Sarah Myer is an Eisner-nominated comic artist, writer, and colorist whose work has been published by Macmillan/First Second Books, IDW Publishing, Dynamite Comics, VIZ Media,Good Trouble Comics, and Little Red Bird Press. Throughout their career, they’ve provided illustrations which have been approved for publication by powerhouse entertainment companies such as Nickelodeon, Capcom, Disney, and Sanrio. In addition to official IP work illustrating TMNT, Usagi Yojimbo, Darkwing Duck/Disney Afternoon, Hello Kitty, and Street Fighter characters, Sarah’s broad range extends to writing and illustrating nonfiction comics focusing on history, politics, memoir, and how-to instructional narrative.

I had the opportunity to interview Sarah, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Thanks so much for having me, Geeks OUT! I’m a comic artist, writer, and colorist currently living in Baltimore, who grew up in White Hall, Maryland. I’ve been attending conventions since 1999, began tabling in Artist Alley in 2002-2003. My work includes Eisner and L.A. Times Book Prize Nominated Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Saturday Morning Adventures, TMNT vs Street Fighter, Maker Comics: Create a Costume!, Votes for Women: The Battle for the 19th Amendment, and the upcoming Barrier Breakers: Helen Stephens comic for Good Trouble Productions with the NY State Department of Education. And I’ve got the cutest mackerel tabby cat, Loki. 

What can you tell us about your latest project, Monstrous? What was the inspiration for this book?

Monstrous really came from my M.F.A. Thesis “Drafting Self-Identity: Transracial Adoption in Comics” which I completed in 2016. It analyzes some portrayals of transracial adoptees in comics with regards to conflicts faced by transracial adoptees in the United States regarding their racial, cultural and personal identity. I used the thesis visual component as an opportunity to explore how self-image and identity can be vividly portrayed through the author’s eyes in the comics medium– “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang was cited as a major influence within the thesis. The visual component comic I produced for the thesis, and the issues unpacked while working on said comic is where Monstrouscame from. And I owe a huge thanks to Robyn Chapman from First Second Books for approaching me and for giving me the opportunity to create a graphic memoir after she read my thesis. 

As a creative, what drew you to the art of storytelling, especially graphic novels/comics?

I love how a graphic novel author can tell their story from multiple perspectives with the marriage of written words and visuals; for example, you can state something in a caption box as the narrator, write the dialogue being exchanged between characters in the speech balloons, and have an entirely new layer of meaning being communicated with the way you illustrate the characters’ facial expressions, clothing, body language, etc. On top of all of that, the style in which you letter the comic and render the characters and background, lighting, color, etc. gives you even more ways to communicate your meaning to the reader. You get to be an actor, a set designer, costume designer, director, cinematographer, a choreographer, a lyricist, and a playwright, all in one. There’s so much freedom and creative control in the graphic novel medium for the author.

How would you describe your creative process?

I guess I would describe it, for Monstrous, as fairly organic. Because it was based upon true events which I remembered, I opted to thumbnail the story on index cards to get the major beats of the narrative after I loosely outlined the scope of which years of Sarah’s life would be focused on. My editor helped tighten up which plot points and events were extraneous and which should absolutely stay and be focused on more, etc. But by thumbnailing the story on index cards primarily instead of a typed out script (I remembered those events and knew what the dialogue would be as I was depicting those events in sketch form), I was able to have a fairly smooth and fluid first outline for the pencils stage. 

What are some of your favorite elements of writing/illustrating? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or difficult? 

Overall, my favorite thing is to draw facial expressions and play with lighting as an artist. I also love to try to put in subtle or micro-expressions in the character’s face if there is an intentional contradiction between dialogue and their emotion; for example, a character who says “Yeah, sure, that sounds great” but is actually apprehensive about the situation would have a slightly nervous facial expression with mixed body language. I jokingly say that the theater kid and frustrated actor in me loves drawing comics. I will always struggle with perspective and backgrounds, but by doing it over and over again I (hopefully) will improve. 😉

For Monstrous, one of the challenges with writing dialogue was striking a balance between writing the dialogue as I remember it from real life versus what would best convey the plot point in that moment to the reader; again, my editors Robyn and Michael were so helpful in that stage. It sounds odd to say, but sometimes the way people actually phrased things in real life doesn’t always read as “natural,” so I was fortunate to have two extra sets of eyes on the dialogue and their input of suggestions.

