Writers@Work: Writing Graphic Novels and Comics
An Interview with Rob Harrell
Welcome to the blog. Tell us about your new book Popcorn.
Hello! Thanks so much for having me! So, Popcorn is a middle grade novel about a seventh grader named Andrew. Andrew deals with some pretty bad anxiety and also a bit of OCD. The whole book takes place on Picture Day, and let’s just say he does NOT have a good day. It goes from bad to worse and his anxiety keeps building: he feels like a kernel of popcorn in oil that is getting hotter and hotter – and his biggest fear is “popping” and having a full-blown panic attack at school. The situations he faces run from the absurd to genuinely scary—including when he gets word that his grandmother with Alzheimer’s has gone missing. But using his humor, some coping mechanisms he’s learned in therapy and support from friends and teachers, Andrew is determined to get through the day alive—and get the great school picture his mom is really hoping for. It has a lot of humor in it, including comics he draws called The Anxiety Files, where he expresses what his building stress feels like.
You’re the creator of a couple of long-running comic strips. How did you make the transition to writing middle grade fiction and graphic novels?
Well, my big dream in life was ago do a syndicated comic strip, and in 2002 I was finally given the green light on my first strip, Big Top—about a boy growing up in the circus surrounded by an eclectic cast of animal characters. I loved that strip and learned a lot about writing unique characters, writing efficiently, and delivering a punchline. Unfortunately, after five years I was given a rare and scary cancer diagnosis (which was the basis of my book Wink). Between a year of battling that—as well as the torrent of medical bills that flooded in, I was forced to quit doing the strip. Fortunately, after a couple years of working several jobs at once, my syndicate asked if I’d like to take over the long-running strip Adam@Home. I’ve actually now been doing that daily strip for fifteen years!
At some point during the “in-between years” I got obsessed with graphic novels, and honestly they looked so fun and freeing, I decided to take a crack at it. So I wrote and drew Monster on the Hill. It was a TON of work, but incredibly rewarding – and it also helped me start to trust myself as a writer.
Around that time, books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Big Nate were taking off, and again it just looked really fun. So I got started on the Life of Zarf trilogy. This was a lot more writing, a lot more plot and characters – and I just loved it. This led to my book Wink, which I pitched as “a story about a kid with cancer—but funny.” A tough pitch, but having gone through it myself, I felt like I could give it the heart, the humor AND carefully weave in comics and humor to make it an entertaining book that just maybe taught a few lessons on dealing with an awful situation.
The Batpig comics that Ross, the main character in Wink draws, were kind of a hit, which led to a series of three Batpig graphic novels which I turned out largely through Covid. It was such a fun world to play in.
So basically, I think I kind of crept slowly from someone who thought of themselves as an artist who could kind of write to now, where I feel just as strong with my words as I do with the drawing part.
You have a gift for creating funny stories kids love—and that hit on deep topics (like anxiety!). Do you have any suggestions for writers who want to write for the middle grade crowd?
First, I think it helps if you keep some part of your brain that never. grows up. I’ve always loved comic strips and comedies and bad jokes and coming of age books and movies—so I think that has really helped. I also think it helps to just spend a lot of time thinking about how you felt as a kid. Reconnect with your inner middle-schooler. Look back at yearbooks and pictures. Go back and walk the halls of your middle school if someone will let you. It’s amazing the feelings and memories that come popping up to help you reconnect.
On top of that, I think it’s really important to get in the right headspace, where you’re writing as a nervous, awkward young kid—not an adult writing DOWN to those kids. It’s actually incredibly fun when you find that voice.
You write and illustrate books, a comic strip, and do freelance illustration. What are your favorite productivity secrets? And how do you stay healthy?
Ha. Well, there’s coffee. 🙂 And deadlines! But there’s also something I do that I kind of cheesily call “following your energy”. Because I constantly have the option to be writing on a book, or writing strips, or drawing the strips or illustrating the book, I kind of have the luxury of seeing what I feel I’m up for on any given day. So some days I’ll write three weeks of strips, or just letter or ink them. Or if it feels like the book is calling my name that day, I’ll work on it. It breaks things up in a way that keeps me sane. Of course, there are times when a deadline is looming that I DON’T have that choice – and then I just have to put my head down and GO.
One problem I find is that often when I’m working on the strip, I feel guilty I’m not working on the book. And visa versa. It never ends. So I go work out, or walk, or ride my bike, or just get away from my desk (or go work in a coffee shop) or go meet up with friends. I think the mix of all those is what keeps me relatively healthy—both mentally and physically.
The bottom line, though, is that I love creating stories and characters and worlds… and I may be a touch of a workaholic. So loving what you do is key. I think that spark—and always allowing room in your work to play around and try something crazy—that’s what keeps me happy and going seven days a week.
Thanks again so much, and I look forward to speaking with you in person!!
Today’s tip is an email interview I did with Rob Harrell, author, graphic novelist, and comic strip creator. I’ll be interviewing Rob Harrell live and in person at Shorewood Public Library on Friday, September 20 at 4:30 PM. If you want to meet the author this Friday in Shorewood, Wisconsin, you can sign up for the event at Boswell Books: https://www.boswellbooks.com/upcoming-events
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rob Harrell is the author/illustrator of Popcorn and Wink, created the Batpig and Life of Zarf series, the graphic novel Monster on the Hill, and also writes and draws the long-running daily comic strip Adam@Home. He created and drew the internationally syndicated comic strip Big Top until 2007. He lives in Indiana.
