Tessa Stone on ‘Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name’, boys’ fashion, and success

Thanks to Deviantart, I’ve been able to see a lot of cool art from people all over the world. But I think the artwork by Tessa Stone is among some of my favorites. Stone writes and draws her own online comic, Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name, which is just as intriguing as the curious name suggests. Her creativity has allowed her to create a world that could very well exist in your own neighborhood inhabited by relatively normal-looking people, except that these people happen to be a zombie who’s forgotten his name and past life, a worry-wart vampire/freelance artist (who graduated from Ringling College of Art, no less),  a boy who’s part Selkie, a theater-geek werewolf girl, and a hyper 24-year old paranormal investigator who has a girl’s name. Even still, there’s more to these characters than just this description. I managed to catch up with Stone to see how she came up with such a likeable story.

MB-When did you first get interested in art?

TS-I don’t know if I’ve ALWAYS been interested in it, but it sure feels that way. My first comic book was in the first grade, and I’m pretty sure I went through the trouble of stapling it shut like a ‘real book’ and giving it to my best friend at the time. I found out recently that he still has it. That’s crazy! Though I don’t want to see it- I’m sure it’s awful.

For some reason, I always believed I would be a comic artist one day. My mother is a great artist, but was always much more into the traditional paintings and pastels. She’s amazing at it though!

-Have you always liked comic books?

Surprisingly, the only comics I really read when I was little were the Archie Sonic comics. I didn’t really get exposed to more until I got older and I started just looking into a bunch of graphic novels. My favorites are still things like Hellboy and Doug TenNaple’s CreatureTech. To be honest, I don’t read as many comic books as I should; it’s something I’m sort of ashamed about.

-What was the inspiration for Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name?

I always have had a thing for episodic but chronological storytelling. I had just finished watching a lot of Stargate SG-1, and I just loved their formula. They didn’t take themselves seriously at all, and the character interaction was what made the show. The plot was almost irrelevant, each episode was just a new scenario to see how they would all react and fumble around clumsily and I loved that. The characters for Hanna Is Not a Boy’s Name is very much under that same idea. Any formula that allows body swapping, inexplicable possession, doppelgangers, alternate universes and God knows what else is a grand formula to me.

Otherwise, I drew a ton of inspiration from the band Ludo. While that seems pretty odd and off topic, there’s actually quite a bit of logic behind it. Their storytelling methods and their sound alone were so playful on its own, but there was something always witty or tragic about their stories and songs when you really start digging a little deeper. I love the idea of something being so dark come off so playful, and it was something I quickly absorbed into my own work. I wanted to almost visualize their sound, if that makes any sense.

-Your art is very stylized and reaches a certain demographic that (weirdly enough) doesn’t seem to be recognized enough in the comic business–trendy people. Does drawing your characters’ style come naturally, or does a fair amount of clothing research go into each drawing?

I loved that you asked this! I think it is particularly funny that my characters are so well dressed because I can barely dress myself. I am always in a t-shirt, jeans or a sweater and hoodie. I don’t know a thing about fashion. I sometimes look up clothes to get ideas for what the characters will be wearing, but honestly it is all a derivative of things I actually like to see on guys.

Strangely I have always liked men in suits, guys in ties, horribly bright and obnoxious colors, sweater vests and the like. I am actually glad it comes off as fashionable instead of a horrible mishmash fashion Frankenstein monster.

-Your characters are very well developed, both artistically and emotionally. Were there any real-life people who served as the inspirations for your characters?

Thank you! I’m ecstatic to hear you feel that way. They are my favorite part of telling stories, so this is the biggest compliment! There usually is a real person behind the characters I make, even if it’s just in bits and pieces. While I worked at Starbucks, a few of the regulars got turned into characters. One I even went so far as to take his whole appearance and style of dress, then ditch his mannerisms and personality so I could just fill it in with something else. I hope he NEVER notices – never reads the comic, I mean. I’m fairly sure he’d probably be pretty put off about what I turned him into. I also tend to shamelessly take physical things from celebrities when I feel it suits. Which may or may not be very often…

As for their personalities, I love fleshing them out and figuring out how they behave based on their appearance alone. I tend to work backwards when I create characters – draw them first then fill in the blanks. What can I see this person doing? What would they never do? What makes them recognizable in a crowd? If they were to walk up to me and talk to me what would be the things I would notice first? These are the things I obsessively think about.

-In almost every HiNaBN piece, there is a cross or X of some kind. Why do you like them so much?

