Know The Staff: Arielle Sorkin

This week we sat down for the long forgotten Know the Staff section with Arielle Sorkin.

N: Greetings Arielle Sorkin. How are you doing this evening?
AS: Thinking about gas money and stomach cramps, but otherwise in good spirits.
N: How did you get into comics?
AS: I was into manga for a long time, and then my buddy Ziah started to unceremoniously dump comics on me at every given chance. Eventually I started actually reading them.
N: What kind of manga were you into?
AS: My tastes have always been all over the map. I read a lot of Shonen Jump series like Reborn and Eyeshield 21, I still read Bleach. Generally comedy stuff too. I read some of the more mainstream “girly” stuff, but romance tended to bore me.

N: Do you think that American comics lose out by focusing so much on superhero comics?
AS: Sometimes. There’s only so much you can explore with superheroes. And I think too many people try to make superheroes gritty and realistic, while I think they should maintain a sense of humor. Cape comics all seem to be very sensitive about being taken seriously, something which a lot of idie comics don’t seem to be afraid of. And I think that since American comics are so focused on cape comics, they don’t get to see how many awesome indie comics are out there. It’s sad.
N: What are some of the best recent indie comics?
AS: Saga, hands down, is my favorite. The story is gripping, the art is beautiful, and the characters are interesting. I couldn’t ask for a better comic. I also really love Mind the Gap, which also has beautiful art. It can be a little trying to read a mystery story so slowly, but the pacing’s just fine for me. reMIND, the comic I reviewed recently, is also fantastic. And available free online! Who could ask for more?
N: Speaking of free online comics, what webcomics are you into?
AS: The ones I read consistently are Shortpacked!, Dumbing of Age, and Girls with Slingshots. They have good bite-sized updates. I also really like Emy Bitner’s Trying Human, which is about aliens. Ignition Zero is fantasy based, and Prince of Cats is more romantic, but both have beautiful watercolor art. I used to read Rosalarian’s YU+ME comic, until it finished, it was fantastic. And Josh Lesnick’s Girly also has the most amazing art. I recently picked up Sakana, after seeing it around for years. It’s great so far. There are more too…I read a lot of webcomics.

N: If you could pick a webcomic creator to work on a superhero title, what creator and what title would it be?
AS: Well, I know Faith Erin Hicks doesn’t REALLY do webcomics, but I saw her designs for a Supergirl series, and they looked PERFECT. I’m terrible in that I only think of things in terms of art most of the time. …This question is hard!! Maybe Josh Lesnick on Plastic Man. The character suits his style; normally I hate the word zany, but there’s really no better descriptor for the both of them. (It’s have to be pretty racy though.)
N: Is there anything you’d like to plug?
AS: I guess my tumblr isn’t TOO embarrassing.
N: Thanks for sitting down and talking Ari!
AS: Thank you! I have to go study language now.
N: Pax!

Luke Herr

Luke is a writer and an aspiring professional comic writer who is also the editor in chief of Nerdcenaries. He currently is working on a graphic novel called Prison Spaceship.