How did you get started making comics?

I started making them with any kind of consistency when I was 19, while I was working for this Americorps program. They were a way both to journal a bit but also get a snapshot of these moments to share with my coworkers. I'd wanted to make other not-autobio comics before but never got that far, so I think working with sort of already existing material helped me not get too in my head about it. I stopped for quite awhile and then picked it back up again when I was 25, for similar journaling/venting about work and grad school.

When do you know you have a good idea for a comic? What's your process like?

My process is sort of like a sudden possession: I have an idea and within a matter of days sit down and bang out a sketch and immediately ink it. I like the casualness, but I do feel like I'm starting to plateau in terms of both what stories I'm telling and how I use what's unique about comics to tell them.

For me a good comic usually comes from some happening that's goofy or unique that makes for a fun story, or something that’s very relatable to a certain group; in my case most often food service workers. There's a kind of catharsis from drawing some deranged customer acting out, and then having people online commiserate and also feel represented for a change. I used to worry about being too niche or needing to give more background, but increasingly I think the way to interesting work is specificity. In wanting to make more original work I'm trying to allow for the most specificity of “well, I like it, so maybe some other people will too.”

STUDENT HIGHLIGHT