Word Out 2011

Barry Deutsch is the author/illustrator of Hereville, a graphic novel featuring the adventures of Mirka, "yet another troll-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl". And I think that description pretty much says it all…except that I thought Hereville was the most fun, imaginative and just plain fantastical graphic book I've read this year.  Here's Barry to answer some of our questions about creating the world of Hereville.

One of the great things about Hereville is its setting.  How did you get the idea to write an adventure set in a small Orthodox Jewish town?

Barry:  I've always been a fan of comics like Love and Rockets and Usagi Yojimbo, which made culture such an important part of the setting while keeping the storytelling compelling. So I thought it might be interesting to do something like that, but using my own Jewish heritage. Also, about fifteen years before I created Hereville, I had read the book Holy Days by Lis Harris, which had a lot of stories about ordinary life in very observant Jewish families, and obviously that had stuck in the back of my mind somewhere. 

As for why a small town, instead of a city, I wanted to do a fairy tale story. And in fairy tales, there really has to be a huge dark woods that the hero can wander into.

Have you ever lived in a place like Hereville?

Barry: Goodness, no!

How did you go about developing Mirka's character?

Barry:  I read a lot of books, to learn everything I could about the lives of girls in Hasidic Jewish families. (Some of my favorite books that I read are Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine, Mitzvah Girls by Ayala Fader, and more recently Hush by Eishes Chayil.)

And at the same time, I began letting Mirka live in my mind.  What I mean by that is, whenever I wasn't doing much of anything–when I was riding the bus, or lying in bed before falling asleep, or waiting in line at the grocery–I'd try and hear Mirka's voice in my head.  "What would Mirka say about this?  What would Mirka think about that?"  After enough time, Mirka's voice and personality became very vivid in my mind.

There seems to be a backstory to Hereville–it's clear that the witch and Mirka's stepmother have had some dealings with each other.  I'm curious about what it could have been!  Are you going to explore this further?

Barry: I'm planning to! But not for a while.

I absolutely loved how the story resolved, with Mirka realizing that she could contest the troll's decision and arguing her case so creatively. What inspired this ending?  Is it partly a reference to the Jewish tradition of machlokes (using disputes as part of the education process)?

Barry: I thought it was important that Mirka be able to beat the troll using something she'd learned from Fruma. The character of Fruma is very much based on the Jewish tradition of argumentation, and also the tradition of examining questions from every possible angle.  So it was a lot of fun, for me, to be able to show that Mirka had learned that tradition from Fruma, and was able to use it to her advantage to beat the troll.

What got you into creating comics?  What are some of the comics that have influenced you as a writer and illustrator?

Barry: I've always been fascinated by comics.  When I was a kid, my paren'ts had original art from Pogo–-one of the all-time best comic strips–on the living room wall, and I remember reading that strip over and over.

Barry: One of my biggest influences is a Canadian cartoonist named Dave Sim, who did a comic book called Cerebus.  There's also Will Eisner, especially his later works like A Contract with God and To The Heart of the Storm, and who I was lucky enough to take a class from at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Scott McCloud is a big influence, both with Zot!  and with his Understanding Comics series.  And Jaime Hernandez's work in Love and Rockets. There's lots of other influences as well. 

What comics are you reading right now?

Barry: I just read Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol, and I really enjoyed it.  The next comic on my shelf is Return of the Dapper Men, by Jim McCann and Janet Lee.  I don't know much about it, but the artwork is incredibly gorgeous.  

Thanks so much for talking to us, Barry!  Blog readers who haven't experienced Hereville yet should check out Barry's Hereville web site for a taste of the treats in store.