BLOODY MARY - SerioComics 62 + Q&A with Author Nick Winn!
BLOODY MARY written and drawn by Nick Winn, published by Silver Sprocket
Henry Jenkins Interviews Me!
Media wizard, culture sage, civic dreamer…USC Professor…Henry Jenkins…read and loved SHOULD WE BUY A GUN? and interviewed me for his blog…Pop Junctions!
Here are some favorite quotes from the legend whose Civic Imagination project has MacArthur “genius” Grant funding :)
Favorite HJ quotes
“I grew up in a household where gun possession was the norm. My father housed his rifle cabinet – locked – in my childhood bedroom. I have chosen not to own guns, but I was trained how to use them safely because I was around them for most of my youth. I passed a gun safety course organized by the National Rifle Association (NRA) – in its more rational era – through my local scout troop... I know that I do not have much to fear from people who know how to use guns safely and recreationally…. As such, my own positions about guns are more complicated than many of my more progressive friends who lack this intimate exposure.”
“Cowen counts himself as a progressive; he has chosen to work with an artist Gabriel Wexler, who considers himself more conservative. And this partnership also reflects their desire to produce a tool designed to cut through political polarization and model how we might find common ground around this topic…Given my own commitments to working past political divides, I salute these efforts and want to use this blog to call attention to the important work he is doing.”
“The book doesn’t give us any answers; it is simply asking questions, but my bet is that you will leave it less certain of your own stance than you were before reading it.”
And, um, here’s a favorite quote from me LOL…
HJ: Can you talk a bit about the character design in the book? What steps did you take to avoid reducing these characters to stereotypes and those characterizing their positions?
DC: That’s a great question. And I’m not sure I succeeded! I think some character design things I tried to do was make exceptions to the stereotypes part of the rule of the character design. For instance, an elder Indian-American mentor editor at NPR is probably unlikely to own a gun as a stereotype, but, here she is. Or a queer interracial couple isn’ tusually thought of as having strong Christian values, but, here they are. Which, if you live in Los Angeles like we do, you often find that there is tremendous diversity within diversity, so any of those examples aren’t that rare. I think the toughest character design was the teenage student, David. He was originally named John White and was a White person, because potential school shooters are statistically more likely to be young White men. However, later in the drafting process, I decided to change his race to a mix of Latino and White. His father was already absent in the narrative, but his mother stayed White. I also changed his name from John to David. Which is my given name. His last name changed to something Latino, in this case, Gomez. Why the change? Well, not to ruin the story, but thischaracter has a redemption arc. So I didn’t want people to think that only a young White male could be redeemed in this way. I really wanted – and I think this change came after the shooting in Uvalde (which was by someone with Latino background) – people to identify this redemption arc with any young man. And the given name change to David promoted semi-autobiographical identification, which essentially says: reader, you or me or someone we love could become wayward.
Another difficult choice was, do I rewrite his dialogue, his characterization, his plot based on this change to his heritage? I talked to a friend who is of Latino background, and he advised that he thought it would be even better to not change any of it, besides the literal color of the character, because changing him to fit some stereotype of what I thought might be different would be paradoxically stereotypical itself. So I think this is a long way of saying that every character design choice was extremely thought through, but I’m aware that probably anyone could take issue with any of them, but that’s ok!
Read Henry’s full interview with me here HERE
Thank you Henry for showcasing that questions, uncertainty, and curiosity are a civic art form!
Plus The Shabbat Drop Substack features The Office and The Curb Haggadahs!
Thank you SOOO much to
for enjoying and celebrating and sharing my Passover Parody Haggadahs with her Substack The Shabbat Drop!We just might have converted her to a second night fun Seder-er ;0
Dave inspired me: I personally don’t have two Seders, but I LOVE the idea of doing two where the first is traditional and the second is silly/modern. I could be persuaded, maybe if, let’s say, Michael Scott made an appearance…
Dave teamed up with fellow comedian Dan Lerman to create The Office Haggadah!…
From Dave’s point of view (which is an experienced one, considering he studied screenwriting at USC and was a story analyst at William Morris Endeavor), episodic television gets you to identify with characters to learn a story. There is a traditional narrative structure to the Seder; it literally means “order.” And there is also a traditional narrative order to sitcoms like The Office and Seinfeld. What Dave has done is meld the two together. You get the modern American storytelling structure and the ancient Hebrew one. It’s both fun and educational, whether it’s read aloud at your table or by yourself.
Buy them here (only $9 a pop) and try it for yourself!
You can read Miranda’s coverage of The Office and The Curb Haggadahs here!
How I Met Nick Winn!
I met Nick Winn at CALA.
The Comic Arts Los Angeles festival.
Which returned after a 5 year hiatus due to COVID.
In December 2024.
Nick had an incredibly charming presence on a Silver Sprocket Panel.
I was magnetized by his sharing of the relationship between his horror rom-com graphic novel and his upbringing in a Christian family that he respects deeply.
We spoke afterward at his table.
I got this Bloody Mary book which was released that October.
