Interviews – SMASH PAGES

Smash Pages Q&A | Jay Eaton on ‘Runaway to the Stars’

With a Kickstarter launching this week, we talk to Eaton about biology degrees, base-8 numeral systems and why a wall clock can take hours to draw.

Jay Eaton describes their path to comics less as a choice than as an inescapable gravitational pull, one they spent years trying to resist before giving in entirely.

After pursuing biology in college and working in horticulture, Eaton eventually committed full-time to the project they’d been building on the side all along: Runaway to the Stars, a hard sci-fi slice-of-life graphic novel about a centaur aerospace engineer, a shipwrecked AI pirate and the unlikely friendship that upends both their lives.

Eaton has been building this story on the web for years, and now it’s coming to print via Kickstarter through Iron Circus Comics. We talked about world-building as narrative, designing for bodies that aren’t human and what a biology degree is actually good for when you’re a cartoonist.

Smash Pages Q&A | D. B. Andry on ‘Estuary: A Ghost Story’

The co-writer of the new horror comic from Oni Press talks about West Coast horror, Catholic guilt, working with Tim Daniel and more.

A haunted cabin in the woods, an abandoned scientific research station in the arctic, an empty road with no civilization for miles … the best horror stories start with the right setting. David “D. B.” Andry and his co-writer Tim Daniel have built a reputation for comics that know exactly where they live, including Denizen, Morning Star and Red Vector.

Their latest, Estuary: A Ghost Story, arrives in stores today from Oni Press, and it may be their most atmospheric work yet: a four-issue supernatural thriller set along the California coast, where a 400-year-old Spanish mission sits atop a tidal estuary full of buried secrets, housing a reclusive nun who has spent decades making sure they stay that way.

I caught up with Andry to talk about “West Coast Horror,” the Catholic Church’s complicated California legacy, underwater ghosts and what it means to write horror with a collaborator who has more ideas in a day than most people have in a lifetime.

Smash Pages Q&A | Dave Baker + Nicole Goux on ‘Punk’n Heads’

The creators of ‘Fuck Off Squad,’ ‘Forest Hills Bootleg Society’ and more discuss their latest project, a punk rock coming-of-age story that Top Shelf will release next week.

In addition to their solo work, Dave Baker and Nicole Goux have jammed together on numerous graphic novels over the last several years that includes books like Fuck Off Squad, Forest Hills Bootleg Society and Everyone is Tulip. Next week they’ll add another to the list, Punk’n Heads, a punk rock, romantic coming-of-age story about being “young, messy and alive.”

“Punk’n Heads is a book for all the broken hearted losers out there,” Baker said. “The kids who wanted to accomplish great things and then ended up playing shitty back-room punk shows. If you’ve ever broken up with someone in the back of a van, right before six idiots in Doc Martens are about to pile in, this is the book for you.”

“For anyone whose journey hasn’t been a straight path, Punk’n Heads might just bring you a little solace,” Goux said. “Join Hannah, Jerry, Morgan and Birdie in their quest to make something cool, make it big or maybe just be a little less sad.”

I spoke with Baker and Goux about getting the band back together for their latest graphic novel, as well as being young, following your dreams and what happens when those dreams get derailed. You can also check out some preview pages from the book before it arrives in stores next week.

Picture + Panel | Meera Subramanian + Katy Doughty on making comics about the climate crisis

Check out our interview in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

We’re happy to continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic — in this case, stories about “humanity’s closest brushes with extinction.”

On April 6, Meera Subramanian and Katy Doughty, along with WBUR environmental correspondent Barbara Moran, will discuss what it takes to keep the world alive, given the current climate crisis and, well … (motions at everything). The event is hosted by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center.

Meera Subramanian is an award-winning freelance journalist who writes narrative nonfiction about home in the personal and planetary sense, in a time of climate crisis. Her work has appeared in publications such as Nature, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Orion, where she is a contributing editor. Her first book was A River Runs Again: India’s Natural World in Crisis, which was short-listed for the 2016 Orion Book Award. A Better World Is Possible: Global Youth Confront the Climate Crisis, a graphic novel she did with artist Danica Novgorodoff, arrived in March.

Katy Doughty is a California-born, Texas-bred, New England—educated illustrator who holds a bachelor of fine arts in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and a master of public health from Boston University School of Public Health. Her unique background fuels her interest in the intersection of visual communication, research, and health care. She lives in Boston with her husband.

Smash Pages Q&A | Ben H. Winters on ‘Benjamin’

The creator of TV’s ‘Tracker’ talks dead sci-fi authors, sunny noir and why comics let you do “any damn crazy-ass thing you want to.”

