Our interview series with the creative team behind Monster Forge Halloween Special: gHosts continues today with Chynna Clugston Flores, known for her manga-influenced teen comedy series Blue Monday. She's worked for publishers such as Oni Press, Dark Horse Presents, Double Feature, Action Girl Comics, Marvel Comics, DC Comics and many more small press individual comics.
Read on to learn more about Chynna, her experience working in many roles, an entire host of influences and inspirations, and working with the creative team Monster Forge put together for gHosts, and her love of horror.
You can start reading gHosts #1 here. Get your downloadable PDF to support the creative team for only $0.99.
GlobalComix: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.
Chynna: I’m a cartoonist who has worked in comics for some time having tried a variety of roles, my favorite and original goal being creating my own comic series—and because of that I have always gravitated towards the Indy side of comics where there’s a lot of freedom within storytelling parameters. Not to mention a lot of cool people to work with, too, whether in editorial or collaboratively, or just being around other Indy creators. Partially because my tastes lean heavily towards kinda odd bedfellows for this specific industry—I love humor and horror, but also classics and history among other things, none of the above being necessarily considered super mainstream combos even if they’re totally normal in, say, the movies for example.
But I compulsively mash my favorite genres together since life is the same way: It’s never just one thing or the other, it’s a mix of all sorts of weirdness, which I like to reflect in my work as much as possible. So far I’m mostly known for coming-of-age/slice-of-life comedies and some horror-comedy snuck in whenever I get the chance, and the occasional YA story. Whatever the case, I try to make sure I’m having a good time working on projects I get, because let’s be honest—when you’re not having fun, it shows! You want the audience to be having a good time, too, and that’s probably not going to happen when you’re miserably grinding away on stories you’re not all that into.
GlobalComix: What drew you to this project? What did you enjoy the most about it?
Chynna: Shannon Denton got me on board! He’s got an enthusiasm about comics and ideas he’s working on that is infectious, and he’s one of those creators that loves to collaborate and inspire others to make stories happen that they’ve always wanted to publish, but maybe didn’t have an outlet for yet. We both have a love of the weird, camp, and horror hosts, so getting to be involved in Monster Forge’s projects is 100% my kind of scene––I’m super psyched to be a part of it and see characters we created in action in gHosts, interacting with other creators’ characters––and I can’t wait to see more creature features from Monster Forge!
GlobalComix: What would you say is the aspect of creating comics that you enjoy most?
Chynna: Fleshing out the ideas, developing characters and the stories they propel! I live for that stuff. Envisioning the universe you’re creating and its elements is genuinely exciting and endlessly entertaining.
GlobalComix: Do you have a dream IP that you’d like to do a project for?
Chynna: Oh man, I mean, any of my favorite monsters, or spinoffs from my favorite TV shows/films (What We Do in the Shadows and Wednesday come to mind but I’m betting those are tied up in all kinds of licensing hoo-ha). Or just working on something for a creative force like Stephen King, or Taika Waititi. A comic for Wellington Paranormal, which is over as actual TV series, would be awesome. Revive it with comics! ...Guess I’m a bit of a pop culture junkie, huh?
GlobalComix: What about horror comics do you love the most?
Chynna: They really do make you feel like you’re indulging in the spooky stuff your parents didn’t want you to devour as a kid but you snuck in anyway, as if you’re actually hiding under the blankets with a flashlight in the dead of night reading Tales From The Crypt, hoping you don’t get busted for it or that the books will give you the nightmares your mom warned you about! They always make me feel like I’m in danger of rotting my brain on too much fun: too many horror books, b-movies, dirty rock ‘n’ roll, and greasy fast food!
GlobalComix: Manga is clearly something that’s inspired you a lot. Are there any series in particular that have
made the most impact on your work?
Chynna: Oh, definitely—books like Urusei Yatsura (LUM), Ranma ½, and Maison Ikkoku from my hero, Rumiko Takahashi; Dominion Tank Police and Appleseed by Masamune Shirow; Mai the Psychic Girl by Kazuya Kudo; Please Save My Earth (Boku no Chikyuu wo Mamotte) by Saki Hiwatari; Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura; and of course Adam Warren’s take on The Dirty Pair and Bubblegum Crisis are massive influences. Takahashi, Shirow and Warren are the top three, I’d say. There are others that were floating around like Banana Fish and Parasite, too.
GlobalComix: You’ve held several different positions in the comic industry from editor to letterer, to cover artist, to penciler, and so many more. Almost every role that exists, you’ve done it! Is there one role that you enjoy the most and/or want to do more of in the future?
Chynna: I’ve been really enjoying doing cover art when I get the chance, but who doesn’t? I’ve been putting more thought into composition and pin-up type material, which I realized I missed doing. That, and writing short stories or short story-arcs. I have a thing for specials and holidays, so any chance to work on something like that is like being given a giant banana split for dinner instead of the same ol’ stuff you usually have. It’s like, break my arm, whydoncha?
GlobalComix: Is there a role or type of project that you haven’t done yet that you would like to work on?
Chynna: Well, I’d really like to convince one of my favorite artists to illustrate a much darker, historically-set storyline that I want to write as a graphic novel. It’s pretty grim and gory at times, but not entirely without humor—yeah, a more gruesome storyline that has a good measure of historical accuracy is something I’d really like to do in the future. I’ve also been kicking around the idea of something throwback and pulpy but silly that I’d illustrate by painting digitally, but more like a novella, or digest format storybook than your typical comic format—so it would have fewer illustrations than a graphic novel but still be illustrated throughout. That would be of a certain style and bygone era, and a 180 from the previous project! …And of course, creating new work involving Ms. Halloween!
We'd like to thank Chynna for her time chatting with us about gHosts and her experience in film, video production, cosplay, and comics. We're looking forward to seeing what she has in store next!
Below you can find links to social media profiles where you can follow Vamp and Monster Forge:
hstrauss 1 year ago
This message is directed at Kevin Van Ness: the email link you provided on the Black Friday Sale email does not work. My replies were bounced back. So I would just like to let you know, I have applied the Black Friday 30% discount to all three issues of JOE PLANT COMIX for the period of 11/24-11/27.