A MODERN COMING-OF-AGE FASHION FAIRY TALE
An Interview with Terry Blas and Lydia Anslow for EAT YOUR HEART OUT
Blanca is running away . Away from her mother — the overbearing and strict Reina — and her mother ’ s narrow idea of what shape Blanca ’ s life should take . While Reina finds Blanca ’ s dream of pursuing fashion design a wasteful flight of fancy , Blanca sees possibility … and she knows if she doesn ’ t leave now , she might never . Of course , following your passion isn ’ t easy , and when Blanca arrives in New York City without a job or a roof over her head , she ’ s rescued by a kindly baker named Emile , who takes her in .
With Emile comes his eclectic group of roommates , all living in the same brownstone , who welcome Blanca into their weird , wonderful world . Together , Blanca and her new chosen family discover that love and encouragement are key ingredients in the recipe for making your dreams come true .
Terry Blas is the illustrator and writer behind the viral webcomics You Say Latino and You Say Latinx . He wrote Ariana Grande vs . Sergeant Shade and the Clonebot Brigade , the comic book tie-in for her R . EM . fragrance . He is also the writer of Steven Universe comics for Boom , and Rick and Morty comics for Oni Press . His original graphic novels are Dead Weight : Murder at Camp Bloom , Hotel Dare , and Lifetime Passes , all of which feature Mexican characters . He also wrote the Marvel series Reptil : Brink of Extinction . Terry lives in Oregon with his husband and their dog . Matty Newton is an illustrator , writer , and professional hoarder from Southern California . Matty ’ s personal artwork explores pop culture , social commentary , and frivolity . Lydia Anslow is a storyboard artist and illustrator living in LA . She is also a huge fan of shonen manga and anime .
Read on to hear Blas and Anslow discuss their experiences in creating EAT YOUR HEART OUT VOLUME 1 from Oni Press .
DIAMOND : For those who aren ’ t familiar , can you tell us what readers can expect from this book ? Blas : Readers can expect a fun , modern , fairy tale inspired story about chasing your dreams . Readers can expect a story about a young Latina following her heart and the wonderful family she creates along her journey . Oni Press Editor in Chief Sierra Hahn really put it best when she said : “ Perfect for fans of Project Runway and RuPaul ’ s Drag Race , this wholesome , new tale will appeal to readers everywhere .” — There ’ s a dash of Ugly Betty in there and a sprinkle of The Devil Wears Prada too .
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Anslow : In Eat Your Heart Out you can expect laughs , some romance , Drag , a little bit of tears , fashion , New York , Latin American humor made by real latin people , pan dulce , food , a Dinosaur skeleton , and a great big house where everyone meets and can feel at home .
How did this project come about ? Blas : Matty and I have been friends for decades and we met after I moved to California from New York . We have very similar brains and the story came about somewhat organically through jokes , hanging out , and through being inspired by other things we had seen and liked . You should see our first draft of the story . It ’ s pretty different . Anslow : The story was originally a project from both Terry and Matty but I was asked to join on because Terry liked my interest in fashion , drag and a lot of similar nerdy related things like anime and manga . It was my first comic so I was very very green .
What kind of obstacles did you face while putting this title together ? Blas : There was a lot of back and forth about how to do the book . Do we write it as single issues ? Do we make it into one book ? Two volumes ? Ulti-