When and How to Go Graphic
Comics and graphic novels are more popular than ever. Every comic convention that I exhibit Flutter, my graphic series, I meet more people who are exploring the world of comics for the first time. The response to Flutter has been wonderful by comic fans new and old. Currently, I’m doing a Kickstarter for the upcoming release of Flutter Vol. 2, and the response to that has been amazing.
I’m often asked why I decided to write Flutter as a graphic novel. Like many people, I grew up reading comics. Getting lost in the world of superheroes, especially outsiders and misfits such as X-Men, was a way to escape the reality of my conservative small town and broken home. I felt powerful instead of powerless at least for a few minutes while reading them.
Also, like a lot of readers, I stopped reading comics when I got to college. I found my way back to them later on in the form of graphic novels like Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man, Craig Thompson’s Blankets, and the Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O’Malley. While reading them, I began working on a short story called Flutter Girl. The premise of the story was simple: A girl shape-shifts into a boy to get her dream girl, because her dream girl likes boys. Chaos ensues.
However, writing it as a short story wasn’t working for me. The prose felt flat, static. …show more content…
The Advocate calls Flutter one of the best LGBT graphic novels of 2013. Bleeding Cool’s Shawn Perry lists it as one of the 15 best indie comics of 2014. Jennie is also the author of the YA novel, A Boy Like Me, a 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year finalist and one of Foreword Reviews' 10 best indie YA novels of 2014. She is an ongoing contributor to the award-winning, New York Times best-selling FUBAR comic anthologies. She writes non-fiction features for infoplease.com and teaches at Grub Street, Boston's independent writing center. For more:
Comics and graphic novels are more popular than ever. Every comic convention that I exhibit Flutter, my graphic series, I meet more people who are exploring the world of comics for the first time. The response to Flutter has been wonderful by comic fans new and old. Currently, I’m doing a Kickstarter for the upcoming release of Flutter Vol. 2, and the response to that has been amazing.
I’m often asked why I decided to write Flutter as a graphic novel. Like many people, I grew up reading comics. Getting lost in the world of superheroes, especially outsiders and misfits such as X-Men, was a way to escape the reality of my conservative small town and broken home. I felt powerful instead of powerless at least for a few minutes while reading them.
Also, like a lot of readers, I stopped reading comics when I got to college. I found my way back to them later on in the form of graphic novels like Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man, Craig Thompson’s Blankets, and the Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O’Malley. While reading them, I began working on a short story called Flutter Girl. The premise of the story was simple: A girl shape-shifts into a boy to get her dream girl, because her dream girl likes boys. Chaos ensues.
However, writing it as a short story wasn’t working for me. The prose felt flat, static. …show more content…
The Advocate calls Flutter one of the best LGBT graphic novels of 2013. Bleeding Cool’s Shawn Perry lists it as one of the 15 best indie comics of 2014. Jennie is also the author of the YA novel, A Boy Like Me, a 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year finalist and one of Foreword Reviews' 10 best indie YA novels of 2014. She is an ongoing contributor to the award-winning, New York Times best-selling FUBAR comic anthologies. She writes non-fiction features for infoplease.com and teaches at Grub Street, Boston's independent writing center. For more: