Post by Dante on Oct 17, 2012 13:50:57 GMT -5
www.torontolife.com/daily/hype/print-edition/2012/10/15/best-of-fall-2012-lemony-snicket/
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Best of Fall 2012: graphic novelist Seth on illustrating the autobiography of Lemony Snicket
The stylishly retro graphic novelist Seth illustrates the fictional autobiography of kid lit superstar Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. Daniel Handler)
A VERY FORTUNATE EVENT
How did this project come to be?
Daniel and I met a couple of years ago at a comic festival in San Francisco—we have some mutual friends. About six months later, his agent contacted me and asked if I was interested in working on the books. I wasn’t sure at first, because god knows I have enough of my own work to get done. But it seemed like a fun project and Daniel’s a really nice guy, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
Why does the Snicket character appeal to you?
I like the artifice—he is both the author and a fictional person. I guess it’s not much of a surprise that I might like a character who is complicated by a couple of layers of reality. I do that a lot in my own work—making up fake histories, mixing fact and fancy.
You must receive a lot of requests for your illustrations. How do you decide what to say yes to?
It’s just a matter of intuition: am I interested in the project or not? I’ve done enough books now where people have brought me in to provide some kind of wittiness or sophistication with a cartoon style, but I’m a little tired of doing that. Now I’m more likely to agree to something if it’s outside my normal area.
You usually write and draw your own books. Was it a difficult transition, learning to collaborate?
I’m not a compromiser by nature. When I got into cartooning back in the 1980s, nobody was paying any attention whatsoever, so you did what you wanted to do.
Sounds like you don’t play well with others.
I try to avoid leaving the house as much as humanly possible. I had a few conference calls with the editorial team, which is like pulling teeth for me. I like to be a dictator. I must say that the Snicket people were very gentle with me and put up with my nonsense pretty well.
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Best of Fall 2012: graphic novelist Seth on illustrating the autobiography of Lemony Snicket
The stylishly retro graphic novelist Seth illustrates the fictional autobiography of kid lit superstar Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. Daniel Handler)
A VERY FORTUNATE EVENT
How did this project come to be?
Daniel and I met a couple of years ago at a comic festival in San Francisco—we have some mutual friends. About six months later, his agent contacted me and asked if I was interested in working on the books. I wasn’t sure at first, because god knows I have enough of my own work to get done. But it seemed like a fun project and Daniel’s a really nice guy, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
Why does the Snicket character appeal to you?
I like the artifice—he is both the author and a fictional person. I guess it’s not much of a surprise that I might like a character who is complicated by a couple of layers of reality. I do that a lot in my own work—making up fake histories, mixing fact and fancy.
You must receive a lot of requests for your illustrations. How do you decide what to say yes to?
It’s just a matter of intuition: am I interested in the project or not? I’ve done enough books now where people have brought me in to provide some kind of wittiness or sophistication with a cartoon style, but I’m a little tired of doing that. Now I’m more likely to agree to something if it’s outside my normal area.
You usually write and draw your own books. Was it a difficult transition, learning to collaborate?
I’m not a compromiser by nature. When I got into cartooning back in the 1980s, nobody was paying any attention whatsoever, so you did what you wanted to do.
Sounds like you don’t play well with others.
I try to avoid leaving the house as much as humanly possible. I had a few conference calls with the editorial team, which is like pulling teeth for me. I like to be a dictator. I must say that the Snicket people were very gentle with me and put up with my nonsense pretty well.
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