HERoes: April Malig

We get a chance to have a no pressure conversation about comics with female creators in the community. Their creativity is inspiring to people throughout the comic fandom who enjoy their work.

They are our HERoes.


april malig
Independent comic creator April Malig has a sparkle in her eye and at times goes bananas…at least that is how she categorizes her magic genre comics and short stories! The creator of Magical Bitches which, like one of her favorite manga stories, seeks to prove that strength doesn’t have to come from masculine qualities such as broadswords or machine guns.

Jessica Boyd: What is your favorite aspect of comics?

April Malig: What I love most about comics is that it’s sort of… this wild lawless artistic land. Maybe that doesn’t make sense, but you can literally do anything with comics. Other mediums don’t have the same kind of freedom. With movies, you’ve limited by all sorts of things (money, the fact you need like, eighty billion other people to work with you on it, etc). With writing there’s this tension between doing “literary” work and “genre” work, which can feel constraining. And with fine art, there’s a limited audience and you sort of need this insider knowledge to engage with it. Comics are none of these things: they’re cheap to make, you can write any sort of story you want, and they’re relatively easy to understand by all different sorts of people.

As a medium, you also have so much creative real estate to layer multiple levels of meaning. Not only can you work with what is drawn and what is written, you have control over the way things are drawn, the way things are lettered, the colors you use, the way you arrange the panels. Anyway, there’s a lot going on, a lot to work with, and I try to be conscious of all those things when composing a page.

Oh and also the comics community, in my personal experience, is really lovely and supportive (and very small, which may be why).

JB: What is your favorite part of creating comics?

AM: I love the writing part of comic making. I could write comics and dream of comic-scenarios all day. Penciling… not so much. I feel like penciling is when all the joy gets sucked out of writing these ridiculous things because at that point you have to make them real and look nice. Hahaha. I guess it’s just because writing is what I have the most practice in. I also love coloring. Basically all my colors look like candy (though, but as my friend put it, my comics “taste like heartache”).

JB: What issue or series has had the biggest influence on your work? Who is your favorite protagonist/antagonist?

sailormoonAM:  Well, if we’re talking going back, way back, into my comics past, it would be Sailormoon by Naoko Takeuchi. I suppose you don’t want me to write an essay about it, but basically, that’s what started this whole comics thing, back when I was third grade. It’s basically the series that introduced me to this anime/manga way of narrative, that is both ridiculous in terms of plot but also strangely affecting and emotional. Also, the art style. At the time, when I was a kid, the way Naoko Takeuchi drew was so daunting, it was so beautiful to me that it had the effect of making me actually not want to do comics. How could I, when everything she drew looked so otherworldly and perfect? But, eh, I’ve sort of gotten over that and I think you can definitely see her influence in the weird big eyed oblong way I draw people, I think.

Sailor Moon is also a really great character. I love her because she’s such a screw up. The other Sailor Soldiers are way cooler, way more competent… while she’s basically this crybaby (I mean, there’s literally a part in the manga where she cries to defeat a monster, which I find incredibly hilarious) who just loves eating and sleeping and hates all this pesky responsibility. She’s very human that way, and maybe this is more of a trope than I think it is, but Usagi saves the day not because she’s the best anything, but because she has great love for other people. I’ve always thought that was sweet and inspiring in a way.

My other more recent influences include the work of Eleanor Davis and Lilli Carré (who actually was my thesis advisor when I was at CCS). When I was first starting to do comics seriously, those were the two creators I wanted to emulate the most, in their surreal, emotionally driven short stories. I really love both their work.

JB: What is a typical creative working day for you?

AM: Hah, I should be no one’s role model when it comes to scheduling creative time. I basically try my best to block out whatever time I have (after my day job, on the weekends) and just sit in a chair until a sufficient amount of work comes out of me. I usually go to the cafe when I need to write, just for the caffeine (and maybe a little distraction), but I most of my work at home. I am, however, constantly writing in my head. With drawing it’s a little more random– I’ll just draw whatever I can. Sometimes I ink before I finish penciling because I get antsy. Also inking puts me in the mode where I am like, “okay, you’re most messing around, this is a real comic page.” But yeah, a lot of sitting and swinging around in my chair goes on. Haha, ask my old studio mates. Apparently I listen to a lot of Beyonce when I’m stuck.

JB: Musical inspirations? Or do you need quiet to create?

howlsmovingcastleAM: Lately I’ve been listening to this 10 hour loop of the Howl’s Moving Castle Theme when I draw (oh no! it’s been taken down, ah well). I do listen to music while I pencil and ink, but to be honest, if it’s going well, I barely even notice it.

However, I am one of those people who will make playlists to get in the mindset of certain characters, possibly for fun, but also to get in the mindset of certain characters a bit more. It pretty much ensures that I’m thinking about the story, even in my idle time, like when I’m sitting on the subway.

JB: What is your favorite representation of women in comics (floppies, webcomics, any medium?)

AM: Okay, I don’t want to talk about Sailormoon too much but I feel like this is important to say. I love the way women are represented in that manga because there’s this notion in the way that they fight and everything about them, that femininity is powerful, that girliness does not equate weakness. They don’t use weapons to fight, really, they just use sparkles that come out of gemstones. Strength does not come from masculine qualities in that world, which is kind of badass when you think about it.

