Independent Propaganda

Interviewed by Wesley Craig Green / Head Cheese at Independent Propaganda

Purchase A LATE FREEZE at The Independent Propaganda Store

Surreal. Dream-like. Thought-provoking. All three words aptly describe A LATE FREEZE, Danica Novogorodoff’s award-winning mini-comic. Danica recently won The Isotope’s Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics earlier this year, establishing her as a creator to watch. And understandably so. Coming in at 48 fully-painted pages, A LATE FREEZE is much more than a mini-comic- it is an experience. Danica was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to talk about her beginnings, how winning The Isotope’s Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics has affected her life, and what lies ahead.

Wesley Craig Green: To you, what is A LATE FREEZE?

Danica: A LATE FREEZE is an exploration of several new things for me, including color and wordless narrative, neither of which I’d used before in comics. It’s an attempt to tell a very American tale in an unusual way. I also think of each project I do or book I make as a step towards the next project. So hopefully the work I’ve done on A LATE FREEZE will inform something new.

Wesley Craig Green: Is A LATE FREEZE your first attempt at creating a comic?

Danica: No, this is my third book. The first was a 140 page book called “Neck of the Moon,” which was a sort of non-linear adventure-journey involving volcanoes and gypsies, cowboys and an American brother and sister who communicate long-distance. I started it while traveling in South America. The second isn’t a comic book exactly; it’s more of an “illuminated” poem drawings I made to go along with a poem my friend Oana Marian wrote. I learn more about book-making, drawing, storytelling and the technical side of comics with each project I do.

Wesley Craig Green: Speaking of the technical side of comics, one of the first things I noticed about A LATE FREEZE was the design and production value of the book which is top notch. It is quite obvious you didn’t go to your local Kinkos to have this done. What was the thinking or inspiration behind how you designed A LATE FREEZE?

Danica: I didn’t plan it well from the beginning. I’d made the whole book in color without fully understanding the cost of printing in color. Luckily for me, a friend and member of the band who had commissioned the original drawings that later became the book came through with a generous donation to the book-making cause and helped me get it printed well. Also, being the designer for First Second Books has given me a real taste for quality-made graphic novels.

Wesley Craig Green: Judging from your web site, it would be safe to assume you have had a very interesting professional life so far for someone so young. From graduating from Yale to teaching English in Ecuador to winning The Isotope’s Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics this year. Are these accomplishments part of your game plan for life?

Danica: I keep wishing I had a game plan for life. I think it’s all part of a scattered attempt to figure out how I can enjoy what I do, be productive (on my own terms), and still pay the rent. More often than not I just keep learning what I DON’T want to do… But if my game plan for life is to make art, then yes, all these things contribute to that goal in some way.

Wesley Craig Green: Was becoming a comic creator something you had planned on doing all along?

Danica: No… I’ve jumped between different media a lot - photography, painting, comics, installations, and writing. But as soon as I tried making comics, it pretty quickly became clear that this medium would be very important to me. Especially because it can potentially combine many of those artforms I’m interested in.

Wesley Craig Green: Considering you work for a publisher (First Second Books), did you ever consider submitting A LATE FREEZE to any publishers or was self-publishing the only option you entertained?

Danica: I didn’t start working at First Second until I was halfway done with A LATE FREEZE. I didn’t really think about sending it to publishers because it is, after all, a mini-comic, and I figured most publishers wouldn’t take something so short and small.

Wesley: How did you go about marketing it? Did you target certain retailers and/or hit any of the indy-oriented cons?

Danica: I didn’t have a marketing strategy. Luckily, Gina (who works with me at First Second) did, and gave me the names of some comic bloggers to send it to, and recommended I submit it for the Isotope award. At the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, I also hooked up with Global Hobo, a distributer of hand-made and hard-to-find comics. Other than that, I just rode my bike around New York and Brooklyn to all the comics stores I knew of and asked them to sell my book.

Wesley: Speaking of the Isotope Award, how has winning this year’s award for excellence in mini-comics affected you?

Danica: It’s given me some hope that other people might be persuaded to enjoy the kind of comics I like to make. And if they can’t be persuaded, I now have a very pointy, dangerous trophy to encourage them.

Wesley: No doubt! I would imagine winning the award has brought with it some well-deserved attention your way. Do you plan on using this to your advantage and possibly approach some publishers with your next project or do you plan on continuing on the self-publishing path?

Danica: I would love to get published. I don’t know enough about marketing to sell my books very well, and if I understand correctly, being published means you get PAID (at least a little) to make books, rather than going into DEBT for making books.

Wesley: What does the future hold for you? Any new projects in the horizon?

Danica: At the moment I’m working on a story for a graphic novel that is going to take me a long, long time to draw. It’s set in Kentucky.

You can learn more about Danica and A LATE FREEZE at Danica’s web site.

Technorati Tags: Danica Novogorodoff, A LATE FREEZE, mini-comic, The Isotope’s Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics, First Second Books