The Xcentrikz - Interactive Comic

Interview with that funny gal, Danielle Corsetto, creator of...

July 15, 2009

Hello all, I just had a lovely chat with Danielle about her hilarious characters in Girls with Slingshots. The comic is about "Two girls, a bar and a talking catcus." But it's really a fully developed cast of crazy characters and their funny daily lives! Give it a try and hope you enjoy the interview. The comic is not appropriate for the faint of heart or children due to the mature content.

The Xcentrikz Team: Thank you for chatting with me today about Girls with Slingshots, Danielle. I’d like to encourage others to try it out. Could you offer a synopsis for those newbies?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: Let's see if I can make this PG! I often throw the pitch that it's about "two girls, a bar, and a talking cactus," and that seems to do the trick. It's a slice-of-life comedy strip that follows main ladies Jamie and Hazel as they make their way through the space between college and career. It's a dramedy about romance, friendship, and frankly, a lot of booze. And talking plants. Sometimes.

THE XCENTRIKZ: So, we’ve heard illustrating and comics have been a huge part of most of your life. That’s wonderful! Tell us about your early days as a cartoonist. Who and what inspired you, growing up?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: My grandpa used to read me the Sunday funnies, so I was originally drawn to old staples like Beetle Bailey, Blondie and Peanuts. As I grew up I was very inspired by Jim Toomey (Sherman's Lagoon), Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate), and especially Frank Cho (Liberty Meadows). Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse) was a nice reminder that we girls can draw comics, too.

In third grade we had an assignment in art class to write & draw a comic strip. I'd picked up on both art and writing very early (I was a smart kid, although I plateaued at ten and never got any further), but this was the first time I'd thought to marry the two. I drew my first strip and was sold. This was going to be my life-long love. (Which means I spent the rest of my childhood playing by myself at recess and sitting alone at lunch. Ah, a true artist!)

From third grade on, there was ALWAYS a cartoon project I was working on.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Well, so you're a really inspired person. Alright Danielle, so then what happened? How did Girls with Slingshots get started?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: I started GWS as a way to advertise my skills on the web (as a cartoonist, a writer, a web designer, and anything else that might pay!). When I started the strip I was working as a photojournalist at the local rag, as well as doing caricatures and freelance gigs. After awhile (and of course, no life), I had enough freelance work to strike out on my own. I gave the newspaper my 2 weeks' and suddenly, BAM! All of the jobs for the next month fell through! I can't remember what kept me afloat those months, but I have a feeling I was eating hot dogs & beans for awhile.

About a year or two in, GWS really took off. I'd had a great readership to begin with, but now the donations and "how can we help you?" e-mails were frequent enough that I felt confident I could make GWS my full-time job (or at least, not die trying). For 6 months my most hardcore readers donated enough for me to feed myself thanks solely to their generosity (and a few caricature gigs, which I still do). That gave me enough time to start putting out books and other merch, as well as selling advertising space on my website.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Congratulations! So are there specific people, or experiences in your life, that heavily inspire your work?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: Every relationship, friendship, silly observation and eavesdropped conversation influences my work. Specifically, the blunt and sometimes gruesome girl-talk among my gal pals and I are what really drive the strip. "Do you get hair caught in your underwear all the time?" "Does this rash look alright to you?" (Again, I'm trying to stay PG here!)

THE XCENTRIKZ: Are there really challenging aspects of doing the comic? If so, what gets you out of it?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: Writing is the hardest part. I spend hours out at the tea place nearby (or the bar, or whatever's open) scripting GWS. Most of my time is spent staring at a blank notebook. I usually spend about four hours working on a week's worth of strips; two hours sipping tea and thinking, and two hours furiously writing and sketching ideas.

If I really get stuck, I just start writing whatever comes to mind. One fabulous lesson I've learned is that, no matter how silly it seems in my head, if I write about what I WANT to write about, my readers ALWAYS love it. That confidence gets me out of more ruts than I'd like to admit (which I just openly admitted, here, in an interview).

THE XCENTRIKZ: Haha. What’s your favorite part about doing Girls with Slingshots?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: I get to draw in my pajamas! Seriously, all of it. I have a bit of an agenda, and I get to express it (mainly about feminism and relationships). And I get paid to do it, along with drawing. Plus - and I know this sounds cheesy - I get to spend time with these fun fictional characters in my head. That's quite a perk.

