The incredibly multi-talented Abby Denson tells all about her travels, art and music. She’s an accomplished artist, blending her travel and art into an amazing book on Japan. Abby perfectly captures Japan in her book Cool Japan Guide and Cool Tokyo Guide. If you’ve had the pleasure of visiting Japan, both books are a must have. She’s also worked on The Amazing Spider-Man, The Simpsons, and The Power Puff Girls… just to name a few. Abby doesn’t stop with art, she was also in a band, travels the world giving lectures, and catch her at New York Comic Con!
What brought about your idea to combine your traveling adventures and your art?
It probably started when I was making dessert comics and started a dessert blog (City Sweet Tooth) in 2008. I started drawing comics about trips to France, Belgium, and Japan. Food comics and travel comics seemed to naturally mesh together!
What is it about Japan that drew you to it?
There are a few reasons. My mother worked for Konica when I was a child. She went to Japan on business and had a wonderful experience. When she returned, she told me all about it, and she introduced me to using chopsticks and eating sushi, so I was aware of those things at a young age. When I was in college and starting to make my own comics, I was impressed with the women’s comics culture of Japan that at the time far outpaced what was happening in the ’90s with American mainstream comics. At that time there weren’t as many successful female cartoonists in the US, and the American comic conventions and shops didn’t have as much gender parity as in Japan. I was inspired by the talent and huge success of artists like Rumiko Takahashi (creator of the manga Ranma 1/2, Inu Yasha, and many others). Moreover, I was excited by the sheer range of genres and audiences that manga covered. This made me take an interest in going to Japan and studying there for a college summer session. At that time I already had some Japanese pen-pals (met through my early mini-comics) and happily, my friendships have grown and strengthened over the years! I try to return to Japan every year now to participate in comic festivals and travel around.
City Sweet Tooth takes us all over the place… but do you have any plans to focus on one location like you did with Japan?
I’m probably most qualified to do a guidebook on New York next! But no plans at the moment.
What are some of the reactions by the business you feature in your books?
I haven’t had contact afterward yet with many of them since I try to go to new places every time I go to Japan. I’m friendly with people at the Suspiria-themed bar (Cambiare) that I mentioned in Cool Tokyo Guide, and had a positive response from them. My books are on sale at the Kyoto International Manga Museum (featured in Cool Japan Guide). I recently did a talk at Japan Society with Sebastian Masuda who created Kawaii Monster Cafe (featured in Cool Tokyo Guide). So that’s all very exciting!
If you could tell your younger self you’d one day be working on The Simpsons, Power Puff Girls and Spider-man, what would her (your) reaction be?
I’m sure it would be disbelief! When I wrote some Spider-Man stories I was especially thinking about that!
When did you first realize you had an amazing talent for this and how did you foster it?
I don’t think it started with realizing I had a talent, it’s more like following a passion. I always liked to draw, but I don’t feel driven to draw a whole comic until a story idea fires me up to do it. Comics are a lot of work, so I need to have the passion to drive me through it. I was also encouraged by my family and got to attend art school, so I am very grateful for that support from them.
What advice would you give to young artists just starting out?
Definitely travel if you get the chance, and study abroad if possible. It will give you different, valuable, perspectives. Later in life, it’s not as easy to be flexible with your time for it. Consider having a full-time job or a part-time job to supplement comics work. Comics don’t pay a lot for the time they take to create, and it can be hard to create if you are stressed out and broke in between projects. Plus freelance work doesn’t include insurance or benefits. Career paths are different for everybody, so find a balance that suits you. Speaking of balance, make sure to take drawing breaks and have an ergonomically healthy studio setup. It’s easy to get injured as a cartoonist! For some general financial advice, always pay your credit card bills in full, spend within your means, and keep an eye on your credit score.
You are also a musician, does your music influence your art or vice versa?
I love punk and new wave music and particularly for DolltopiaI was inspired by punk and new wave attitudes and fashions for my characters. Debbie Harry, Joan Jett, and David Bowie are some of my faves. I’d say probably the music influences the art. I like to listen to music while drawing.
What are some of your musical influences?
The B5-2s, The Go-Gos, Blondie, L7, Joan Jett, David Bowie, Alice Bag, Pansy Division, to name a few.
What’s next for you?
I’ll be at New York Comic Con’s Artists Alley this year. My latest comics are short stories on Spiralbound at Medium. I’ve been drawing heartwarming stories about my grandfather and cats! My next project is a series for First Second books about a cat who opens a movie theater! I’m writing it and collaborating with the amazing artist Utomaru. Here is a link to the announcement which shows some of her great art.
