Yvonne Mojica:
"Cartoonist On A Mission To Give Rebels Praise!"

By Jason Brice

Yvonne Mojica is a vibrant "spirit" in the world of indy comics. Like her book, Bathroom Girls, she pulls no punches in the hedonistic pursuit of a raucous time, and somehow manages to get away with the craziest of ideas. She has a strong authorial presence in Bathroom Girls, using the back-up pages to tell stories, which may or may not be autobiographical, that propel her into the consciousness of the reader; she is no shrinking violet. All of this is handled with good humor and a level of self-deprecation that adds an element of charm to the proceedings.

This interview was conducted in early Decemeber, scant weeks before her untimely demise.

Jason Brice: How did your day go?

Yvonne Mojica: Good! I was working on the Bathroom Girls website X-mas stuff! I'll warm you up with where I think I went wrong in the job interview I went on yesterday.

JB: You had a job interview yesterday?

YM: Yeah! The guy asked me a bunch of those weird questions they ask you when you go on an interview, and one of the questions was "Where do you see yourself in a year?" And I was dumb enough to say I wanna be doing standup comedy and getting a deal for a TV show based on my comic book. Why would he hire a jerk who basically says, "In one year I won't be here!"

JB: Tell me something about your personal history with regards to comics.

YM: Well I grew up in a typical American family, divorced home, on welfare, studied in public education, and not much else! My mom's hobby was to write and my dad's was drawing comics. My dad raised me with politics as religion, my mom raised me trying to get me to follow Jesus. My dad won that battle!

JB: When did you get started doing comics yourself?

YM: I started doing comics...in the high chair, according to my dad. He would plop me there when he worked from his home studio in our little apartment. He had a freelance job drawing a bible for children.

JB: That's interesting what you say about politics, there's not much of a political current in BGs, just more of an anarchistic air to it all, don't you think?

YM: True, true. I have a bit of anarchy in my heart ever since I read Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm. But in a kind of adolescent style of anarchism, though - in BGs, I mean. Anarchism doesn't mean you have to go around smashing stuff up, right?

JB: No, Sometimes it just means knowing the rules that exist around you don't really work for you. You work around them because you can't imagine feeling free any other way!

I am not on the electoral roll. You can get put in jail for not being enrolled to vote here [in New Zealand]. That is a form of anarchism.

YM: Really!? That's crazy! Why? It's mandatory?

JB: Yeah, you have to be on the electoral roll. Not that you have to vote, you just have to be enrolled to do so.

YM: Wow, that's kind of like in America men have to register for the Draft or they can face jail.

JB: I don't know that anyone has ever been convicted of it... it is like refusing to fill in the census forms.

YM: Wow! We have a lot of people in jail. Two and a half million. A famous actor with drug poblems was arrested for doing drugs by himself in a hotel room because someone ratted him out, [and] the Hotel even tried to warn him. He still got caught.

JB: Robert Downey, Jr. Yeah, what a foolish dude. He was on probation too.

YM: It's sad though. I feel bad for him. Do you?

JB: Yeah, I do, he is a good actor, I just wish he'd get his shit together. This is all a very good segue to the "evil" question I was planning on asking. Have you ever been in the slammer?

YM: No, I haven't. I am lucky. The most legal trouble I have been in is for swimming in the public drinking water. I thought it was just a lake. They gave me a ticket. I went to court paid a fine.

JB: Regarding jail, I was just thinking of the Bathroom Girls in jail; it'd be like something from the movie "Caged Heat."

YM: Once I was with my high school boyfriend, I was a straight kid as far as drugs went, and my boyfriend and his buddy were nagging me about my straight ways while they smoked a joint. Suddenly the police crawled out of the bushes where we were in the woods and marched us downhill and threatened to arrest us. I was so pissed at that guy!

Madeline [in Bathroom Girls] is in trouble, you know. She may end up in jail in issue 5, but I won't say for sure!

JB: That's where I thought things were headed...

YM: Jail sucks.

JB: So, where do the characters in Bathroom Girls come from? Personal experience?

YM: Yes, personal experience exaggerated. Personal experience mixed with where I think things could have gone for me if I had been less fortunate. I think someone up there likes me and has kept me out of some of the trouble I was headed for.

JB: So were they the girls you liked at high school, or the ones you avoided?

