By LJ Douresseau
January 31, 2004 - 11:03
There is still time, all you aspiring comic book creators out there, to enter TOKYOPOP’s Rising Stars of Manga 3 contest (deadline, March 15, 2004). Now, I know that there are a lot of talented graphic designers and illustrators hankering for their chance to be cartoonists. If you aspire to more than just drawing some Spider-Man or X-Men movie tie-in or creating Watchmen 2 and some gritty, Frank Miller Batman pastiche you know DC is just hankering for, then RSoM3 is just for you.
If you’ve had a chance to see THE RISING STARS OF MANGA, VOL. 2, the anthology book in which TOKYOPOP published the ten winning entries, you now know what so many denied for so long. There is real comic book creating talent out there who want to do their own thing, and they’re every bit as talented, if not more, than many wannabes groveling for a chance to pimp their talents to corporate trademarks. TOKYOPOP showed us that manga is the way. Manga has allowed for diversity of content and genre.
Thus, my little diatribe opens the way for our Q&A with Shaun Healey, the fifth in our series on the winners of the second RSoM contest who saw their splendid work published in the aforementioned anthology. According to the introduction to Shaun’s piece in TRSoM2, the twenty-something artist was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently lives in New Jersey.
His winning story, “The Calling Grounds” comes from a style that has emerged from the otaku community. The word “otaku” has some negative connotations, but it’s generally used to describe anime fans (sometimes, rabid American anime fans) or fandom. This otaku style is known as kawaii-cuteness (“kawaii” means cute as in “Awww…look how cute!”) and has been popularized by the artist collective CLAMP in such manga as MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH and ANGELIC LAYER. Other kawaii manga include Megumi Tachikawa’s SAINT TAIL and Koge Donbo’s DI GI CHARAT, and the “Cardcaptor Sakura” series is an example of kawaii anime.
The Calling Ground is the story of a boy, Cowen, trying to make it in a girl’s world. Shaun does a fine job telling the story of Cowen’s struggle to have faith in himself and to not only embrace his destiny, but to also take it. Shaun uses only pencil to draw his story, and he uses the pencil to suggest depth by shading. It’s hard to pick favorites among the winners of the second contest, but Shaun’s art is oh so sweet. I hope he gets a chance to do more manga. He already has a few admirers:
What was your first experience with comics? What kind of comics were they, and what were the titles?
SH: The first comics I ever came across, at least the ones I enjoyed the most, were mostly Marvel and DC, as they were pretty much the only ones I had access to when I was young. I was a big fan of SPIDER-MAN at the time, until cartoon-based comics came around, like GHOSTBUSTERS and TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES.
At what point were you first exposed to manga and anime, and what were your initial reactions to it or your feelings?
SH: It's a fuzzy memory, but the very first anime I think I caught a glimpse of was the original “Dragon Ball,” airing on evening television back in the 80's. And that was the last I'd see of it until years later, but it was enough to get me very interested, even as a child. I remember the colors and character designs seemed so much more engaging than western styled cartoons. (And an old man with a turtle shell on his back would be enough to intrigue any kid my age, I'd think. Yes, it's scary, but Master Roshi is probably the first anime character I ever laid eyes on.)
What was it about the form that attracted you to manga, and what were the particular titles and creators who appealed to you?
SH: The first manga I picked up, or rather, was introduced to by a friend, was RANMA 1/2, by Rumiko Takahashi. I fell in love with the offbeat storylines and the hilarious character quirks. I guess what I liked so much about it was that it was just so different from your traditional western comic design, i.e. man in tights saves the world in twenty-eight pages, rinse and repeat. Takahashi was about the only creator I had access to, as my parents had somewhat of a negative stigma regarding manga, and thus became what I based the foundation of my comic designs on.
When did you first become aware that there were U.S. based publishers of manga (like Eclipse, Dark Horse, TOKYOPOP, etc.) and what titles did you like?
SH: Only very recently did I discover that there were U.S. based publishers of manga, though I never saw a title that really grabbed me enough to want to read the series, excluding some of TOKYOPOP's releases. I actually don't read very many comics, but when I do, I tend to go through the entire series rather faithfully. Right now I'm working on BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL, a current favorite for good reason.
Were there elements of manga and titles that you didn’t like or found off putting? What about them didn’t you like?