Then I saw Nick at the Skylight event for Jaime Hernandez of Love & Rockets for his new Fantagraphics book LIFE DRAWING.
Nick asked some amazing questions of him.
And we caught up afterward in line for the signing.
I’m so happy to enthuse about BLOODY MARY and share this Q&A which also mentions @xaime
Nick Winn
Nick Winn is an Annie Nominated Designer for TV and Feature Animation based in Los Angeles. He has done Character, Prop and VFX Designs for various shows as well as Storyboards and Visual Development for various clients and Studios including Cartoon Network, Titmouse and Netflix.
BLOODY MARY
Deep House is the closest music to a heartbeat. Why wouldn’t a vampire love it?
Maria can’t wait to sneak out on her date with Evan, the cute boy she’s been crushing on. But their evening out gets sidetracked by Evan’s cousin, who just needs to stop for “ten seconds” at The Stake — a vampire club. Is the night ruined, or can the irresistible beat of house music help Maria have a change of heart?
Big open Eyes, Big open Heart, Can’t Lose
I really like Nick’s character design.
His art style for them.
The characters have these big expressive open eyes.
Kind of like Nick himself!
And it belies their big open hearts.
Also like Nick himself :0
Music and dancing in comics is hard, Nick makes it so easy!
Nick’s book while being about vampires is just as much about music.
And how music soundtracks falling in love.
Which can bring us together through dance.
In ways that are romantic and thrilling.
Check out this dreamy moment.
It’s hard to depict a kinetic moment like this.
In a static visual medium.
But Nick achieves it effortlessly!
It’s giving Scott Pilgrim (and Love and Rockets)
Between the love and music and partying scenes we definitely see a Love and Rockets influence.
But I was also impressed by the callbacks to Scott Pilgrim with the sister character.
With of course a very toothy twist ;0
OK, it’s time for…
The Q&A with Nick Winn!
1. SERIOCOMICS: Bloody Mary is the story of young love with a twist. Why do you think twists like this speak so well to the heightened emotions of young love?
NICK WINN: I feel like so much goes wrong with young love interactions because a lot of the time, the only type of romance young people see is in the media. So if the media reflects both parties doing everything perfectly then even the slightest inconvenience could mess with someone's head even though it’s not a big deal. I think crazy twists like this kinda remind the reader that it’s okay for things to go wrong and that you can make something good come out of it!
2. SERIOCOMICS: One of the twists involves the power of music. How do you come up with this and other surprising moments like it that speak so well metaphorically to what it's like to be a young person in love not just with a person but also with music?
NICK WINN: Hmmm…I think music (House Music specifically) has an energy that’s compact but intense. I think as a young person, you’re kinda filled with all these intense emotions and pent up energy and House Music kind of gives you a rhythm to navigate through while also not hindering you in any way. It’s weird to think of music as a journey but the power of music changes lives! Being in love feels like a loud thumping beat but staying in love requires you to stay in the groove and the rhythm of the song.
3. SERIOCOMICS: The sibling reminded me a bit of Scott Pilgrim. What were some of your influences?
NICK WINN: Yeah Scott Pilgrim definitely! I was also reading a lot of Love and Rockets at the time as well as Tug and Buster so goofy characters going to parties is something I always enjoy and was so happy I got to do it in my own story!
4. SERIOCOMICS: There's a blend of horror and religion. Can you tell us about why that contrast is important to this story and you?
NICK WINN: Vampires are inherently religious. I feel like the last supper in the bible had something to do with vampires. What with eating the body and drinking the blood to have eternal life and what not. But I also think when the focus is on the outward, religion can be horrific. It can be cultish if the main focus is not on Jesus and his gift of salvation and forgiveness of sins. I think this comic doesn’t touch as much on religion as I’ve spoken about it but I feel like it’s important to keep it in mind because they influence how the characters react to certain situations.
5. SERIOCOMICS: I feel like this comic has a great mood and vibes. Do you think in terms of mood and vibes and aesthetics more than plot and character and story?
NICK WINN: In the beginning, yes! I always start with vibes and mood. When coming up with this story it started as Nuns sneaking out to go to a house party only to realize they’re all vampires. I always wanted to have an exciting feeling of sneaking out and getting caught at any moment but being so in the moment that you don’t care. I hope it carried on into the finished product!
6. SERIOCOMICS: Lastly, What should we check out in your back catalogue, and what can we expect from you next?
NICK WINN: Oh! I did a scifi book called The Orphaic and a smaller book called Caseball Cats that’s just a collection of fun stories. I’m currently doing a goofy superhero webcomic called The Heel on my comic Instagram @Koacomix and am working on some secret stuff for the future!
Thanks so much, Nick!
And thank you all for reading!!
I got a really nice note from a reader who is a friend that I wanted to share!!!
Dude!
I just want to say how impressed and proud I am of your graphic world, and consistent practice. So smart and fun to build community with other graphic novelists, such an important issue at your book's center. Art, community, relevance, substance... an all-around brilliant project.
Cheers to you!!
Hope you are well!
Notes like that keep me going ;0