The Xcentrikz - Interactive Comic

November 23, 2009

Interview with Elise on her beauty of a comic... Beauty and The Beast!

(Click on the images to visit the site!)

Wow! Here's a unique twist on an old classic, in a beautiful comic by the talented Norwegian artist, Elise Otterlei. Please try this beautifully hand-illustrated story, Elise's got great artistic and storytelling ability.

EThe Xcentrikz Team: Thank you so much for the interview! Do tell everybody about your amazing comic, Beauty and the Beast, I'd like to encourage new people to view it.

Thank you for asking!
Beauty and the Beast is a retelling of the classic fairytale. In short I always loved the story, but had a few issues with it as well, and decided to tell it the way I felt it should be told.

THE XCENTRIKZ: So tell me about your early illustration days. Did you sketch up comics before this one? Has your work changed much, since you started?

I've always been drawing, reading and writing. Books, comics, essays, I would hunker down in my room, and disappear into another world. It wasn't untill around high school I realized I could try doing comics myself, though. My style has evolved a lot since then, and I don't think it has found it's final state yet.
I do, however, feel that the current style suits the concept of a fairytale. Of course there are pages and panels that make me cringe, and the style of the comic has changed during the time it's been drawn, but I sort of like that.
I also started following the annual comic-courses arranged by Raptus, a Norwegian comics festival, and if you're in Norway and want to learn more about making comics you should definitely check them out! I got lots of helpfull feedback, advice and practice, as well as a few fellow comicfanatics. That really did a lot for me.

THE XCENTRIKZ: What events led up to starting this comic? Anything in particular?

I loved the fairytale. Really. I still do. But there were a few things that nagged me.
Firstly: the HEROINE. Beauty was frighteningly dull, lifeless and with no character at all. And while the origins of the story was to illustrate the concept of daughters as property or the workings of arranged marriage, I wanted her to be a heroine for modern girls. Yes. About as pretentious as that.
Secondly: The issue of "Stockholm syndrome". She falls in love with her captor, no matter how you try to sugarcoat it. While the Beast is somewhat doomed to be Emo, perhaps he could at least not be a psychopath?

Thirdly: People often say that Beauty and the Beast is a tale of how "true beauty lies within".
But the happy ending is due to the Beast being transformed into a prettyboy. This always had me confused, even when I was little. If Beauty loved the Beast, then what did she feel about him suddenly looking like an entirely different person?

It was the duality in this that inspired me to actually begin writing down my version of the story.

The reason it ended up as a webcomic was, to be honest, that I wanted to try writing, drawing, posting and FINISHING a story.
Partly because I wanted to tell the story and partly because I wanted to get better at drawing. Doing so on the web meant there might be some helpful criticism along the way.

THE XCENTRIKZ: So you’re studying motion graphics in school, that’s great. Tell us more about that?

Right. School. I would like nothing more than to devote all my time to doing comics, but let's face it: I need to make money. So I need a job. Preferably one that's somehow related to design.
I am educated as an illustrator, but I wanted to learn how to make my designs move. I was always fascinated with animation, and as I started working on an online portfolio I realized I wanted to learn webdesign as well. Motion Graphics seemed the ideal blend of this. In addition, it sports 'storytelling', which I found to be my favourite topic. And really helpfull as far as comics go.
On the downside, studying takes up so much of my time I don't find the time to apply any of it to my website.

THE XCENTRIKZ: If your comic were featured in an animated series, what would you imagine it being like? Any ideas?

I don't know, really. I always thought of it as a comic, and while certain scenes would be fun to animate I sort of never gave it much thought.

THE XCENTRIKZ: How much do you interact with the Beauty and the Beast’s viewers?

Hm. Going to Con's is sort of out of the question given my location. I'm currently living in Trondheim, Norway, and while I have some norwegian readers the majority are from USA, Canada, England, Netherland and Germany. I don't think I'll be able to travel around to any of those places anytime soon, much less track down conventions.
Mostly it is through the chatbox on the comic's page. If anyone there has a website or DeviantArt or something of their own, I will add, watch or bookmark them. (Being a little bit shy I tend to mostly stalk them in silence, though. But I'm there, ever watching! 8) ) I also try to answer emails as soon as I can.

THE XCENTRIKZ: How important is recognition to you? Do you feel satisfied with the amount of viewers you already have, or do you wish Beauty and the Beast was more well known?