Aesthetically I feel it is a very balanced symbol, so it can be used all over without seeming incredibly intrusive. As for why it appears in HiNaBN so much, it’s mostly because Hanna’s last name is Cross, and sort of like him it’s kind of a diverse symbol! X can mark the spot, be a symbol of hope and religion, an additive, balance, death, something you weren’t meant to see…

The list goes on!

-How do you feel about the success of your online comic?

Honestly? I’m blown away. I never really imagined that it would reach the magnitude that it has. When people tell me they’re going to a con dressed up as Hanna or {…} [the unnamed zombie] to come see me, I can’t wrap my head around that! When someone tells me they discuss the comic with their friends over the lunch table at school, I can’t wrap my head around that either. I’m so flattered and feel so lucky that I get to share something so close to me. I’m having tons of fun doing it and the fact that other people are having fun along with me only makes the journey that much more amazing.
I realize Hanna Is Not A Boy’s Name is not really for everyone. It’s campy and cheesy, with garish colors and a sort of incredibly fast [and sometimes jerky] pacing, with a little bit of everything that should make a story horrible. Crappy vampires, tiny girl werewolves, a zombie who doesn’t even bother eating any body’s brains, and a lead character that is complete crap at his job. I’m also learning a ton while I’m making it, so you’re forced to sit through my experimentation and my more obvious mistakes.

All the same, when I see that people are really still enjoying it makes me feel so honored and lucky. So, thank you!

-Aside from your own, who are your favorite comic book characters?

Man, this is hard! Penny Arcade really isn’t a comic book, but it’s a comic so I’ll confess that I have this strange crush on Tycho Brahe. It’s his chin and his puff of hair and his condescending stare that lets you know you are so much more inferior than he is that gets me, haha!

Also, I have a crush on TJ from The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal by E.K. Weaver (http://www.tjandamal.com), and Pinter from The Meek by Der Shing (http://www.meekcomic.com). Those two are amazingly excellent comics done by amazing excellent people that I am jealous of every day.

-On your website, you have written that if you could have your comic turned into a movie, it’d be a horror/musical. If HiNaBN was being made into a movie, who would be your dream cast and director?

Gosh, a movie would be such a dream. Especially if I got to do my ridiculous horror/musical that I seem so bent on! It’s all so silly, but I would want David Bowie in there somewhere because WOW what an awesome dude. I would say he could be the bad guy for the movie but then he’d have to win, ‘cause Hanna couldn’t outdo David Bowie, no way.

As for director? I am really keen on Edgar Wright, who directed Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, and now the awesome looking movie for the equally awesome comic Scott Pilgrim [Scott Pilgrim vs. The World]. Honestly, if I could even get Simon Pegg to be a writer I think I’d die pretty happy. I’m fairly sure they’d make it a million times better. Also (probably unsurprisingly) I loved Zombieland, so now Ruben Fleischer is on my radar.

My totally unimportant fantasy unicorn radar, that is!

-Any other comic ideas that you plan on working on?

I have been working on another project with my sister. I’m pretty excited for it, and it takes a lot of self control to not jump straight into that one too. It has one of my favorite characters to write for, on top of it all! It has a dark theme to it, but I’m fairly sure that everything I write/draw will have that going on. I can’t help it! I’m completely fascinated with dark subjects.

Unlike Hanna though, it’s in a more fantasy world where space age technology and magic are more established. Floating colonies and spaceships, hooray! That means it’s a lot harder for me, but I’ve always loved that kind of stuff. It’s basically about a really stuffy, alcoholic alchemy professor creating something amazing that everybody loves until it’s misused and ends up killing a few innocent people.

He becomes the scapegoat, and the elixir he made is banned and all recipes of it are destroyed. The only person who knows how to do make it anymore is him, which basically brings up a bunch of shady people wanting to get their hands on his mind. That sounds super boring, but in my defense so does Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name, haha!

-Any final thoughts?

In the end, I guess I can be totally happy that I basically cannon-balled into doing this comic. It was an experiment, but my first personal success at maintaining my own interest for an expanded amount of time and also serves its purpose as an experiment. I have learned so much already and I just love the idea of still trying something new in each page. Thanks for giving me a chance to talk about it!

Fans of Stone’s can see her at any of the following conventions:

A-Kon | Dallas, TX | June 4th-6th 2010 |
AX | LA, California | July 1st-4th 2010 |
Otakon | Baltimore, Maryland | July 30th-August 1st 2010 |
DragonCon | Atlanta, Georgia | September 3rd-6th 2010 |

Make sure to read Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name at hanna.aftertorque.com.

Tags: Hanna is not a boy's name, interviews, online comics