YM: I looked like one to avoid but I think I was pretty friendly. I just loved loud music and the clothes that went with it. I still do but I feel dumb dressing too "young" at the age of 27. I feel dumb. I do it anyway because I have no idea what to wear! I have no fashion sense.

JB: Tell me about your SPX experience.

YM: I didn't go this year. I'm sick of conventions actually, they are too depressing.

JB: Why are cons depressing for ya?

YM: I almost had a heart attack after I went to SPX. It was where I lost that stupid Ignatz brick. I wanted that piece of junk and when I lost it, it really was like, why am I bothering with this stupid industry? I'm wasting my time. I got home to get this super high pressure phone call...from the boss from my day job telling me to get to work, remember where my bread is buttered and all of this crazy shit and I realized no matter how hard I work on my comic, I will never be able to make a living off of it. No one can. The distribution of paper comics are to narrow.

JB: I am going through the Internet now.

YM: The Internet is cool, but I still like paper comics. Old me, old fashioned...

JB: From reading Bathroom Girls #X you seemed to get pretty intense over it all. Were you really that pissed off?

YM: I was pissed off because the book that won sucked and James Kochalka was the only one I would have understood losing to. He's really good. I am very competitive because I have loved comics since I was a kid, and I feel like it's so obvious who the geniuses are and the industry keeps shooting itself in the foot publishing losers.

JB: James Kochalka is cool.

YM: Yeah, he is and cute too! That's the big misconception you know. There's a lot of cute boys in comics right now!

JB: Who are the cute girls in comics?

YM: All of the girls in comics are cute baybee!!!

JB: Who are the other cute boys in the business?

YM: Kevin McCarthy, [who] is doing a book for Vertigo. He did Casual Heroes, which is the one of the best super hero comics and indy comics all at once. Brett Lewis, Chuck Drost, Chris Jordan from Motown/Image and I heard Brett and Chris are doing something for Slave labor. Chris Sotomayor, a colorist for Marvel is cute too!

Am I being sexist!? I think so!

JB: Naw...it is okay. I get this all the time from women. I would think it was weird if I heard a guy doing it, though, for some reason.

YM: I think you are right, it would be weird!

JB: Guys aren't allowed to sit around saying which women are cute anymore... not that I ever have an inclination too. It would just tip off all the others.

YM: I wonder if our society is too uptight? Luckily TV distracts me from caring too much.

JB: Nah, it is just swings and round a bouts... I bet some guy's sit around discussion "chicks" it just isn't the done thing to do in semi-educated and literate circles.

Tell me about the evolution of BGs, please. You started off in mini-comics, right?

YM: Yep! Little bitty books. Mini comics are the coolest. I love buying them, that's one of the best things about conventions.

JB: What made you want to jump to full-sized books and distribution?

YM: Room to fit more comics in, more opportunity to make money, color covers, someone to pay for the production and shipping.

JB: Yeah? I have never seen comics as an opportunity to make money. Those last two are good reasons, though.

YM: Yes but a comic can be turned into a show or a movie or web content. There is money there!

JB: Now, you are pretty certain that Shatner killed his wife, right?

YM: No, I don't know, I was just makin' a comic! But it does seem suspicious!

JB: Heh...well, that is the feeling I had when I first heard about it.

YM: Really?!?

JB: You know he is making it into some TV or movie project now...

YM: I just have fallen into pools, jumped into pools and never hit my head on the bottom. You?

JB: Not that I recall. I don't go swimming often, though. I know if I got drunk I wouldn't go near a pool at Shatner's house.

YM: Same here dude! I think he has a mind meld on us all, he'll transmit messages through his Priceline campaign.

JB: So, as far as Trek stuff goes, what series do you like best?

YM: The first series all the way! I can't get into the new ones at all.

JB: Some women I know dig Picard.

YM: Bah, Picard! Kirk is the only captain that counts! I love everything about the first series.

JB: You think any of the BGs characters would like Star Trek?

YM: Yes, Sophie! Madeline loves the Duke's of Hazzard, and Erika loves talk shows!

JB: So you have the characters very well established in your head space?

YM: Yes! They are as real as I am nuts!

JB: So, what were you doing on the big gap between issues?

YM: Working in TV for a Comedy Central show called the Upright Citizen's Brigade.

JB: I saw that on your resume, tell me about that.

