Susanna Martín was born in Barcelona and grew among the mountains of the Pyrenees. He graduated in History at the University of Barcelona and studied Illustration and Mural Painting at the La Llotja School of Art in Barcelona. He has collaborated in advertising, press, film producers and architecture studios. She lives in Barcelona working as an illustrator, comic book author, giving workshops in different spaces such as Macba, etc. Susanna has won the Barcelona Lambda Comic Award twice, in 2002 and 2008.
Alice in a real world (Norma Editorial, 2010) was her first graphic novel, along with the writer Isabel Franc. She has been awarded as Best Lesbian Production at the Jennifer Quiles Visible Awards (III Edition, 2011). She is the author of the collection of eight children's comics Com et dius? Em Dec… (Publications of the Abbey of Montserrat). And with Nac Scratchs he made the comic 1, 2, 3, 4 ... Various comics. Emotional / sexual and identity guide for adolescents (Bellaterra, 2011). Participate in the Indisorder textile project. Weared in this order with the work Perrxs (2012), which he creates together with the author María Castrejón.
In 2012 he published his second graphic novel Bombay Smiles (Editorial Standard). All his works can be found in his beautiful blog where he hangs his drawings and his novelties. Also, together with María Castrejón, he writes the Dadaist Blog of Cachaca and Piluca. Especially and before the publication of Bombay Smiles, Norma Editorial has published a wonderful and tremendously elegant space especially dedicated to the comic in which you can also see some pages. I recommend that you take a look to enjoy Susanna's stroke full of sensitivity and emotions. Besides that we have interviewed Susanna to tell us many things about the comics.
What is the Bombay Smiles comic
The Mumbai Smiles comic is the adaptation of the book that Jaume Sanllorente wrote with the same title in 2007. Due to the success of the book, the idea of taking it to a comic to reach more public was thought. When my editorial proposed the commission, it gave me all freedom and I updated the history of the NGO (five years have passed) and added other anecdotes, some of mine from when I went to India to learn about the NGO's projects.
I have been very rigorous with the landscapes and with the extra information I have given. I have raised this graphic novel as if it were a travel notebook, so, apart from the history of Jaume and the NGO, you can read about the customs of the people of Bombay. I have used a little humor to counter the strong images that appear and thus create a narrative rhythm that catches you, and to bring the protagonist closer.
The comic will be released on November 16, 2012 and is priced at 16 euros. You can find it in all bookstores and even buy it online.
What other comics have you published?
In 2010 I published, with the writer Isabel Franc, my first graphic novel Alicia in a real world (Editorial Standard). It is about a woman who overcomes breast cancer with a lot of humor.
In Catalan I have published several children's comics in Catalan publishers, among them Martina, the fear and the Faluga cat. I hope that some Spanish language publisher will be interested soon and want to publish them.
For teenagers I published a comic with Nac Scratchs about affective / sexual diversity and gender identities, 1, 2, 3, 4 ... Various stories (Bellaterra, 2011).
Who are your references in the comic
When I was very young, my hero was Flash Gordon, I guess my father would have some comic about him at home. My father also bought me a Mortadelo and Filemón or a Zipi Zape every Sunday. Then I discovered Tintin and Astérix, and as a teenager, I learned to draw with the manga, copying from television. Especially when I watched the Dragon Ball series. And I realized that the comic was a very powerful language after reading Akira, Moebius' work and discovering in the library of my town the shelf of the "adult" comics. It was a shelf that was at the top and you had to climb with a ladder. That was the most adult.
My style is a fusion of everything I read. It is still evolving and I am still learning from my current idols like Emmanuel Guibert, Alison Bechdel, Chris Ware, Aude Picault, Guy Delisle, Marjane Satrapi ...
What is the future of the comic: paper or tablets
Both. They are two very different supports and offer different possibilities.
Who are references in the current comic in Spain and in the world
In Spain there are a few referring names, and in addition, although I am not a supporter of awards and of those things, that "invented" the National Comic Award has finally helped to prestige the profession and people with a great job for years, such as Ana Miralles Paco Roca is a current reference, or Bartomeu Seguí and Max for me. I leave a lot.
And in the rest of the world it is more complicated. My vision is totally European. Truth to be told I do not know. It is not that it is a world reference, but I would highlight Marjane Satrapi's work for having crossed many borders in many aspects, such as Art Spielgeman.
Do you think that the world of cinema is relying both on the comic and with such success
The adventures of superheroes have always been taken to the movies for decades. I believe that there is now a saturation of mass industrial film production and also a lack of ideas in the world of Hollywood. They pull remakes, sequels and also adaptations. And now the world of comics seems to be living for some good years and is beginning to be considered an art. No wonder Hollywood uses these characters, the scripts are already made and have been working for years.
At what ages can children approach the comic and with what works
Boys and girls can always approach the comic. It is a great way to learn to read, even if you still don't know the letters. The comic is a narrative language, whether or not it has text. The bad thing about this country is that the children's comic is not appreciated, there are almost no publishers specialized in it and the great publishing houses do not publish, but because people only associate the illustrated book or stories to girls and boys and do not buy comic books childish. We have the idea that the comic is more for pre-teens.
So fast I can think of the BANG! which specializes in children's comic, the Thule publishing house has the Floating Island collection, Norma Editorial has Dibus magazine. And within the publications that are not specifically for children, I highly recommend the comics of Suicide Rabbits, Cat coming out of a bag, Raspa Kids Club, Downtown, etc. There are a lot of them.
What are your next projects.
I am currently drawing my third graphic novel with the author María Castrejón, it will be the life of Annemarie Schwarzenbach and we will also publish it with Editorial Norm.
And here the interview with Susanna. We have loved the drawings that hang on his blog and especially the work we have seen of Bombay Smiles, in black and white with sepia tones, like the one next to these lines full of sensitivity and emotion. For documentation, Susanna traveled to Mumbai and toured the stages in which Jaume's story takes place. And it is that Jaume Sanllorente has offered his unconditional complicity to Susanna who has written the script of the story and has given it a personal nuance that enriches the original story and turns it into a different and inspiring graphic novel.
The comic that goes on sale on November 16, 2012 deserves reading and review so we will go to our favorite comic book store to purchase it.