I'll succumb to flattery like a puppy to a bellyrub. That said, Beauty and the Beast is a labour of love. I had never thought it would get as many readers as it allready has, but I won't pretend I don't think it's supercool to get some recognition out of it! :D
When I got my first fanmail I lived under the impression that my comic was still a secret, that the only people reading it were me, my friends and family (who I continually pestered to do so).
And then WHAM! I had A READER! It wasn't until then it dawned on me that the comic didn't exist in a vacuum anymore, but in an audience. That made me grin stupidly for a week. How those first few readers found me I haven't the foggiest, though.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Hee he neat. What is it like to publicize Beauty and the Beast? Do you work hard at advertising?

I haven't done any paid advertising at all, really. It is listed on tomgeeks, belfry, twc and thewebcomicslist, and apart from that I asked a lot of people who's webcomics I really enjoy if they would link me back. Some did, some didn't. I also hope that anyone out there who has a comic or site or anything and who might wonder if I'd link them asks me to. (The answer is yes.)
Links was how word of Beauty & the Beast got around in the first place, and it really is something I'd gladly do for the community of webcomic creators out there.

THE XCENTRIKZ: That's nice. What do your friends and family think of your work? Do they give you ideas that you use?

Mostly they say I'm crazy (in a good way, but crazy nonetheless). But they are unbelievably patient, supporting and helpful. It is probably a good thing that they will tell me to "sometimes talk of anything besides comics", since I tend to be a bit monomaniac.
But they will read, criticize and flatter my work, and I probably don't thank them enough. I AM very, very grateful, though.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Is there something you really can’t stand doing? How do you overcome (or avoid!) this problem?

As far as comics go I really have to brush up on my perspective skills (or lack of said skill). I'm trying to avoid the heavily detailed backgrounds mostly because I find them time-consuming, but also because I don't like doing a lot of perspective.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Is the comic more of a hobby to you, or a job that you hope to be profitable?

Beauty and the Beast is a learning experience. It will always be free to read, and as such a hobby. I would like to make more stories when this one concludes, and if I could get enough money out of it to be able to spend more time on them, (and a little bit less on other work) that would be wonderful. I know some of the comic creators out there are able to make money out of it, but I don't imagine I'll be able to live off my comic work.

THE XCENTRIKZ: If you had an “ideal day,” what would it involve?

Right now the only thing I want is more time. So I can get around to do all the things I want to, as well as the things I have to do. But I think an ideal day would consist of drawing comics, playing computer games with my boyfriend and just kick back and relax. There might be sun, coffee and lazy summer evenings with my friends, too. *dreams*

THE XCENTRIKZ: Have you ever fantasized that your real life could be more like the drama in your comic? Why or why not?

I think it's universal to daydream, and I certainly do, but I try hard to distance myself from my characters. I am not Harrazade, and while she sports a lot of my personality, so does Beast. And Broja, Greta and Runi. Even Hishan.
I think making comics to me is less about putting myself into another life than taking a break from my own by imagining somebody else's. Or something very similar to that.

THE XCENTRIKZ: If you suddenly had limitless resources and time to improve the Beauty and the Beast, what would you do?

That was a hard one. Beauty and the Beast is a story with a conclusion. When finished, I hope to realize some of my other manuscripts and ideas. But as far as Beauty and the Beast go, given endless resources and time, I would double the time I use on it. From around 3hours on a page to at least 8. That should result in more effort and detail into each page. Perhaps giving it the artwork the story deserves.
That said, I'm not a big fan of going back and redoing pages. Part of what I enjoy about comics is being able to spot 'evolution' in it. Making it all a polished, ready-for-the-market easy to sell package seem sort of... I just don't like it, I guess.
I would probably also try to make the story available in print, since I get questions about that from time to time.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Any thoughts or predictions, on the future of comics, and their place on the quickly-evolving internet?

Hm. I think webcomics have come to stay.
While I understand that making comics takes a lot of time and effort, I'm not a big fan of the 'pay to read' solutions on the web. At least if you ask people to pay for something (and they don't get the printed, physical comic or at least a downloadable pdf) you need to update enough to make it worth while. I think too many comics seem to have an epic 1800pages saga planned out, combined with an update schedule of 1 page a month. That don't work for me. I might stick around to look at the amazingly detailed page, but I don't really get much out of it storywise.
Mostly I think comics should be about telling a story. And since not all stories are going to be blockbusters, the possibility to publish for free on the web is a good thing.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Yea. Anything else to share about Beauty and the Beast?

Harrazade gets competition. oO

THE XCENTRIKZ: Whuh-oh! Well there's an interesting teaser for your readers. Hey, thank you for taking the time to tell us more about your work, Elise.

No problem! It was my pleasure! Thanks for letting me rant! :)

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