Broken Frontier

Originally a daily web comic, EmiTown was collected by Image Comics this month in one large compendium. Chronicling a year in the life of creator Emi Lenox, EmiTown is a unique piece of nonfiction that successfully bridges the gap between a slice-of-life memoir and sequential storytelling. Appearing to have no linear momentum, each page of EmiTown briefly encapsulates a day in the creator's life.

As you tear through the days, weeks, and months, you start to see a life forming. Not an A to B existence, but rather the small moments that sum up the whole. It’s in this way that EmiTown is successful, aside from the beautiful pencils and pop culture references. It's absolute honesty in every panel.

Broken Frontier had the opportunity to speak with the writer/artist Emi Lenox about this newly published collection, her inspirations, future plans, and the daily grind.

BROKEN FRONTIER: For anyone that hasn't had the pleasure of reading your work, can you describe the project of EmiTown? What is a comic diary?

EMI LENOX: EmiTown is a daily comic where I reflect on the thoughts and interesting things that happened that day. It is more of a sketch diary because instead of a series of panels with one focus, it hits multiple events and thoughts. Sometimes it is even just a sketch that I had felt like putting on paper that day! A comic diary is basically like a journal, but using images along with words to record your day. I find it easier to think with images instead of writing out paragraph after paragraph. I find this format more flowing for me than a purely written diary. 

BF: How did EmiTown start for you? Was it an exercise or maybe something else?

LENOX: It started for me for several reasons: as a release for a lot of heavy emotions I was going through at one point of my life, a way to start getting back into the groove of drawing after taking a three-year hiatus, and to record thoughts and certain experiences that I didn't want to forget.

BF: This collection of EmiTown chronicles a little over a year's worth of comic diary entries. How long had you been working on EmiTown, before sharing it with the world?

LENOX: The collection is going to chronicle from May 2009 to the end of April 2010. I've been doing the diary since October of 2008. There is a good six months or so that have never been seen by anyone other than myself and Jamestown.

BF: You've interned for comic companies, cataloged trade collections, etc. How does it feel to have a bound collection of your own on the shelf at the local comic shop?

LENOX: I'm not sure yet. I don't think I'll know how it feels until I physically see it on a shelf somewhere. Right now, it still feels really surreal, like a dream. Like it's not even happening. Honestly, I have no idea! I'm sorry!

BF: This one is a little cliché, I know, but where do you find your inspiration, both in content as well as format?  For instance, had you read an autobiographical comic and suddenly realized you could do this?

LENOX: I do love that genre and have read autobiographical comics in the past. I know Carnet De Voyage by Craig Thompson really struck me, but when I started drawing the journal, I did not have this in mind. I was doodling whatever came to mind while I had downtime at work and it slowly manifested into what the strip is today. When I started to put the comic online was when I started to think more about auto-bio comics and how much of their lives they put out there for the world to see. It was one of the reasons I put my own online, because I know how much I enjoyed others.

BF: In preparation for the book, the daily posts have been on hiatus. Are you still working on EmiTown or maybe saving it for future volumes of the print collection?

LENOX: I do plan on posting all of the pages online. I am so behind, I am not sure when I will be actually caught up! I do have pretty much the last couple months all thumb-nailed out and ready to be drawn, so as of now, it's just a matter of time. I will admit that I do want to continue to draw EmiTown but other projects might start taking priority. Projects being like an actual story from me which I have been wanting to do for a long time!

BF: What has been the personal response to EmiTown, the people currently in your life and/or those that meet you for the first time now? Is there a significant difference? Do you find people being more comfortable with you, or is it the opposite?

LENOX: Well, the people currently in my life enjoy it! I know my family in particular love it because it's a way for them to see what I have been up to. I know my mother thinks I'm a bit too open on certain topics and that makes her a little uncomfortable! EmiTown in a way (Vol. 2 Spoiler Alert!) brought me a boyfriend! I have met some readers and with most, it feels like just talking to some friends. I haven't tabled since the announcement of the book, so I am curious how things will be at conventions once the book is released!

BF: Do you see this ever ending? Is there a day when you hang up EmiTown to focus more on other projects? 

LENOX: That's everyday unfortunately. I don't want this to end, personally. I do like to keep a diary of my life. The one thing that might change one day is the strip going from daily to weekly. As much as I love EmiTown, it was not what I wanted to accomplish with comics. I very much want to write and draw my own graphic novels that aren't autobiographical.  

BF: What goes into a typical day and page of EmiTown? What is your process like? Do you walk around with a notepad at all times and bang out ideas, or is it more of a train of thought process that you don’t engage in until the end of the day?

LENOX: I bought a handy, small-sized notepad where I can draw the page layout and notes. Generally how it goes, is that the next day, I will whip out this notebook and recall the things that happened the day prior. Jot down the things I find amusing or want to journal and then thumbnail it out. 

BF: Not really a question, but kudos to including a quote from Brisco County, Jr. in a diary entry. That’s when I first realized that this isn’t typical, but completely relatable. 

LENOX: Oh, hey, thanks! I loved Brisco as a kid! 

BF: It’s hard asking you what you read and enjoy, because it’s all in the pages of your diary. Since the end of this volume (which was this past May), what have you enjoyed or discovered? Music, movies, comics… give us a glimpse of this month’s most frequently played on your iPod

LENOX: I have discovered music wise: Chad Vangaalen and Mumford & Sons! I have several splash page illustrations with quotes from some of their songs. T.V. wise I have only recently discovered the hilarity of Parks & Recreation and I know there will be some illustrations from movies I have seen, such as Machete and Mesrine.   

BF: If you had the chance to tackle a major or iconic licensed character, who would it be and why? Don’t be afraid to get detailed. Would you write or draw? Both? What writer’s work would you like to illustrate? Who do you feel could illustrate your words?

LENOX: I've always wanted to draw Batgirl just because I have always loved her since I was a wee one, especially when watching Batman Returns after school. If it was a Batgirl project, I'd prefer to draw someone else's script. I'm unsure about which writer.

Be sure to pick up EmiTown on December 22 from Image Comics. You’ll also get to see just what an Emi Lenox-illustrated Batgirl just might look like.