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Laura is another of those young talents associated with Sweatdrop Studios.  I first saw some of Laura’s work online –BIOMECHA- and mentioned this on CBO at the time.  

So,if you want to learn more about this talented creator –here’s the place! 

TH: Laura,in the UK there have been no girls comics for..20+ years,so I’m guessing you weren’t influenced by them!  So,let’s start with the simple questions first!  

Right,can I –dare I?- ask where and when you were born –and we’ll leave out the “A crypt bathed in silver Moonlight” shall we? 

Laura: I was born and raised in Halesowen, a small town in the West Midlands, 11 miles outside of Birmingham. I was lucky to be raised alongside most types of comics, as my dad was (and still is) an avid comic collector!

 TH: So what exactly influenced you and made you want to draw? 

Laura: You’re right about there being no girls’ comics around; when I was at school, there weren’t any girls’ comics at all, really - British, American or Japanese translated manga - and the ones I got hold of were from back in the 70’s but I wasn’t interested in stories about boarding schools or pony riding. These did not relate to me as a person. Beano and Dandy comics were prevalent in my youth, and as a kid I enjoyed them, but apart from superheroes and 200OAD there wasn’t anything else to read.

Reading comics was “not cool” in my peers’ eyes at school. But I was grateful to have stumbled across anime and manga, as it covered a gap in the market, and for me as a comic reading teen.

This was particularly inspiring and being as I have always drawn - ever since I could hold a pen, really - I felt that I could also do this sort of thing. 

TH: How long before you began drawing comic strips?  

Laura: I had some half-hearted attempts in pencil at age 13, but I sat down and properly concentrated on making pages the year after. Dad was pretty good at making sure I thought about clean lines, speech bubbles and so on - I was lucky to have that guidance, especially pre-internet. (Production standards are very important!).

Though, I do remember drawing a sort of graphic novel in crayon when I was 4 years old (!) - I remember it involved the Smurfs and Gargamel. Randomly, as a kid, licensed characters were always particularly influential to me.  

TH: What was your first ever strip about and what was it called? 

Laura: Embarassingly, “Hot Dog! Noodle Takeaway”. It was published in (as far as my knowledge goes) the first UK-produced, small press, manga-styled comic anthology, aptly named “British Manga” (around ‘94). I drew about 120+ pages of it but I got bored of it (I was full of enthusiasm but did absolutely no forward planning) and the fanzine ceased circulation. I decided to start afresh with a new story I, erm, again failed to plan properly, but it was a vaguely better and more conclusive than HD!NT. The second comic was “Biomecha” which I am indeed continuing ’til this day.  

TH: So I have to assume here that,having gotten into drawing strips you continued this at university?   

Laura: It was half-heartedly noted by my tutors, and I did a grand total of one 10-page comic for my actual coursework on a three year course - but I drew sporadically throughout my higher education. Truth be told the style was (proabably still is) too alien and was not looked upon favourably. In hindsight and partly at the time I understood that this was because the tutors wished for me to draw in other ways other than a manga style, which of course I did - but manga was/is seen as too derivative and weird, yet drawing in a manner akin to bande dessines or any western comics would not be frowned upon as such.

I took on board and drew in other manners anyway, but I did not find this attitude at all conductive to my progress - in fact it was very depressing and hindered my productivity.  

If anyone is interested in doing comics at university - good luck. It has been suggested that it may be less soul destroying and depressing if you nurture your comic drawing hobby in private, but obviously continue to produce good, tutor-friendly work for your university coursework.  

TH: Was there any sort of “comic community” at your university? 

Laura: I met up with the Square Eyed Stories gang at a comic convention at the Adelphi (their site is  www.squareeyedstories.co.uk ), most of whom I still occasionaly keep in contact with. These guys are very supportive, always productive and I wished I had found them sooner rather than later! 

TH: And you came away with a BA [Hons],right?   I understand animation was involved?  

Laura: Luckily I did! The course was “Graphic Arts” which concentrated on illustration and animation. I was told to choose one but I found that very restrictive so was able to wangle a combination of both. I made some traditionally-crafted 2D animation and coloured it in Photoshop, converted into AVI files and so on. They’re not hosted anywhere, they’re really very old now.  