SH: The only elements of manga I don't like are typically when it's a western made manga trying way, way too hard to BE manga, or at least emulate the more outrageous aspects of popularized manga styles. That's been in more recent years though. As a kid I was completely enthralled with the style, not many complaints. ?
When did you become aware of TOKYOPOP and the Rising Stars of Manga contest?
SH: Last year, I heard about the contest about a month before the due date. Needless to say, the following month was a mad rush to get a completed work cranked out in time. It was particularly difficult, considering it was the first comic I'd ever tried to make.
Was the second contest your first entry in RSoM?
SH: No, I entered the first year of the contest as well. But the finished product was a very a disappointing one, as I'd made a lot of mistakes on the way to it's creation, and they certainly showed in the end result. (Pages too small, scanned in grainy, details were done in a blunt pencil in a matter of three days before the due date.. very ugly. Heh.)
Was your entry something you’d been working on for a long time, or was it something new for RSoM? Did you have to rework the concept to make it fit the preconceived notions of what manga is?
SH: This year's entry was an offshoot of a loose story I've had in the works for a very long time, taking place five years or so after the initial plotline. The characters in the entry (excluding the teacher, Miss Mendolyn) were all created for the contest itself, and their personalities and concepts changed quite a few times, in order to try and become well rounded enough to endear themselves to the reader in 20 pages. (I guess I'll have yet to see if I did that job well enough. ?)
How does your work fit in with the “manga style,” and I’m asking this knowing that manga encompasses an incredibly broad base of genres and storytelling techniques?
SH: I've been told my character designs have a very classic manga look to them, whereas others point out certain ones and tell me it reminds them of an already established character from another series. (I'm not particularly fond of when this happens, so I usually make drastic changes to the character design afterwards.. heh.) The genre of the entry was of the "advanced" sort of fantasy, a theme I see commonly used in various manga's and game designs, in which the settings and creatures depicted reflect a more "old world fantasy" theme, with elements of futuristic concepts in it, such as the character costumes, unique modes of transportation, etc. Think the FINAL FANTASY series.
What is your artistic background as far as training and learning, even it you are self-taught?
SH: Saturday morning cartoons and those early day comic books have been my only training. I even picked up those "How to Draw (etc)" instructional books whenever I got the chance as a kid. Never took an art course outside of school, and never got very far into the art program in high school. And here I am in the University of the Arts. No, it doesn't make sense to me either. ?
Is it your goal or dream to be a cartoonist, and how are you working towards that goal in terms of educating yourself about the history, form, and content of comics.
SH: My current goal will be surviving college. I'd had the option of attending a comic art school, but passed it over in favor of a more well rounded artistic education in the University of the Arts, PA. My major being Illustration, I'd like to set my sights on a reasonable career doing work for various fields (magazines, books, video games, website designs, etc), at least enough to support myself. Ultimately, I'd love to create graphic novels. (And what aspiring comic artist doesn't want to see their work made into an animated film.. ? )
Describe the feelings you had upon being notified that you were a RSoM winner
SH: The initial reaction was disbelief, followed by shock, followed by a tad more disbelief, then the most comfortable sort of satisfaction I've encountered in a long time.? Grateful and ecstatic that it would be published, then a bit apprehensive when I learned this would be the time to become accustomed to criticism. Heh.
Did winning change your long range plans in terms of your work and/or budding career as a cartoonist?
SH: Not entirely. Gave me a boost of confidence. Now maintaining that boost is the hard part. But I intend on finishing college just the same. And doing whatever it is we artists do. Besides starve.
THANK YOU. I appreciate Shaun taking the time to answers those questions. As usual, I want to also thank Mina Sung of PR/Marketing at TOKYOPOP for her help; darn, she sure is good at her job. You can find out more about the Rising Stars contest at www.tokyopop.com and if you can’t find the Rising Stars anthology at your local comic shop (and you probably won’t), your local big chain bookstore is bound to have it. Amazon.com and Walmart.com (much to many people’s surprise) have extensive selections of TOKYOPOP for order and pre-order.
Also, if you’re an art comics, mini-comics, indy comics, and small press publisher, editor, creator and you have comics you want me to review or you are interested in some kind of publicity. Click on the email link to my name and HOLLA!