquest, definitely. It was perfect for me, because originally I wanted to be a Disney animator, but the more I studied the animation industry, the more I realized that I’d be like a cog in a giant machine. And when I picked up Elfquest for the first time, there was Wendy Pini’s name – by Wendy & Richard Pini – right there. And I loved the idea of doing a comic book so much more, because it was all you, you got to do all of the content and have creative control. And you weren’t a cog in a machine – you were an individual artist. And, also, it was a lady drawing it! Which was like, ‘Whaaaaat? A lady, drawing these cool elves?’”
Currently working on: HammerSong (Patreon). “My tagline for it is, ‘A fantasy love letter to mail couriers and librarians.’”
“When I moved to Austin about 25 years ago, I had no idea that there was a comics scene in Austin. And then, once I got involved, I realized that half the town’s doing comic books. And there was – and maybe still will be, in the future – [independent media expo] STAPLE! And that’s where I got to know everyone. … I absolutely love the STAPLE! community, how inclusive it is, and how protective Uncle Staple was of all of us, and the idea of how everyone’s in the indie scene, everyone’s trying their best.
“I’m solely self-published. … It’s become a lot easier to self-publish in the past 20 years than it was when I was just a wee kid doing the thing. I’m funding HammerSong through Patreon. I’m three issues in, and all the printing costs are covered by my patrons – which is just wonderful, because comics – or art in general – you’re not getting an hourly wage, you know? That’s not what’s happening. You’re doing work, and you hope the work sells. So, to have people willing to give me, like, $2 a month and get the printing costs covered? That’s huge for me.”
This article appears in May 5 • 2023.