TH:  I may be taking a step back here,to before your university days,but when did you first self-publish and what can you tell me about this? 

Laura: My first endeavours into self-publishing was actually Biomecha (it was initially self-published through someone else who had a few comic titles they also published), and half a copy of Reluctant Soldier Princess Nami, which shall be concluded in early 2008 through Sweatdrop Studios. I self-published from 1996 until 2002, which was when Sweatdrop began.  

TH: Now,Boiled Spoons is well known in the Anime/Manga community in the UK and you did some work for this?

Laura: I did indeed! I did the front covers and main comic strips for Boiled Spoons issues 1 to 3; I also did some 2D character interpretations/design sheets for the other artists (as Boiled Spoons is based upon a tabletop RPG game and Mr Panda made the models to go with this).

The comic is an adaptation of the characters in the game. I’m compiling the strips I did, plus hopefully an old strip by Emma Vieceli, also in early 2008. That means it’s for it’s 10 year anniversary! It completely does not feel like I started that comic a decade ago…

  

TH: Laura,how did you get into the Manga community initially? 

Laura: I was an avid reader of old UK anime and manga magazines (being as there was no internet in the mid-90’s) - I happened to spot an advert for an anime convention right next to the bus stop that went from Halesowen to Birmingham. As I was 14 at the time I managed to cajole my dad into coming along with me so he enabled me to find out about fandom.

There, I met a very nice bunch of people who, despite being 6-8 years older than me or so, were as enthusiastic about anime and manga as I was. This was all I ever wanted, being as rabidly consuming ‘those weird comics’ was not making me any new fans back at school.  

As I grew and continued going to conventions, more people my age attended, and I was also writing to people through a penpal advert I placed in “Anime UK” magazine, so I was able to meet more likeminds at these conventions.  

The UK anime and manga convention scene is completely different now, I see these massive groups of kids starting to come to cons aged 16 or whatever; surrounded by cheap and prevalent manga of many genres (girls’, boys, mens, womens, sports, drama, action, horror)… what with websites, forums and YouTube, young anime fans never had it so good to network and meet people who are into the same thing that you are, who feel as equally devoted and passionate about the exact same things.  

TH:  Silly question,though it may seem,did you ever think “I’d love to draw Manga but I’m not Japanese!”? 

Laura: Actually no, but it does seem to be a big progression block in some readers of manga. They seem so devoted to ONLY reading comics that originate from Japan to the point that it restricts them from reading other types of comic, even if it is actually from anywhere in the *Far East* apart from Japan.

I mean what about those other comics Tokyopop publish - the Korean “manwha” and so on? I really wish that *was* a silly question, to be honest.  It’s a real shame because in Japan if you draw comics, you draw comics; it’s not bandes dessine, manga; just comics = “komikkusu”.

 TH: I just thought; if someone asks what you do what kind of reaction do you get when you respond with “I draw Manga” –any “But you are NOT Japanese!”?  

Laura: I kind of pity their narrow-mindedness! That mindset seems to be dwindling though, I think - thanks to opinions being voiced on forums and awareness of this attitude. It’s not really constructive. 

TH: You’ve drawn Cynic The Hedgehog and contributed to many publications but I love the look of Squishy-Chan’s Adventures!  What can you tell me about this and how you came up with the concept? 

Laura: Haha! Cynic was my videogame spoof. Tails is just so annoying, following you around everywhere, in Sonic 2. In the strip, he just cracks up. I love video games, I got into them massively just before I discovered anime and manga bigtime. Anime, manga and games are very much intertwined, being exposed to Japaese-styled artwork in game manuals helped interest me in anime and manga a lot.  

Squishy-chan is the mascot character from Biomecha. Everyone seems to really like that small octopus thingy. So SCA is a small, stand-alone, almost alternate-universe-to Biomecha title. I’d like to think that it helps to introduce new readers to Biomecha, even.  

TH: Reluctant Soldier Princess Nami is another interesting title and,again,I’d love to know where the idea/influence came from and more about Nami?               