Ben H. Winters has built a career out of defying easy categorization. He’s the Philip K. Dick Award-winning novelist behind The Last Policeman trilogy and Underground Airlines, a TV writer whose credits include FX’s Legion and Apple TV’s Manhunt, and the creator of Tracker, currently one of the biggest hits on CBS. If that sounds like a lot, it is, yet somehow he’s also found time to dive headfirst into comics.

After contributing to Oni Press’s acclaimed revival of the EC Comics line, Winters has now made his miniseries debut with Benjamin, illustrated by the Leomacs. The book follows Benjamin J. Carp, brilliant, slightly self-destructive sci-fi author who died in 1982, as he wakes up inexplicably alive in 2025 Los Angeles, forced to investigate the impossible mystery of his own existence. It’s surreal, funny and deeply strange in the best possible way. The trade paperback collection of Benjamin is out now from Oni Press.

I got the chance to talk to Winters about how he came to comics, what makes Benjamin tick, and what it’s like to bounce between network television and deeply weird graphic novels. He also let slip some details about what’s coming next.

Smash Pages Q&A | Bruno Redondo on ‘The DC Art of Bruno Redondo’

From a 12-year-old reading ‘Incredible Hulk’ to three Eisner Awards, Redondo reflects on the career that led to his first major art book.

Bruno Redondo has spent the last decade building an impressive body of work in comics. From his early DC work on Human Target and Batman: Arkham Unhinged to his career-defining runs on Injustice and Nightwing, he’s developed a visual language that’s entirely his own — fluid, expressive, and packed with personality. Along the way, he’s picked up three Eisner Awards and won over countless fans.

Now, Clover Press is giving his work a retrospective with The DC Art of Bruno Redondo, a 200+ page, 9″x12″ hardcover collecting his best DC work to date, with an introduction by his longtime collaborator Tom Taylor. The campaign is live now on Kickstarter, with edition options ranging from hardcover to signed slipcase, plus extras like a fold-out edition of the iconic Nightwing #87, rarely-seen sketches and commissions, a sticker pack and more.

I recently had the chance to talk with Bruno about how he fell in love with comics, what makes his creative partnership with Tom Taylor tick, what it means to look back at a career still very much in progress. and more. Here’s what he had to say.

Picture + Panel | Robert Mgrdich Apelian + Shaina Lu talk about the intersection of food, family and comics

Check out our interview in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

Today we continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic. Robert Mgrdich Apelian and Shaina Lu, whose graphic novels explore “the intersections of culture, community and comestibles,” talk to us about food and comics. You can find more details on the Feb. 2 event here.

Picture + Panel is a monthly conversation series produced in partnership by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center, Picture + Panel provides thought-provoking discussions for the unique form of expression that is the comics medium.

Robert Mgrdich Apelian (he/him) is an Armenian American author-illustrator based in Everett, Massachusetts. He’s an avid reader of seinen manga and is especially passionate about making the most of comics as a storytelling medium. A primary goal of his work is to celebrate the diversity and cultural excellence of the Middle East and to portray it as something other than tragic and war-torn.

Shaina Lu (she/her) is a queer Taiwanese American community artist exploring the intersection of art, education, and activism. She graduated from Wellesley College and Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she studied arts in education. When she’s not creating community art, she works with young artists and makers in Boston’s Chinatown. Most important, she drinks juice every day, and she is full of sugar.

Picture + Panel | Jesse Mechanic + Tom Hart on creating comics on grief and loss

We continue our interview series in advance of a live question-and-answer session between the two creators in Boston next week.

Today we continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic. Today, Tom Hart and Jesse Mechanic will talk about grief and the impact it has had on their work, and we’re fortunate to present a preview of that conversation. You can find more details on the event here.

Tom Hart is a critically acclaimed Eisner-nominated cartoonist and the Executive Director of The Sequential Artists Workshop in Gainesville, Florida. He is the creator of Rosalie Lightning and the Hutch Owen series of graphic novels and books. The Collected Hutch Owen was nominated for best graphic novel in 2000 and has received a Xeric Grant. Tom has taught sequential art at the University of Florida and at NYC’s School of Visual Arts.

Jesse Mechanic is an opinion columnist, essayist and artist. He has published work in Mother Jones, In These Times, HuffPost, Truthout and other publications. Jesse enjoys woodworking, the television show Cheers and working diligently to dismantle the various oppressive systems that define our world. The Last Time We Spoke is his debut graphic novel.

Smash Pages Q&A | Rafael Scavone on ‘Devil’s Luck: A Hailstone Story’

Scavone talks about bringing greed, gold and the supernatural together in his latest return to the world of ‘Hailstone.’

Writer Rafael Scavone returns to the world of Hailstone with Devil’s Luck: A Hailstone Story, a five-issue horror thriller now available on Comixology Originals.

