SWEET MEATS - BE SWEET TO YOUR MEAT

In today's more health-conscious climate, people are becoming more and more wary about what types of meat they digest. Some say white meat is good for you, others say red meat is bad. But as far as I'm concerned, you can't get better than some sweet meats. You know, like those served up on a regular basis by my mate Nina, nicely grilled and seasoned lightly in comic book form. Nina, it's now over to you.





1) What are your own origins, Nina?   I'm an animation graduate that spent a lot of time making comics! I was born in southern California and currently live there.

2) What inspired you to create, ‘Sweet Meats’?   Some of the first things I did while I was still in school were guest illustrations on books for friends. From there it transitioned to zines, and then internet collaborations. Internet collab projects were really big a year or two ago, and I decided to start my own. It amassed hundreds of people, and was a very daunting task. It even caught the attention of a journalist and I had a small feature on Huffpost. But, later that year I decided to make my own zine. That was Sweet Treats, which was finished in 2015. And while that one was still in production, I got the idea to do Sweet Meats as a companion piece. Mostly because it rhymed. 

3) In your own words how would you describe this story?   Since it's an anthology, there is no single story. Each piece is self contained! The central theme of "meat" will be present throughout, of course. But the comics and illustrations will range from chef kaiju battles, to artificial meat production, to more autobiographical stuff.

4) What song would you say best represents this comic and why?   Again, hard to nail down a single song for this since there's such a wide range. I would most probably stick to something theme appropriate and light hearted. Cibo Matto's "Beef Jerky" and "Know Your Chicken" come to mind!

5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you choose, and why would you want to choose this particular person?   I think Tim and Eric would be great candidates. I've been a long-time fan, and their advertising work is hilarious. I think they're good with gross stuff, and making it funny. Meat, which I typically envision raw when I hear the word, is pretty gross!

6) What have you learned about yourself through this endeavor?   I'm learning about managing my own stress levels, really. When the project started I couldn't sleep, and when I did I had dreams about it. But I'm learning to manage it all, and figure out what I've done wrong and right. I think next time should be much smoother.

7) During your time in this field, what is the one thing that has kept you in good stead?   I would say the finished product! Working with so many people can be frustrating, but when they come through in the end, its really just the best. Seeing a finished piece, and getting excited to print it is such a good feeling! A nice finished product can really make a tough trek worth it.

8) If ‘SM’ had a motto, what would it be?   Be sweet to your meat.

Well, you can't say fairer than that, can you dear reader? So on that note, I'd like to thank Nina for telling us about her anthology comic, Sweet Meats, before directing you towards her twitter, website, and bigcartel pages.