MCCC: Sina Grace on Burn the Orphanage, Comics, and Compassion

Sina Grace and Daniel Freedman work so closely together, they could be one person. In fact, when I caught Sina alone at the table on Sunday, he was wearing Daniel’s badge to represent Team Burn The Orphanage.

Sina talks about compassion, and if you watch how he interacts with people, it’s clear to see the honest joy he gets connecting to others. He was so gracious, he even offered me the only coffee he had.

He also gave me the first issue of the next story arc, “Reign of Terror.” I’m definitely going to be adding this title to my pull and picking up the first trade. Also, anyone who has had to suffer through retail hell should check out his graphic novel, Not My Bag.

Can you tell me about your creator-owned work?

I’m really happy to say that at Image comics I have a few titles there: Burn the Orphanage, Li’l Depressed Boy, and then I have a graphic novel called Not My Bag. I try to be as creator-owned as possible, it’s rad.

With the current environment, is it easier to get into creator-owned titles now than it was?

Readers and retailers seem to be far more open-minded. They also are all cautiously optimistic. We can’t all be Brian K. Vaughans and Robert Kirkmans. But they’re looking for for those creators, and they’re supporting the next big voices. It’s working out in the sense that I can make a living and, fingers crossed, I can make it last for a long time without having to go to the Big Two.

What would you like to see the comics book industry do to get new readers and comics together?

It’s so hard to tell people how to do their jobs, but I would imagine that it would be far more feasible now for Marvel and DC now that they’re owned by Disney and Warner Brothers to do things like sticking comics in cereal boxes or having download apps. Or put them in the Scholastic Book Order forms. They have the power to start thinking outside the box again. I think that would get us a lot more new readers if we started approaching children in progressive ways that cost a little bit of money to do.

There are people who are saying that comics nowadays are less and less for kids. Are you seeing that there’s less and less of a kids’ market?

You know, it’s funny because BOOM! is doing a great job with their books. They make them all-ages in that adults like you and me can read them and enjoy them just the same. But definitely you see a lot more hard, tough, angry content out there. Moreso than before. I think we’re in an AMC gritty drama world right now. People are making efforts, it’s just slow.

What has been your most rewarding or challenging character or storyline to create for?

The graphic novel I put out about a year and a half ago called Not My Bag was incredibly personal and auto-biographical for me. It took a lot of bravery on my end to present a story, warts and all, to readers and be judged not only on my art and storytelling, but them. It’s a short jump for people to realize ‘Oh, that’s the author, and he kind of sucks.’ So that was scary for me. But also, whenever people come to me and say they liked it, it’s the best feeling in the world.

Burn the Orphanage is getting a lot of buzz. Can you tell me about it?

I’m very happy Burn the Orphanage is getting a lot of buzz! It’s a love letter to video games. I think over the next few months as people read the new arc, “Reign of Terror,” they’re not going to have to be video game fans to enjoy it because we’re starting to develop these characters and flesh them out as much as a bunch of people who live on the streets and punch other people can be developed. As much dimension as can be put into that.

Can you give us a little hint about what’s coming up?

Yeah, sure, the orphan Rock and his friends are in the middle of a takeover from an evil corporation called Mancorp, which is trying to privatize everything. So Rock and his friends are little rebellion group, and they’re putting it upon themselves to take down this corporation and their big scary robots. Lots of fighting, lots of group turmoil, lots of weird jokes too. It’s going to be fun.

Is Burn the Orphanage going to be ongoing or do you have a set number of issues in mind?

We treat it like a series of mini-series, like Hellboy. We come out monthly, no shipping problems, take a break. My co-writer, Daniel, and I are sort of doing multiple projects at the same time. So it allows us to breathe and come back at it really excited. We definitely have a huge, major storyline coming out after this, regardless of sales. And then after that ,it’s just depending on if the fans still will have us. We have a couple of broad stroke storylines we could go into, should there be a market.

If you were not limited by technology, budget, or a need for an audience, what would you love to create in your heart of hearts?

You know, it’s funny, and I’m so lucky to say this, but I’ve been met with arms wide open for every new thing I pop out so that’s been awesome. It’s more what am I capable of drawing. I really want to do my version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’ve had this thing I’ve been kicking around since I was a kid. Not actually Buffy, but something with snarky teens and saving the world, along those lines. I haven’t yet, and it’s mainly because I’m scared to draw it. That’s a down the line thing when my wrist feels confident enough to handle a book that could last 40-50 issues.

In today’s environment there’s a lot of controversies going on with lack of representation and diversity, sexism, harassment, creators and industry people going at each other online – do you think that it is ultimately helping or hurting the comics industry?

I try to stay away from it. If only because my favorite word is compassion and I just try to listen. And then I also do a book where I like to create new characters who aren’t just straight, white men. But at the same time, my book also has topless stripper ninjas so I could definitely be criticized for my choices. But I always just try to think what would be cool, not just for me, but for everyone else. I ask my strong-voiced female friends, ‘Is that cool for that character’ or ‘Is that a good thing she could say’? I try to be fair. And with that larger conversation, I think so long as it’s a conversation, it’s a good one to have. But it does get into fighting real fast, and I’m sad to see that sometimes people aren’t actually listening to each other. But I try, that’s all I can say. I think as long as people are actually listening, then we should keep having some of these difficult conversations in the industry.

Comics is a constantly evolving medium. Where do you see it going in 10-20 years? Or, where would you like to see the comics industry be in 10-20 years?

It is my complete desire and projection that comics will be a lot more digital in the future, but that comic stores will be improved and better, and they will be more about specialized art objects. Sort of the same way there are these vinyl stores popping up everywhere, people are buying music on vinyl again. I think it’s just going to change that way, that if you want your floppy book, you download it on your phone that morning the same way you would the new single from Britney Spears or whatever. Oh wow, am I from the ’90s or what?

I wasn’t going to say anything.

Or Beyonce or whoever your favorite pop star is. You download the single, and if you’re a diehard fan, you go buy the deluxe box set. Collectors just want to collect something, and the masses just want to read it and not have a bunch of floppies lying around like magazines. That’s my guess. I don’t know if I’m right, but that’d be a cool way where everyone’s happy.

Tammie Philpott

Tammie Philpott is a Spartan/Wings fan, Code Monkey, Super Mom, Gamer, and Comics Enthusiast. She's been reading comics for slightly longer than Image or Vertigo have existed, and had to bear witness to the unfortunate Supermullet.

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