                     

Laura: Nami is the British opposite of what a stereotypical Japanese “magical schoolgirl” should be. The “Mahou-shojo” (magic girl) genre is big in Japan, most fans will have heard of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura - these are very big examples of the mahou-shojo genre.

The main character is usually fun, bubbly, likeable, has a few flaws, tries her best, usually aged about 11. Nami is at college, she smokes, is a hermit and a bit antisocial; she’s a slacker, she’s rude and  is actually rather hopeless. She’s also easily distracted, but that’s probably the only thing Nami and the rest of the genre have in common, it’s supposed to be endearing.

 TH: Princess Nami isn’t just a one-off,is it?  What has been published so far and anything else planned with this character? 

Laura: I did a short 10-page story of Nami back in my A-levels, then a serialised 5-parter for the now-defunct Liverpool small-press anthology, “Pulp Kithen”.

There’s *one* more Nami arc I wish to draw, then I shall compile all three mini-arcs!  Around the year 2000, I compiled the A-level story and parts 1 and 2 of the Pulp Kitchn arc.

Sadly part 2 of this compilation did not materialise, so being as it has been so very long since part 1, I will be reprinting what I already made and adding the extra parts in one fat comic. I’m thinking of it as some sort of ‘bonus’ or ‘complete collection’ comic, as it will be rather meaty! 

TH: And all your books are available via Sweatdrop,right? 

Laura: Absolutely! All comics I have made are listed on my sweatdrop profile page http://www.sweatdrop.com/aboutus/laurawatton.php . Ignore some of the text information, I must get that updated that soon! 

TH:  Something I’ve not touched on is your association with Sweatdrop Studios.  How did you get involved?   

            

Laura: I met Hayden Scott-Baron (’Dock’) at a Liverpool anime convention in 2001. He suggested clubbing all our self-published titles together and producing them under an umbrella title. Thus Sweatdrop was born, with myself, Dock and a few others (’Subi’, ‘Foxy’, etc) as founder members!  

Each individual still pays for and publishes their own work via Sweatdrop, it is purely the artists’ responsibility; the pros are having an online shop and grouping together to help share the load of event attendance, selling and so on.  

TH: How has being associated with Sweatdrop helped you developing your work or confidence ? 

Laura: It’s been immensely useful and influential to see how other people draw manga. Up until my early 20’s I had not met anyone else who liked drawing in this way. Things that had been ingrained in me regards “what I should do”, i.e. “draw with these pens”, methods utilised to draw Western-style comics, has been unrestrictively opened up. It still seems with each comic I do I try a new way of making it (even if it is only in a tiny way, like drawing a characters’ pupils in a different shape).  It is also very encouranging environment. Things may have changed now but it did seem that many people were quite hostile to manga styles only a few years ago.

It’s great to be involved with people who understand drawing comics using this aesthetic, and to hear back from people who like to read it, too. Hooray for events, groups and the internet!  

TH: Now,the big question is: what can we expect in the way of projects from you in the near future? 

Laura: I have a few undisclosed short stories in the pipeline to be published, more details as they get confirmed! I’d like to conclude Biomecha and concentrate on short story writing. I can’t see myself stopping any time soon!  

TH: Any final words for those who might now be interested in seeing your books, or loyal fans – or even to pimp some new work? 

Laura: I’d be very grateful if people wanted a look!  I have some free webcomics people can read in the Sweatdrop webcomics section – http://www.sweatdrop.com/webcomics/ 

If people are interested in viewing Sweatdrop anthologies or compiled works, they can find them in the Sweatdrop shop  -

 

 

http://www.sweatdrop.com/shop/

 

My vague schedule is to get the Boiled Spoons compilation out soon, followed by tidying up Reluctant Soldier Princess Nami, and even possibly Biomecha issue 7, all for 2008. There should only be a few more issues before the end of that series! After that? Who knows…  

TH:  Laura,best of luck and keep on drawing! 

Laura: I appreciate your time! Thank you very much for the interview. 

 

Manga and Anime Artwork Site –

http://www.laurawatton.co.uk