Set during the Great Depression, the series follows Tim Beacon, a desperate dentist who becomes entangled in a sinister plot involving a mysterious patient’s golden teeth. Teaming up with artist Eduardo Ferigato, Scavone weaves a tale of greed, betrayal and the supernatural that takes the Hailstone universe into darker territory than ever before.

I spoke with Scavone about his journey into comics, revisiting the world of Hailstone and crafting this chilling new story.

Smash Pages Q&A | Magnetic Press publisher Mike Kennedy on bringing ‘Freaks Squeele’ to America

The publisher launches all seven volumes of Florent Maudoux’s acclaimed series on Kickstarter.

Magnetic Press has been building a distinctive catalog of internationally acclaimed graphic novels since 2013. With 31 Eisner Award nominations and a win for Best Production Design in 2024, publisher Mike Kennedy has proven there’s a market in the U.S. for stories from Europe. Now Magnetic is taking on one of its most ambitious projects yet: the complete seven-volume saga of Florent Maudoux’s Freaks Squeele, a manga-inspired superhero series that’s been captivating readers around the world since 2008.

Described as “Jujutsu Kaisen meets X-Men by way of Scott Pilgrim,” Freaks Squeele follows three misfit students at a superhero university where heroism is a regulated profession and deadly tournaments are broadcast for public consumption. The Kickstarter campaign launches all seven volumes at once, featuring 1,000 pages of story — plus an exclusive artbook and a limited edition “dorm footlocker” storage box.

We caught up with Kennedy to talk about what drew Magnetic Press to Freaks Squeele, how the publisher approaches translating international works and why European comics continue to offer something American readers can’t find anywhere else.

Picture + Panel | Tana Ford + Colleen AF Venable ‘paws and reflect’ on cats

The two creators chat about cats in advance of their live discussion in Boston.

Today we continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic. Tomorrow, Tana Ford and Colleen AF Venable will talk all things feline, as cats take center stage, and we’re happy to present a preview of their conversation.

Picture + Panel is a monthly conversation series that brings graphic novel creators to the Boston area. Each conversation explores a specific topic, ranging from the fun and exciting to the strange or serious — like demon possession or monsters. Produced in partnership by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center, Picture + Panel provides thought-provoking discussions for the unique form of expression that is the comics medium.

Tana Ford is a Hugo and Eisner award–winning artist. She has illustrated comics for Marvel, Dark Horse, Vertigo and IDW. You can find her work on LaGuardia, Silk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, New Warriors, Jem and the Holograms, Star Trek and Black Panther: Long Live the King. Tana is a recipient of the Prism Comics Queer Press Grant and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. She lives in a seaside cottage in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where she is presently obsessed with birds.

Colleen AF Venable is the author of the National Book Award-longlisted Kiss Number 8, a graphic novel co-created with Ellen T. Crenshaw. Her other books include the Katie the Catsitter series with Stephanie Yue, Mervin the Sloth is About to Do the Best Thing in The World with Ruth Chan, The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom with Lian Cho, and the Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye series, also with Stephanie Yue and nominated for the Best Publication for Kids Eisner. Previously Colleen was the sole designer for hundreds of First Second Books, worked as a Creative Director for Workman and Macmillan, and the Director for Epic! Kids. Now she writes full-time and splits her time between North Adams, Massachusetts and Brooklyn, New York.

And now, let’s hear what they have to say about cats …

Smash Pages Q&A | Joshua Viola on serving up a meta-horror finale in ‘True Believer’ #3

With the three-issue miniseries from Bit Bot Media wrapped, we caught up with the co-writer on its horror-filled Easter eggs, special guests and more.

The final issue of True Believers arrived Oct. 13, bringing the blood-soaked comic book series from Stephen Graham Jones, Joshua Viola, Ben Matsuya and Jeremiah Lambert to its chaotic conclusion.

The third issue reunites the creative team behind the meta-horror series that’s featured cameos from Jamie Lee Curtis, GWAR, R.L. Stine and more horror icons across its run. This time, Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, Re-Animator stars Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs, and Celldweller’s Klayton join the mayhem as another masked killer terrorizes convention-goers obsessed with the fictional slasher franchise Killr™.

Jones, whose novel The Buffalo Hunter Hunter appeared on President Barack Obama’s 2025 Summer Reading List, co-wrote the series with Viola. The duo has crafted a trilogy that blends outrageous kills, tongue-in-cheek humor and meta Easter eggs while questioning just how far fandom can go.

I spoke to Viola about wrapping up the final arc for Killr™, collaborating with Jones on the chaotic horror narrative and the Easter eggs horror fans should watch for in the issue. Fans can purchase all three issues of the series from Bit Bot Media.

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