Q: Be honest! How familiar were you with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein when you first pitched for Unfashioned Creatures?
A: I actually had to read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein twice before I was even eighteen for school reading so I can say that I was fairly familiar with it. I can even tell you that the novel was originally written as part of a contest between Mary and other writers of the time to see who could write the scariest story.
Q: What’s your favorite take on the Frankenstein mythos? Least favorite?
A: The fact that a guy could create life from pieces of several dead people is pretty crazy. What’s not to like about that? And the living-dead creature ends up being way wiser that the scientific genius. I wonder if the monster became the same person whose dead brain he had or was he something new entirely?
Q: Major inspirations for your art/writing? What led you down the comics road to ruin?
A: I’m inspired by my peers and by veterans of the field. My favorite pieces always seem to be straigh-up black and white imagery. Elegant and simple, but also complex. I love to draw obviously, and I also love story-telling, so comics just seems like the natural thing to do.
Q: What else are you working on now? Any long-term projects?
A: Right now I’m working on a project still in its early stages with fellow Creature – Anthony Moretta. A contemporary comic with a supernatural flare. I’m also always laboring over a brain child of my own.
Q: If you could be any monster, who/what would you be?
A: If I could be any monster? I’d probably be some sort of combination dog beast with wings that could control peoples’ dreams. Because that would be awesome.
Jess L’Heureux is a freelance illustrator who recently graduated with her BFA in Illustration.
UNFASHIONED CREATURES is a collection of over twenty monstrous, moving and mirthful tributes to Mary Shelley and her legendary tale, Frankenstein. An eclectic body of comic shorts, short-series and original art, sure to inspire equal parts terror and lols.
Matthew Erman compiled questions for this interview. Check back in the coming weeks for the next Q&A with more Fashioners!