Do you want to meet the authors of the magazine Manga planet? We opened a section of short interviews to get a little closer to your experience. The first will be Alba Cardona, author of Shion.
How did you get into the world of illustration / comic? I have always drawn and read comics although as a child I found it very difficult to get to devote myself to this, but I began to see it as a job when I was studying Graphic Art at Escola Joso. When I finished, I prepared projects and the first jobs began to come out.
Your first contact with Planeta Manga was …I went to the publishing house to talk about another project and talking about what my references were the manga came out. Then David told me that they wanted to do the magazine and proposed to participate. It was very unexpected!
How did Shion's plot come about? At the time I started writing Shion was reading science fiction stories and I wanted to do something of that genre and that it was also a yuri. I usually write the script listening to the soundtrack of “Battlestar Galactica”, it is one of my influences for Shion, so whoever knows the television series will notice some winks.
What do you do first: the creation of characters or the script? How is your usual work circuit? I usually work with a screenwriter so I save the script process, but for Shion I started from scratch. First I wrote a premise of a couple of lines with the basic idea and then I drew the protagonists, Koro and Shion. Then I wrote a half-page argument and the end of the series, and sent all the material to the publisher for approval. Then I work chapter by chapter in phases. I start by getting a schematic script, then the storyboard and this is where I write the dialogues. Then I make the pencils, the ink and finally add patterns and onomatopoeia. I work in phases instead of page by page because that way I go faster, but there are authors who prefer to finish the pages one by one.
How do you rate the reception the magazine has had and what would you highlight about it? I am very excited to have the welcome you are having and I thank all the readers who bet on the national manga. I highlight the number of series and short stories of quality. There are many authors and authors with unique and different styles and stories for all tastes. I think it is a very good initiative to bring together so many authors and also bet on manga, which is a drawing style that has been quite forgotten at the level of own creation in Spain.
Your favorite Manga Planet series is … Gryphoon! Luis's work is a pass, you just need to see the pages to see the dedication he has put in the chapters. And I love Marian's drawing, so I'm always waiting to get to the end to read Manga History. Apart from the series, I can't mention short stories like MidoriBoshi, Withered Lionel or Ikigai, I'm very fan.
Next projects. I am drawing the sequel to the movie Mean Girls: Senior Year, which will be released this October in the United States and I am working on the adaptation of The Invisible Girl of Blue Jeans for Comic Planet. When I finish Shion, I hope to return to Planet Manga in some way or another, if time permits!
Social networks
Facebook: Alba Cardona Art
Twitter: Alba_Cardona
Instagram: alba.cardona3
Thanks Alba!
