Becky Cloonan: Comic Book Artist/Writer

By Rob Moran

With a bunch of cool comic titles to her name, Becky Cloonan has been called the "queen of indie comics". The 26-year-old New Yorker is known for her dynamic manga-inspired artwork and storylines about rebellious misfits, and her latest series, "East Coast Rising", is about a gang of punk-rock pirates trying to recover sunken treasure from a submerged New York City (ZOMG, too cool!). Click here to check out original artwork from Becky on her blog!

GF: You started of making your own DIY mini comics. How did that prepare you for your professional career?
Becky: Comics are a lot of work, so doing my own independent work helped me build stamina for when I landed my first comic gig. Even though I'm always busy these days, I like to take time out to self-publish at least one comic every year. You know, keepin' it real and all that.
Describe you work in a word.
Defenestrating. (GF: Okay, we had to look this one up. It basically means throwing things out a window... so we can probably assume that Becky is a bit of a perfectionist!)
What's the first thing you ever remember drawing?
I used to draw a lot of dinosaurs, spaceships and mummies when I was a kid. Once, my kindergarten teacher changed my caption on a picture from "The mummy will curse you!" to "The mummy will get chummy with you!" It was my first experience with censorship.
Your fave comic?
"Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life" by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I could read it a thousand times.
Any advice for aspiring comic book artists?
Never give up!!! And never listen to the critics!

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