On the other hand, I love love love Hellen Jo’s work and her depiction of brawling, swearing, delinquent Korean girl gangs. They’re so tough and real. I want to be one of them but I know I’m very much not like that. Oh well, one can dream! Also, Katie Skelly’s Operation Margarine has

In terms of mainstream comics, I adore She-Hulk (I feel like this doesn’t need explaining, she’s awesome, end of story). Basically she’s the best.

And Ms. Marvel! Ms. Marvel is maybe one of the first characters where I read that comic and was like, “heh, that’s like when I was a teenager.” Her background is a little different than mine, but I’m also a child of uptight, overbearing, well-meaning immigrant parents. It was sort of wonderful to see a superhero not allowed to go out at night who spends her free time writing silly fanfiction; it was very familiar. And I think really important too. Because you know, the audience for comics is pretty varied (and has the potential to become even more diverse) and more and more comics should reflect that.

JB: What is one of your favorite story or cover you have ever been part of creating?

magical bitchesAM: Well, right now I’m working on a series called Magical Bitches which is the story of five runaway magical girls living in an abandoned hotel in the desert. I love working on that story. Not only do I get to poke fun at some shoujo manga magical girl tropes, the series sort of acts as my narrative stress relief. My other work is basically sad poetry art comics and while I love doing that, it’s really fun to unwind and do something totally different. Though, to be honest, there’s also a fair amount of “expressing bad emotions through fiction,” in Magical Bitches too. I guess I can’t help it.

Another story I’m really proud of is this 12 Panel Pitch I wrote for Slate, illustrated by (the amazingly talented) Hwei Lim. She did such a wonderful job illustrating it and it was a chance for me to write something that I would have never had the skill to do on my own. Also, it turned out incredibly creepy. I’m really happy with it, and other people seemed to like it, so that’s a bonus, too.

JB: What do you think is the biggest impact of female voices in the creation process?/What do you feel is the biggest impact of the growing number of female fans or the acknowledgement of female fans in comics?

AM: Well, I think it just has to do with the more female voices in comics = a better variety of stories being told. As a whole, I think comics need more creators (and not just characters) that are not straight white males, particularly in the more “mainstream” comics world. I got into comics through indie comics, and there are definitely more female creators in those comic microcosms. It just felt like it wasn’t a big deal that I was a woman, I mean, half my class at CCS was female. And there’s so much good work coming out of indie comics, so much great work by women, queer artists, and people of color. It really feels like a vibrant, inclusive, and innovative community. And I wish the same for mainstream comics as well. There’s been a lot of progress, there, I think, from what I can see. But as an outsider, it can still feel very much like a boys’ club. If there were more female creators, it would in turn lead to more female comics fans, which would lead to more creators, different voices, and better comics– and who wouldn’t want that?

JB: What role do you think social media plays in comics or the comics industry? How has that changed since you began?

AM: Oh, I definitely think participating social media is key to having a successful comics career. Especially tumblr. I guess back in the olden days, people followed illustration and comics blogs and that’s how they found new artists. Now, it seems to easy. You go on your dashboard, and something has been reblogged and you like it, you follow them, and then you’re their fan. There’s this weird aspect to it too, you never know what’ll become popular and also you never know whether that popularity will translate into anything concrete. I don’t know, I love tumblr though.

Also I feel like twitter has become really important. It’s sort of easy to make friends on twitter and sustain friendships from cons. Usually I meet people at a convention or at a reading and then follow them on twitter. Through that, that acquaintance becomes something more like friendship, because in a way, you talk to them every day, like you’re at some virtual party all the time. I enjoy it, personally.

We’re all so much more connected to each other now, and though that can feel claustrophobic at times, I think it’s a good thing, in the end.

april_bio_imageJB: What is some advice you wish someone had given you before you began working in the comic medium?

AM: Hmm.. that comics isn’t something you “win.” The only person you’re competing with is your past self, so just try to do work that authentically comes from you and try your best to improve. Hopefully then people will like it. If not, well, you’ve made something that you yourself should be proud of. When I first started off, I was really shy because to be honest, I’m not the greatest drafts-person, but you know, I try to keep in mind that no one is like me, no one can make work like I can and I have something to say that’s unique.

Oh and if you’re going to make mini-comics, make sure that they’re at at easy size to reproduce. Printing outside of school settings can be so difficult! Haha.

JB: What message(s) do you hope people get when experiencing your work?

AM: For my own sad poetry comic work, I sort of see it as this: I really want to experience and share a specific emotion with people. I want to bring sort of half of it to the table, and make people recall specific instances and feelings in their life, so reading it is a joint effort that can be interpreted in very different ways. The greatest compliment I’ve ever received is that my friend Sasha dry cried on an airplane on a plane sitting next to two Vietnamese girls eating Burger King while reading my comic. I’m really glad I could bring that out, haha.

For my other, less abstract work, I don’t know, I just want people to have fun reading it– but also I want to illicit some emotion or relate in some way as well. I’m really fond of metaphors. Everything I do is secretly (or not so secretly?) about something else.

JB:When it comes to comics, “all I want or dream is …” 

AM: … for me and my friends to do work that makes us feel artistically (and financially!) satisfied, and for other people to enjoy it. Isn’t that everyone’s dream?

You can check out more about April and her work at:

Tumblr: http://aprilmalig.tumblr.com
Twitter: @aprilangelica
Website: http://aprilmalig.com
and a store: http://aprilmalig.storenvy.com

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