From death to test marketing to personal pronouns, Jen Hickman seeks to defy convention. Whether it’s a culture that forbids any creative expression to the genderfluid Niki in “Moth and Whisper,” Hickman’s art puts you front and center in the emotional headspace of all their characters – – side by side with strong, pointed social commentary.
Earlier this month at Flame Con, the first and largest comic con supporting LBGTQ+ voices in comic culture, I spoke with them about their new graphic novel coming from Lion Forge this September, “BezKamp,” some unique Kickstarters they’re a part of, the state of LGBTQ+ representation in comics, and their current series with Vault Comics, “Test,” which drops its third issue this week.
You have a new graphic novel, “BezKamp,” from Lion Forge, that’s dropping in a couple of weeks, set in a world where the written word is outlawed. Tell us a little bit more about the premise.
Jen Hickman: This is the first time I’ve ever had to elevator pitch this book, so this is pretty exciting. Basically, a tradition and hierarchy and positions of power are so vital to the society that curiosity and self expression are forbidden, taboo, illegal in some cases. And the written word and asking questions are chief among those.
Now, there are some scholars, some pundits that fear that we’re heading on this slippery slope towards a BezKamp world. For example, [The Handmaid’s Tale author] Margaret Atwood has said that in interviews that we are a pre-Gilead society. What inspirations, whether they’re current events, whether it’s history, did you look to in crafting this world?
JH: There’s a big spoiler that I’m trying to dance around. I’m trying to figure out how to describe this world in a way that would both obfuscate the big spoiler and give readers a little hint that is coming. They were very, very much on my mind as I was designing things for the world. I looked a lot at classics, like first series Star Trek, and what that would look like, that sort of like space going aesthetic. We’re sort of carried on mindlessly, thoughtlessly, like the game of telephone over generations.
And then I also couldn’t help but be influenced by Nausicaä. It’s one of my favorites and the feel of the world felt to me like it had to draw some inspiration from that.
Now you’re part of this other interesting little Kickstarter that I found. It’s like a how-to manual for pretty much life. It is everything from fix a flat tire to talk to a celebrity to how to survive a bear attack. So tell us about this Kickstarter, and then tell us about your own contribution to it, as spoiler free as you possibly can.
JH: So Shelly Bond is putting together the Hey, Amateur Kickstarter. And it’s nothing but nine-grid pages that by the end of it, you’re going to know how to do something that you didn’t know before. And me and my dear friend, Casey Gilly, are going to do a one pager on how to ask for and use people’s personal pronouns.
So I think we’re more on the practical end of things. But I am very interested in learning how to escape from vampires.
This actually started from the back pages of “Black Crown Quarterly.” When you read that, did you learn anything from this particular series?
JH: Not yet, because I haven’t gotten to see that many samples out at this point, unfortunately. So at some point, my ignorance will be fixed.
Another Kickstarter that you’re part of is called “You Died.” And it’s this death-positive anthology that kicks open this very difficult conversation we have around death and dying. Tell us about that contribution, and what you hope readers are going to get out of your story and the anthology as a whole.
JH: I’m actually very, very tangentially involved in that one. I’m just lettering the story that Casey Gilly and Raina Telgemeier have in it. It’s Casey’s story about how her family grieved after her father died. It’s tender and it’s funny and Raina’s rendition of little Casey is just, it’s brilliant. It’s so good. I’m really looking forward to readers getting a chance to read that one.
Continued belowYour current series at Vault Comics, “Test,” is sci fi meets test marketing. Here at Multiversity one of the things we loved with the first issue was how you use color and panel elements to tie everything together. What were some of your artistic inspirations in bringing this particular world to life?
JH: I have to give Harry Saxon a ton of credit here. He’s the colorist on the book. And I gave him a maybe overkill level of color direction. I gave him a folder full of movie stills that inspired me and other comics that I thought would be good reference points for him to jump off of and he really crushed it. This is something I tried to do in a lot of my work, but for “Test,” it seemed vital. I tried to put the reader into the protagonist’s shoes through my paneling choices, and through my shot calls and all that. Clarity of action is very important to me. But if I can get somebody into the emotional headspace of the main character, that’s what I’m really after. And so for “Test,” I’ve been pushing that pretty hard.
Your other series that wrapped up very early this year was “Moth and Whisper.” Can we expect more “Moth and Whisper” stories?
JH: I am crossing my fingers for that. It’s a conversation that we’re having with AfterShock right now. And hopefully, yes.
If “Moth and Whisper” was to come to film or TV, who would play Nikki?
JH: I have no idea. They’d have to be a non binary actor. And I don’t know how many of those are in the limelight right now.
And that’s a very important theme in a lot of your works: that you have non-binary, gender fluid characters.
This year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. This year is the fifth anniversary of Flame Con. How are you feeling about the state of LGBTQ+ representation in comics? Where have there been successes and what still needs to be done?
JH: In general, I feel like we’re moving in a very good direction. Melanie Gillman’s work is amazing. There are people out here doing just brilliant work. As far as own voices stuff goes, I would say I think Iron Circus [Comics] specifically is doing a pretty good job of representing, or at least providing a platform for representation. “Crossplay” is another one.
As far as the bigger publishers go, I think it’s obviously that that’s not a priority for them. But we are in a thriving indie scape right now. And I really appreciate being part of that.
I agree with you. I think indie comics are hitting it out of the ballpark.
What are some of your other favorite stories and creators in the industry right now? Who’s hitting it out of that ballpark? And who should we be keeping an eye on?
JH: Mags Visaggio is amazing. I love her work, absolutely.
Is there a character in comics that right now you look at, and you’re like, “damn, I wish I had the opportunity to draw that character.” Is there a character that comes to mind?
JH: No, no, I’d much rather just to tell my own stories.
And there’s a benefit to that because you can craft it fully yourself from beginning to middle to end. Yeah.
Are there any other projects on the horizon that we haven’t mentioned at all?
JH: I’ve got a chapter in the new “Youngblood” graphic novel out from Z2, which should be out . . . I want to say October. And it’s really campy, larger than life, fun, alternative spin on superheroes. That’s been really fun to work on. I that’s the only one that I can talk about.
“Test” #3 drops at your local comic shop and on comiXology on Wednesday, August 28th. “BezKamp” will debut from Lion Forge in comic shops on September 18th and bookstores on October 1st. And while the “You Died” Kickstarter has completed, you still have time to back the “Hey, Amateur” Kickstarter, which ends this coming Saturday, August 31, 2019.
