ERIC WIGHT - ONCE MORE ON MY DEAD GIRLFRIEND

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Last month saw the release of Eric Wight’s My Dead Girlfriend, a global manga series published by TOKYOPOP. We’ve talked to Wight about the project earlier, but figured one more conversation about the book, love and romance, now that it’s in stores wouldn’t hurt…much.

Newsarama: Most of us in schools, colleges and institutions of higher learning, even in organizations and societies, form our own cliques and groups with people that we’re most related to in terms of personality, character, attitude, etc.

In the case of the students in My Dead Girlfriend, the first volume introduces other students such as the vampire Drake Rippington and the Deadbeats, Salamander Mugworth and the Glindas, the Aberzombies, the Foreign Exchange, the Invertebrates, the Lab Monkeys. Reminds me of the Houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter novels and movies, or the New Mutants, Hellions, Alpha Squadron, Corsairs, Paragons, Excelsiors squads from New X-Men.

In your opinion, does belonging to a certain elite group make you feel important?

Eric Wight: The hierarchical system of high school popularity is fascinating to me. I think it’s less about needing to belong to an elite group to feel important, and more about just finding your own niche of friends that have similar interests. What I was trying to convey with the different cliques was that there was a lot of diversity at Finney’s school, and yet he still couldn’t find a match.

NRAMA: Does one really feel loved and respected as part of a group?

EW: I graduated from high school quite some time ago, and am just as close (or even closer) with my circle of friends as I was back then. Those guys were and still are like brothers to me. But I also know plenty of people that lost touch with their friends soon after graduation. So I guess it all depends on the individual and the foundation of their friendship.

NRAMA: For someone who’s made a name in the world of animation, how do you approach storytelling in comics?

EW: Storytelling is all about conflict and resolution, whether that be about Young Love or Civil War. Love and romance is as prevalent in comics as it has ever been. Y: The Last Man is an epic romantic quest. Young Avengers beautifully captures relationships as being as unique and special as having superpowers. I can go on and on listing comics that prove that love is still a large part of what makes the world go ‘round.

NRAMA: What is the appeal of romance comics over the years?

EW: The appeal of romance comics -- like any storytelling medium -- is about escapism. And as long as there are stories that are able to transport us somewhere entertaining, there will be readership. Books like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns gave comics a shot in the arm at a time when the relevancy of superhero comics was really being questioned. Love them or hate them, manga has impacted the comic book market in a similar way, proving that there is a strong audience for comics that don’t involve superpowers.

NRAMA: Do you think that today's market as a whole is receptive to romance/love comics at all?

EW: One of my biggest goals and toughest challenges with My Dead Girlfriend was to create a book that would appeal to both audiences. The core of the plot is romantic, but it’s also packed with action and humor. So I think the focus should be less about generalizing romance comics as just being for girls, and more about telling stories that will be entertaining for everyone. In the week that My Dead Girlfriend has been on bookshelves, the majority of the fanmail I have received has not only been from male readers, but from die-hard superhero fans -- the majority of whom had never read manga before.

NRAMA: That said, looking at My Dead Girlfriend, it is not just solely romance all the way. For a start, you’re mixing romance, fantasy and horror. Having worked on super-hero projects and animation, how tough was it to create such a project and make it marketable and appealing in today’s overcrowded market place?

EW: The overcrowded marketplace is completely intimidating, but you kind of have to block all of that out and just focus on doing your best work. Otherwise you can become paralyzed with second guesses. Blending genres was actually more organic than you might suspect. It’s really just an amalgam of all the things I enjoy reading and drawing rolled into one story.

NRAMA: What kind of research did you do when coming up with Finney, Jenny, Finney’s pet gargoyle Mookie, his parents and sisters, April, May, June aka The Trouble Trifecta, and the various characters in My Dead Girlfriend?

