published in Venus Zine on 8/11/08
Aspirations of becoming a professional comic book artist are often knocked aside as just a pipe dream. But Venus Zine reader Berynce Talley is making her dream a reality. At only 25, Talley has started her own business and published seven books. When she is not teaching art at a non-profit in Los Angeles, she’s busy working on her forthcoming graphic novel, Coffee Cake. Talley takes a break from her carpal tunnel-inducing work to talk about making it in the sequential art world.
How long have you been making comics?
I have been making comics since 2003. Nubian Queen Comics is my self-publishing business. I can't quite quit my day job and work on it full-time, but it's a business of passion. I love what I do, I just wish I could get up every morning and do this full time.
What sort of issues do you address in your comics?
Coffee Cake is an autobiographical graphic novel in the works about my years attending a black college in Georgia. I wanted to show the humor, culture clash, and the struggle to find myself as an individual and black woman. Le Menagerie is my first superhero comic that deals with Africa and Black America, and then there is my pride and joy, La La Land, which is a little zine that shows the struggles of holding down a job, yo-yo diets, dating, sex, and the everyday bout of living in Los Angeles.
What is most challenging about being an artist?
Getting my work out there. I'm always trying to promote myself through blogs, MySpace, conventions, and art shows, networking and hobnobbing with people to get connections and take the next step. I'm hoping my graphic novel will be the launching pad for my drawing and comic career.
Do you wish there was more female representation of comic book artists?
There are a lot of women that make comics out there who are gaining ground in the sequential art world like Becky Cloonan, Jessica Abel, Hope Larson, and Erica Moen. I am involved with an organization that specializes in African American women in comics called the Ormes Society, named after Jackie Ormes, the popular black cartoonist from the ‘50s. We are a small society of unrecognized artists trying to gain recognition from the comics community for our contributions to the art form.
I'm hoping to attract more young African American women and men to my comics. I want people to see things from a minority perspective — that there is someone out there who wants to tell a story about what goes on within our culture beyond the musings of television and music.
Any advice for the budding comic book artist?
If you want to get into comics, don't just sit on your thumbs — grab a pencil and start writing and drawing. You can make zines in your living room or shell out cash for a big publication. Look for any venue to sell your comics. People will respond, just get them excited. I will be at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco on November 1-2. Come by the Nubian Queen Comics table and chat with me!
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Check out Talley’s work at her blog at nubianqueen08.livejournal.com.
Read the article here.