THE XCENTRIKZ: What typically inspires your sense of humor?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: Little observations about life. Taboos. Silly things people don't talk about for silly reasons.

But mostly it's in my blood. I hadn't realized this until recently, but whenever my brother and I visit our parents for dinner, it's like a joke construction workshop. My dad, brother and I have the same sense of humor. One of us will make a joke, and we'll toss it around, revising it until it's absolutely hilarious. Then my mom, with her rare and priceless biting wit, will make a comment that none of us saw coming, and it'll be the gem of the evening. I guess I was built to write jokes... but the three of them are way funnier than I am, at least out loud.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Neat. Do you enjoy doing certain characters more than others?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: Jamie's a blast to draw! But then, curvy girls often are. Candy and Thea have some nice curves and lines to them as well. And when I can get Hazel's facial expressions dead-on, it's always a proud moment.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Fun question: Who would win in an ultimate showdown? Jamie or Hazel, and why?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: Pfft, they wouldn't even get that far. They'd be too drunk after the pre-game toast.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Haha.... Being a cartoonist is really cool. Although especially since many web-comics are for free or non-profit, it can be challenging for some creators to balance maintaining a web-comic with an everyday life. What are the pros and cons for you as a cartoonist?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: The pros are obvious. I *have* to draw all the time for my job. I *have* to get creative when the time comes to create more appealing merchandise. I *have* to get out of the house to script.

The cons, however, are mostly art-related. I rarely sketch or draw in any other format than my illustrative cartoony GWS style. Because I spend so much time drawing cartoons, I often don't have the time to improve at other media, such as sewing, painting, or sculpture. But ummm... I hardly call that a major "downside" to my job; I'm getting better at cartooning every day, and that's the one I love the most. :)

THE XCENTRIKZ: What’s your advice for aspiring comic artists and writers out there?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: Draw draw draw draw, write write write write. Don't leave home without your sketchbook, and don't go too long without writing. Even if it's just a well-written, fun e-mail to a friend. And even if it's just rock drawings on a sidewalk. Draw draw draw draw, write write write write.

Oh yeah, and don't put out a lame comic! If your talents don't lie in one area or the other, pair up with a talented collaborator.

THE XCENTRIKZ: So – girl to girl talk here – Traditional comics used to be dominated by men and their silly-superheroic fantasies. What do you think of the place of women in webcomics?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: I have a hard time answering questions like this, because I rarely think of it as "HOORAY I'm a girl in comics!" I'm just another cartoonist. I always try to encourage young women to pursue their interests in cartooning, and I do love finding other girls in comics, but... I prefer to think of webcomics as one big growing field in general. I love love love that there are more and more slice-of-life comics being created now, but to be honest, a lot of them are created by men. And there are plenty of fantasy/superhero(ine) stories created by women.

I guess, in general, I like that we ladies don't have to feel like comics are a boys' club. But personally, I never really felt that way to begin with (again, thank you Lynn Johnston!). In the end, a good comic is a good comic, no matter who the author is.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Wonderful. Do you have any thoughts about the prospect of webcomics? What’s the future of our industry?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: I know that my idea of "what webcomics are" is probably going to change in a matter of years, or even months, and I kind of like that! Technology and popular culture change so quickly that we really can't guess what the future will be like (I mean, we can, but we'll probably be as wrong as we were decades ago when we expected everyone to be wearing silver go-go dresses and driving hovercars in the year 2000).

I do believe that we'll continue reading comics on computers (however they're represented in the future), but that buying the paper collections will never go entirely out of fashion.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Anything else to share about Girls with Slingshots?

DANIELLE CORSETTO: Hey, buy a book! Tell a friend! Just the usual. :)

Then again... there are big things going on at GWS right now. Two of the main characters are getting hitched! So you know that means there will be a horrible, horrible catastrophe soon. All weddings have one, right?

Also, books 3 & 4 will be out in time for Christmas, but books 1 & 2 are available now. Plug plug plug.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Thanks for letting everybody know. Well I think your art style is really great, as well as your sense of humor. I hope you keep it up and continue to share your work with us! Thank you again for the interview.

DANIELLE CORSETTO: And thanks yourself!

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