mately , I think what we decided on works great . Also , Matty and I had never really written something together before and what I thought were obstacles were actually great lessons for me to learn . Matty would suggest something and my reaction would be that we couldn ’ t do it because it ’ s a comic . Matty would then be like : “ So ?” and I wouldn ’ t have a good response . So it opened me up a bit to trying new things and I think Matty ’ s fresh perspective made the book so much better . Anslow : I know the project had been in the works for a while with Terry but I think the main obstacle I had was that I was still very new to making full fledged comics . I worked in storyboarding for animation and a lot of the principles are the same but you have a lot less room to work with . Trying to put out good work that I felt pleased with and not delaying things further was on my mind a lot .
What would you say is the most rewarding part of the process ? Blas : The most rewarding part of the process was seeing the art come in from Lydia and Claudia . They are amazing and I can ’ t imagine kicking this story off without them . They really brought the characters to life and made New York City feel like the character it is in the book as well . Seeing the art come in is always the best part for me . Anslow : Finally seeing everything coming together and having something that you can hold in your hands ( whether digitally in your phone or a physical book ).
In terms of audience , who is this book for ? Blas : I think at first glance we would say “ Young Adult ” and that ’ s likely where it would be shelved in a store or a library . But really I think all ages can read this . I tend to think that kids in Junior High like to read stuff intended for High Schoolers and High Schoolers tend to like to read stuff intended for someone a little bit older . This book has a very diverse cast , one that I feel is more representative of New York City than a lot of other things I ’ ve read or seen , so there are queer , gay and trans people of all sorts , people of color all over , and all of them create this wonderful and supportive family who help each other ’ s goals be accomplished and dreams come true . It ’ s also important for me to write for a Latinx audience . The fastest growing demographic in the United States is the college educated Latina . So there should be more books for them . Across the board , the Latinx community spends more money on movies and entertainment than any other group ( about 25 % of movie ticket sales every weekend ) so I feel a responsibility to help my community know that there are books out there for us . If I have to make them , so be it . Anslow : This book ultimately is for anyone with an interest in the things I listed before . But I feel there ’ s a special place for this book for pre-teens , teens and young adult readers , especially Latin American readers or readers who come from Latino families that may not speak very good Spanish or grew up watching telenovelas with their parents . But it also has a great place for people who enjoy queer culture , Drag , fashion , food , found families , light humor and slice of life style manga or comics .
What are you hoping readers take away from this book ? Blas : I hope readers take away that denying who you are isn ’ t the way to get what you need . Embracing your talents and your skills , surrounding yourself with people who see your potential and who shower you with love is what will help you move forward in this world , even when others are trying to push you in another direction . Especially then . Anslow : I hope that first and foremost they have a good time . If they take a little bit of “ Oh that character reminds me of ME and / or my friend ” or even if a background character makes them feel seen , then that will make me personally happy . Growing up there weren ’ t a lot of characters of people like me in media so we tried to be as inclusive as we could even when it came down to just populating New York . It wouldn ’ t make sense to me if we just left everyone looking exactly the same even in the background . Also , hopefully they take home an idea of maybe trying out some of the food in the comics . Or learn a few words of Spanish as well . But ultimately I just want people to enjoy reading the book and have a fond memory of spending time with our gang .
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