Interviews

Hair has meant many things across many stories — for Samson, strength; for Rapunzel, escape; for Gretchen Wieners, secrets. In the world of Ariel Ries' Witchy, hair represents magical potential and, for its lead hero Nyneve, family trauma. ComicsAlliance spoke with Ries about magic, the sociopolitical ramifications of hair in her comic and the real world, and subverting genre expectations.

This weekend at Emerald City Comicon, Image is unveiling its upcoming romance comic Sleepless, the story of an enchanted knight who falls in love with the woman he's protecting. We had a quick chat with writer Sarah Vaughn, artist Leila del Duca, and editor Alissa Sallah about the influences that went into the comic's unique setting, and what you can expect from the book.

In Tabula Idem, editors Hye M. and Iris Jay have taken the conceit of tarot and used it as a conduit to tell stories about queer characters from queer creators. The project is running on Kickstarter now and looking for a funding target of $44,000, and every story features a card from the tarot deck, with the stories in some cases serving as a sort of "origin" for how the card gained its meaning and relevance, and found a place in the deck. It's a fabulous-looking project from a team that only began work on the anthology at last year's Emerald City Comic-Con. One year later, and with the project heading to print, ComicsAlliance spoke to both editors about their vision for Tabula Idem, and what readers can expect from the completed collection.

Colleen Doran made her first comic when she was twelve, and she's still writing and drawing it today. A Distant Soil stands apart as a unique project within the comics sphere; an epic longform story that has spanned decades in the real-world, and yet remained contemporary and compelling. Doran has also worked at Marvel and DC, and collaborated with writers including Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis. Along the way she's gained many admirers, but also vocal critics who tried to push her out of the industry. ComicsAlliance looks back over some of the milestones of her career, to chart how she became one of the most acclaimed artists in the industry today.

How does Gotham City realistically have any architecture that's more than a decade old? Do construction workers comprise the bulk of Marvel's New York workforce? And who pays for the city-wide collateral damage incurred every time aliens invade? Amanda Green, SIA, a webcomic written by Greg Thelen and illustrated successively by artists Marili Ramirez, MJ Barros, and Amy King, explores what it's like for the civilians in the oft superhuman-besieged city of New Romford, including its titular character, the superhuman insurance agent Amanda Green. ComicsAlliance spoke with Thelen about his story of regular people in a superhero world, the consequences of collateral damage, and sudden dinosaur transformation.

When there are four launch titles as bold, inventive and unique as Young Animal's line-up, it's hard to pick a stand-out, but Cecil Castellucci, Marley Zarcone and Kelly Fitzpatrick's Shade, The Changing Girl has established itself as a weird mix of deeply personal and super sci-fi high-concept, with one of the strongest collaborative voices in mainstream comics today This week, DC and Young Animal release the climax of Shade's first story, as Megan Boyer returns and wants her body back from the weird alien bird that stole it. ComicsAlliance caught up with Castellucci and Zarcone to talk about high school anxiety, Pinterest collaboration, and Shade's future in the larger DC Universe.

Last year, Adam P. Knave, DJ Kirkbride and Nick Brokenshire said farewell to their thirty-issue run with Amelia Cole, but didn't say farewell to each other; they've reunited for The Once And Future Queen from Dark Horse. A modern day retelling of Arthurian legend, it follows Rani Arturus as she goes from chess prodigy to the wielder of Excalibur, all while trying to juggle parental pressure and her crush on the cute English girl who recently moved to town. Ahead of the release of The Once And Future Queen #1 this week, ComicsAlliance caught up with the trio to talk about Arthurian re-interpretations, transatlantic collaborations and tiddly-winks.

In 2010 Professor John Jennings and Dr. Damian Duffy joined forces with Magnetic Press for an art book called Black Comix: American Independent Comics Art & Culture. Featuring work from a number of prominent African-American creators, the book proved a great success on Kickstarter, with a fully funded print run. Seven years later, the duo have re-teamed for Black Comix Returns, adding David Dissanayake as co-editor, and featuring artists including Sanford Greene, Afua Richardson, and Ben Passmore, plus many, many others. As before, the book has proved immediately popular; the Kickstarter has hit its target and is rapidly racing through its stretch goals. ComicsAlliance spoke to Duffy about the project and how it came together.

Released last year through Oni Press, The Mighty Zodiac assembled not just one but two impressive team-ups. Not only did the series join up characters who represent the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac --- from tiger to rat to pig to cat --- but also brought us the creative team of writer J. Torres, artist Corin Howell, and colorist Maarta Laiho. Together, they channeled a shared interest in the classical Disney movie style into a series filled with charm and heart. With the trade collection of the series planned to release from Oni in March, ComicsAlliance reassembled the creative trio to ask about how they first came together as the team, how the story developed from a concept to the final comic, and the challenges of taking a concept like the zodiac and turning it into a story of its own. Along the way, they discuss the series' influences, why it was important for this to be an all-ages story which anybody can enjoy... and why bunnies are the bad guys.

Artist Katie Longua has long been a favorite here at ComicsAlliance, creating distinctive, vibrant comics that sing with energy and jump straight off the page. After the success of her madcap risograph comic Munchies, it became clear that she's an artist with a kaleidoscope in her mind and a hugely exciting future in comics. Her newest project, Her Space Opera, is another ambitious, visually stunning piece of work. In collaboration with chiptune musician Accumulator, every page of the comic is accompanied by a different song from his newest album. Designed with his songs in mind, the comic creates a journey through space and creates a singular approach to narrative. Longua came onto the project with the album already in the works, and set about bending the music into visual life. ComicsAlliance spoke to Longua and Accumulator about how their collaboration came about.