As a creative, who or what would you say are some of your greatest artistic and creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general?

With Monstrous, I owe a creative debt to Gene Luen Yang and American Born Chinese. That work showed me the true power of graphic novels as a medium in portraying internalized racism and issues which are very difficult to describe in just words. I’m standing on the shoulders of giants with regards to my work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well. I am a huge fan of Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman’s work and many of the other artists who have come before me in working with Peter and Kevin’s characters. Jack Kirby is an inspiration to me both as a visual artist and in regards to work ethic and passion for the craft. And I will always love and be inspired by the Sailor Moon anime and manga by Naoko Takeuchi, Neon Genesis Evangelion (Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Takeshi Honda), Studio GAINAX’s work in general, Chuck Jones and Disney animation. 

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

I guess I’d like people to know that I love cosplaying and dressing up as characters I love. I was a theater kid and I think I sometimes still have a desire to act, so in drawing and cosplaying when I have time, I get to live that fantasy. A question I haven’t been asked yet…I have a webcomic called “Cheer Up, Michael!” that I would be delighted if I had more people mention or ask me about at conventions, but I do not expect it. It’s just fun to talk about and I really enjoy writing and illustrating that as a personal side project. It’s an incredibly cathartic project, so I’d welcome any questions about that work, too. If you asked me why I started the comic, I would tell you that I wanted to express unpopular anxieties about success and how it can be difficult to reconcile fear of failure with disappointments when you have a successful project or career shift. “Why is the character Michael Mouse in the comic?” Because he is often used as a universal corporate icon, but he has seldom had the opportunity to be himself in longer films and stories despite his great relatability and potential. I wanted to explore how he would feel about that restriction if he were a real person.

What advice might you have to give for aspiring comic creators/graphic novelists?

I want people to know that it is never too late for an opportunity to come your way, but if you want something badly enough, I hope you will not give up before that comes along, and be ready to seize it. To illustrate this point: I’m sometimes asked how I got the job on TMNT or the opportunity to write and illustrate Monstrous. I tell people that, for frame of reference, I have been drawing since I was 4 (so 34 years), selling my art in artist alley for over 20 years at cons, and have been attempting to break into the industry as a professional comic artist since 2008. My opportunities to be published in the industry came along starting in 2017 and Monstrous came in 2019. I was first approached to work on TMNT as a variant cover artist in 2022, and the work as a comic artist on TMNT came last year in 2023, just over 20 years after I first began selling my art at my own artist alley tables at conventions. I’m very lucky and thankful to have been approached for Monstrous and TMNT, but I cannot stress enough how the thesis and the TMNT fan art (or portfolio pieces, depending on how you want to look at it, haha) that I produced before the opportunities came along are what ultimately helped get me the jobs after those initial leads. I was in the right place at the right time but I would like to think that I was ready, and I was ready because I did not give up for 20 years even though it was awfully tempting to give up several times. I had been told to stop drawing “so much fan art,” and told that I would not be taken seriously in the comics industry if I was a “cosplay girl,” and I did not listen to either instruction. I hope this will encourage aspiring comic creators to wear their hearts on their sleeves, try to keep hopeful about their future, and always be ready and self-starting and putting your work out there because you never know when those opportunities will come around. 

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

I recently had my first Disney comic cover illustration released for Darkwing Duck: Justice Ducks #5 for Dynamite Comics, which has been a bucket list item for me, and I’m hoping to do more official Disney illustrations in the near future. I’ve got several issues of TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures coming out soon over the next few months, and I will be sharing more information about Barrier Breakers: Helen Stephens when it is released as well! I’ve got a couple of YA graphic novel pitches and a children’s book pitch, all of which are looking for a home but I will have to keep those under wraps until they find a publisher. I’m also seeking an agent which I think qualifies as a project, too.

Finally, books/authors (queer or otherwise) would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

I’ve been enjoying listening to audio books, specifically biographies, lately. I listen to “Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination” by Neal Gabler and “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow on repeat while working from time to time. I appreciate the gray areas and contradictions in the lives and philosophies of those two influential figures, both of whom I admire and whose mistakes and flaws I interpret as strong cautionary tales. And “Me” by Elton John is another book I really enjoyed. My best friend recommended “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” by Carl Sagan to me recently and I am only a few chapters in but I am enjoying it and finding it to be a comforting read/listen, especially in our current socio-political climate.