EW: It’s important to me to create characters that are relatable, no matter how fantastic they are. So the basis for any character is grounded in reality, then twisted and turned until it evolves into something else entirely new. Finney certainly isn’t me, but there are aspects of him that are influenced by my own life experiences. His relationship with Mookie is similar to my connection with my dog Kirby. Through metaphor I am able to recreate and explore aspects of my life and the lives around me in a way that is reflective without being completely literal.

NRAMA: You obviously wrote this with the teenagers and young adults in mind. Yet, at the same time, it’s aimed at the super-hero and comics fans as well, right? The first volume featured pin-ups from such creators as Mike Allred, Dan Brereton, Sean Phillips, Andi Watson, Dean Haspiel, Nick Derington, J. Bone, and others. And it also has an introduction by Allan Heinberg. One more time now… Sell the idea of My Dead Girlfriend again. Only this time, how would it appeal to fans of, say, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Nocturnals, Madman, etc?

EW: My Dead Girlfriend could be an amazing gateway for readers who have never experienced anything outside of superhero comics, because it echoes the same themes and conflicts. Keep in mind that I first learned to draw by reading books like Batman, Spider-Man, JLA, and Avengers. I wanted to create comics for a living because of storylines like the Dark Phoenix Saga and Crisis on Infinite Earths. My foundation in comics was completely superhero driven. And you’ll find that influence throughout My Dead Girlfriend. This book is truly for anyone that loves sequential storytelling, not one specific genre or format.

NRAMA: The book’s dedicated to Krissy. Who’s she, by the way?

EW: Krissy is my wife’s nickname, and without her efforts this book could never have happened. So much goes into making a book this size (especially in the compressed amount of time it was created in), and although she didn’t assist in physically creating the book itself, she really took on the lion’s share of life’s other demands, sheltering me so that I could focus on my work. I wanted to make sure that she knew how much her support meant to me, so dedicating the book to her was a small part of my saying “Thank you.”

NRAMA: How much of this book is influenced by her and your relationship with her?

EW: There are a lot of little nods to moments in our relationship, but Finney and Jenny’s story is very much their own. My Dead Girlfriend is grounded in the experience of finding love, but spun in a completely unique direction.

NRAMA: So, wrapping things up, how are you doing with Volume 2?

EW: I have everything plotted out for the next several volumes, and am clearing my plate of a few other things before returning to My Dead Girlfriend mode. I really enjoy being able to jump back and forth between this and the superhero stuff.

NRAMA: When is it due out?

EW: Right now I’m trying to enjoy the release of the book that’s finished before diving into the next one. So no date has been set just yet.

NRAMA: What’s coming up in the next volume?

EW: Now that he’s finally dating the girl of his dreams, Finney’s life only gets more complicated. By the end of the second book, Finney is really going to miss the simplicity of being alone.

[LunarDaydreamer]

This looks fantastic - i'm definately getting V1.

Made me think how much i'd love more of Mike Carey's My Faith In Frankie too.

[bls-79]

I'm one of those guys Mike was talking about who never read a Manga in my life prior to picking up My Dead Girlfriend at the NYC Con where I was lucky enough to meet Eric and even get a Jenny sketch from him.

Mike's art and writing are top notch and he certainly has put a unique twist on the story of one's first love. I thoroughly enjoyed Vol. 1 and I'm really looking forward to Vol. 2.

[kalorama]

I enjoyed the first volune. Not quite as good as Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin books (which are in a similar vein) but a good read. i'll likely check out more.

On a completely different note: Was the title of the article meant to be as disturbing as it is?

[Wonder Boy]

Oh man. I devoured Volume 1.

Can't wait for Volume 2 to come out.

[jasonbradley]

My Dead Girlfriend Volume 1 is probably the best thing I've read so far in 2007. Great book!!

[she_burns]

I could not put this book down! It was an amazing book and I am recommending it to everyone I know - oo, first post at Newsrama too!

[Don Mega]

This seems to be very good. I´ll try to catch it later today at my LCS.