As always I (Akira B. - Head of WS Press) want to thank you for supporting Wild Star Press! I can't wait for you to see everything in store!
Little Bug
Jay Boyd w/ Coloring & Lettering assistance by Rebecca M.
Genre: Horror
About a little girl who moves to a new neighborhood with her dads, only to find solace in a stuffed bunny that had been abandoned in the house prior. However, her solace quickly becomes distress when she learns why the stuffed bunny was left behind.
Debuts: August 13th!
Who Are They?
Time to meet Jay Boyd and Rebecca Michaud!
Hey Jay & Rebecca, tell us about yourself!
A: Hello! I’m Jay, I graduated from SCAD with a degree in Sequential Art and Creative Writing. Star Wars consumes my entire existence and I have over a thousand hours in Animal Crossing.
A: Hello! I’m Rebecca, the colorist/letterer for Little Bug! I also graduated from SCAD’s Sequential Art program alongside Jay. My work primarily focuses on finding fantastic elements in everyday life.
What’s your favorite thing about being an artist/comic creator?
A: I have always made up characters and stories since I was a kid, even now it’s all I do for fun by being in role play groups and DnD. The story of who someone is, how they grow and work is so fascinating to me and making it unique to each new character is a challenge I greatly enjoy.
What’s your inspirations? How did you get into comics and art as a career path?
A: I think my inspiration has been the impact I felt from finding characters I could love and relate to. Upon growing up and seeing really the depth of how these stories affect and change us, that became my drive. I want to make characters people can see themselves in and connect with.
A: Honestly I’ve been reading comics as long as I can remember - all the way back to Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield in the newspaper. I’ve also been drawing for forever, but it wasn’t until I started reading webcomics in high school that I realized you could make comics for a living. There’s something so captivating about the combination of writing and art, and sharing your stories and experiences with others. I pull inspiration from a variety of cartoons, anime, comics, and video games that I love.
I see, Little Bug is listed as a horror! Do you have a certain genre/trope/story you like to tell?
A: Oh I love spooky stuff. I generally gravitate towards Supernatural / Fantasy with a more serious tone to it. Whatever it is though it has to be sort of spooky haha.
A: Horror isn’t necessarily my go-to genre, but I do enjoy it - it was actually Jay who introduced me to a lot of the classic horror movies! Personally I work with fantasy, contemporary, and even sci-fi to an extent, but I find horror to be a lot of fun as well.
Can you tell us about your inspiration for Little Bug? Anything you want to mention about the book and what’s coming?
A: My inspiration comes from a few folklore legends about kids and spirits that possess dolls or toys. I love legends and scary stories, one of my favorite podcasts that I often get inspiration from is called Lore. Little Bug in particular is inspired by the stories of Robert the doll, Annabelle, and in a less serious way Chucky. The actual stories of Robert the doll and Annabelle differ greatly from their hollywood portrayals and really show more of the impact of these unexplainable things happening to normal families. That's what intrigues me.
A: I immediately thought of Coraline and FNAF 4 when I read the script, and as such a lot of my inspiration drew from that when setting the mood.
For Rebecca, is being a colorist/letterer your favorite part of the comic process? Did you have a particular way of tackling this project compared to your personal ones?
A: Sort of? I love the whole comic process, but coloring/lettering are definitely my bread and butter - there’s something fascinating about taking existing artwork and giving it new life in color. Since this project is thematically a lot darker than my own, I experimented more with texture and hatching that I would in my own projects. I tried to make the shading more loose in a lot of ways, which I think worked really well with the spooky atmosphere.
Do you have any future projects you're excited about?
A: Not yet but I guarantee you I’ll have something up my sleeve soon, my brain never sleeps.
A: I do! Currently I’m working on my own graphic novel for Wildstar Press, Potions 101, so be sure to keep an eye out!
Where can we find you and your work?
A: You can find me on Instagram under @jaayybirdd, my bio has links to my website and shop!
A: You can find all of my work (mostly on Instagram and Twitter) under the handle @raspberryimps. And, if you’re in the Atlanta area, we occasionally pop up at small markets as well!
Thank you both for the interview!
With all that being said, thank you so much for reading, supporting, and watching WildStar Press grow.
- Akira B.
