CL: I became hooked on graphics when I was a kid and my mom praised a drawing I did of a lady in high heels. I later studied Fine Art at UCLA, but never considered doing comics until I was out of college.

MM: What kind of role did comics play in your childhood? Do you remember your first comic? What was your favorite?

CL: I read some Superman, Supergirl, and Superdog comics with a smattering of Li’l Dot, Classics Illustrated, and Casper but I didn’t happen on the really good ones that would have grabbed me (Barks’ ducks, Little Lulu, ECs). I read books instead – the OZ books captured my imagination, then Nancy Drew was good for a budding feminist. I went on to classics, science fiction, non-fiction and so on. I rediscovered comics when I was in college and someone showed me a Zap Comix. Blew me away.

MM: At what point in your life did you realize that this was something you could make a living doing?

CL: I started lettering comics after I showed off some speculative fiction-type drawings at SF and comics conventions. Lettering paid the bills for a while and gave me the opportunity to copy good pencils and practice inking. I was hooked. I learned quickly, but not perfectly. I worked my way up by writing, penciling, inking and coloring for various companies and got paid along the way.

I’ve done a lot of different types of graphics work to support myself: storyboards for rock videos, commercials, live-action films, and animation; package illustration and comics for Mattel; illustration and editorial art for newspapers and magazines – whatever popped up in and around Hollywood (and for several years in New York).

MM: When you look back at your time doing comic books in the 80s, what do you take from it at this point in your career? Is there any nostalgia for the stuff you were doing at that point?

CL: I always loved my Irene Van de Kamp character and kept returning to her. I finally created some new material and collected that, with the older work, into a book that Last Gasp published in 2007, GOODNIGHT, IRENE. I’d do even more with her if I could afford to do so.

MM: Was there any temptation to make a return to mainstream comics as you wrote your Wonder Woman novel?

CL: No. I am not a superhero fan like many cartoonists are. The fantasy element doesn’t sing to me, or all the power themes. That said, I had a wonderful time writing the Wonder Woman book. She’s a character that has been knocked around a lot by various writers, so that there is a lot of inconsistency in her background. That gave me license to take the best parts of her history, combine those with classic themes from Greek history and mythology, and present her with her most admirable qualities intact. I ignored the invisible plane and the storyline in which someone killed off her mother. That mom is a GREAT character and I got to explore the mother-daughter relationship in the story, which is essential for understanding any woman, in my opinion.

However, when I worked for Marvel or DC as an inker or letterer it was a job and a learning experience, not much more than that for me. I don’t identify with the largely male cast of characters.

MM: Your weekly strip has been going strong for many years now and is where you really made your name- it also helped spread your work across the world. Was there a moment when you realized just how much reach you had and the influence that could grant you?

CL: I don’t see that, to be honest. I make a strip and put it out there and sometimes people respond with praise, criticism, or more work or money, but I don’t feel connected to an audience because I don’t see them. I’m always surprised when someone tells me they like my work, like “How did you know?” On the other hand I occasionally get an amazing letter that lets me know I touched someone on a meaningful level. I got one of those recently in regard to THE BIG SKINNY – it seems my book has inspired a woman to become healthy. It made me feel useful, like I was doing more than entertaining people.

MM: THE BIG SKINNY is an unusual graphic novel, to say the least- it has a narrative of sorts, but it also serves as a how-to guide for those who want to try and do what you have done, and also as something of a soapbox. Was it difficult to put together the book in a fashion that read as both entertaining and educational?

CL: THE BIG SKINNY is the biggest project I’ve ever accomplished. When I started I had a vague idea of how it would pan out, but it grew organically and with the help of my agent who helped me with the proposal, my editor who shepherded the project, and various friends who brought me stories just when I needed them. I approached the job in definite phases, writing and roughing up visuals for chapters one by one until I had a complete blueprint for the entire book. (The advances were paid out according to completion of various phases.) After the writing was done, I started drawing and lettering, then inking, then coloring. It took over 18 months start to finish, but it’s hard to say exactly how much as some months were more intense than others.

MM: You aren’t talking out of your ears with the book; you have taken off over 35 pounds and kept it off for years. Have you had people respond to you and your story through the book? Are readers being inspired?

CL: I mentioned a letter I received that touched me- without using her name, I’ll say that it came from a severely overweight woman who chanced upon my book in the graphic novel section at her library even though she’d never gone to that section before. She picked up my book and read it in two sittings. It clicked with her, so she wrote to tell me how the way I presented my story and the information really got through. She had already done some simple exercises and was thinking of using a healthy recipe from the book for dinner that night. I am still smiling with pride for that woman – I’m so happy to be able to help someone simply by telling my story.

I also ran into someone, a long-time comics reader, who bought the book for his daughter and himself so they could work on their waistlines. The funny thing was he looked just like the character I “invented” for the chapter, “Getting Good to Go.” (If anyone ever films that chapter they could cast him except hopefully he’ll have lost weight by then!) Reviews in national papers and magazines have been fantastic – I’m having a great time.

MM: I thought at times that you almost seemed evangelical in discussing counting calories and maintaining discipline. Did you have any moments in the writing of the book where you felt like you had to pull back on your feelings as you expressed them on the page? Or, vice versa, are there places in the work where you wish you had expressed yourself in stronger fashion?

CL: I guess I am an evangelist in the sense that when I finally got down to my goal weight and realized I would be able to maintain it I wanted to tell EVERYONE how I did it. In the book I relate practical aspects like ways to keep things simple, and how I looked at my history and behavior to understand how I came into my self-destructive eating habits in the first place. That helps keep me in awareness rather than letting me slide into denial, which for me used to lead to putting on weight.

As for pulling back, my first pass at writing “A Day in the Diet” was too factual. Test readers called it off-putting because of that and the tone, which was not humorous enough. So I tossed out a lot of work and tried again, with far better results.

And as far as the overall tone of the book goes, I think I hit the right notes. My message is not “You have to do it this way,” it is “This worked for me – take what you like and maybe it will work for you, too.”

Having been at or within three or four pounds of my goal weight for five years now, I have a fairly relaxed approach to the method. But when it looks like I’m TOO relaxed, it’s very easy to get back on track with a little awareness so that I don’t have to buy a pair of “fat pants.”

MM: Now that you have this book under your belt, do you see yourself continuing to explore the graphic novel format, as well as the strip? Any plans currently in the works?

CL: My editor pointed me to a popular memoir for a possible direction in which to pursue my next book. I was pleased that she didn’t want me to do the typical follow-up to a diet book – usually a recipe book – because storytelling is my passion, not cooking. So the field of possible topics is wide open for me to explore, but I have yet to pick a path.

I’m currently still working on THE BIG SKINNY in that I have a lot of interviews, events and promotional work to do, which is all new and entertaining for me. For instance, I recorded dialog yesterday for an animated version of the first chapter of the book – I hope to have it up on You Tube and my own sites soon. And I’m still doing my weekly strip, although I’ve recently changed the style again so it’s more personal and faster to execute.

Then there is also that big unknown – opportunities and mystery projects waiting just around the corner. I’m looking forward to finding out what they might be, myself! 

Marc Mason 

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