YM: Well, I met this awesome woman named Leann Murphy during Season II of the show who hooked me up with an opportunity, and then for season III they hired me to do all of the graphic props, some animation and special effect designs for stuff shot on green screen. It was awesome! I love the UCB!

JB: But you are lookin' for some gainful again?

YM: Well, I am going down a different path now that I am trying to develop my own stuff for TV. Eventually, but soon!

JB: Nobody in comics wants to stay in comics anymore. [sigh] And how is that progressing?

YM: Well I will still do books! I want to do a whole TV Internet book thing!

JB: Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say!

YM: I have a dream! I will do it! I will not forsake comics! Kevin Smith took a big chance doing it.

JB: Now, generally speaking, BGs is fueled by a New York sort of attitude. Is that a fair comment?

YM: Yes, I think it's more American than New York though. America is a very aggressive country.

JB: So, BGs could be Anytown, USA?

YM: Yeah, I haven't really mentioned the state much on purpose.

JB: What TV shows do you absolutely have to watch every week?

YM: I watch Roseanne reruns all of the time! I love the Simpsons and any biography show! I watch Absolutely Fabulous on video all of the time! I heard Roseanne was going to do new versions of Ab Fab.

JB: I have seen some of her talk show. It is crassy but not crass in the way Sally Jesse is. Roseanne would be Patsy or Edina on Ab Fab?

YM: I liked her talk show, I think she should have done a late night. I don't know which Ab Fab character she'll be. I didn't hear if it even got cast, I think she bought the rights or something.

Would you watch a Bathroom Girls live action show?

JB: I'd watch a BGs show as long there was plenty of the stuff in the show that is in the comics. It would be no good to sanitize it.

Are you progressing in a deal?

YM: No, not really. In my head I am but I am laying down a top secret strategy to get one.

JB: Your art style has evolved a lot over the first four issues. Tell me about that process.

YM: Well I drew #1 and #2 so long ago and #'s 3 and 4 much more recently. That helps! Plus, the cover of #4 was drawn on the computer which I am doing more and more.

JB: I noticed that it was in a style similar to illustrations on your resume site.

YM: And all of the layout for 4 was done on the computer by me. The Christmas book has a lot of computer art.

JB: It gave the book a more refined look. Are you happy with that or do you want to keep it crazy and chaotic?

YM: I figure if I draw it on the computer I can animate it later easily!

I want the book to look constructed and whole. I'd rather save the chaos for the actual writing and jokes.

JB: Ahhh, I see. Did you do the gray tones or washes in #4 on the computer or did you do that by hand?

YM: Done on the computer! I am too heavy handed to get gentle grey strokes!

JB: Was the stuff with you dressed in an army uniform (makes the guys howl!) done on the 'puter too?

YM: The grey stuff? Yep!

JB: It looks pretty organic.

YM: Cool! That's a great compliment! I really love what computers can do for comics!

JB: Well, I should've been a bit more superlative, "It looks very organic and well-crafted." If I'd known I was making a compliment...

YM: I like the word organic!

JB: Feel free to use it any time you like. There are no licensing fees on it

YM: Heh heh.

JB: Another thing, you include a lot of photos and illustrations of yourself. I think that shows a lot of confidence. Do you ever get any unwanted attention because of them?

YM: Nope. I like to use photos. I always liked the way Jessica Abel included them in her books. I always wanted to see more of her pictures. I love photo comics!!! Barbie magazine had the best ones of all time! Maybe it's residue from the days of reading girlie magazines!

JB: Okay, cool. The "Cyndi Lauper" photo in #4 was pretty crazy.

YM: With the cigarette, you mean? I never realized that it does look like a Cyndi Lauper moment!

JB: No, the one of you as a youngster.

YM: I met her! When I worked at the Forbidden Planet.

JB: Yeah? Was she wearing a million different layers of clothes?

YM: No she was looking rather calm in her fashion. My family said I would regret taking that picture and I still don't!

JB: Okay, let's do word games. Describe each of the characters/groups in the assigned number of words:

Madeline (5)

YM: Ok! Fun loving misunderstood ambitious outcast.

JB: The Hello Kitties (4)

YM: Enemies Without a Cause

JB: Erika (6)

YM: Former beauty queen reborn Goth princess.

JB: Erika's mother (2)

YM: Mean bitch.

JB: Pussy Bitch (from #1) (3)

YM: My old boss!

JB: The Cheerleaders (1)

YM: Tyrants

JB: Sophie (7)

YM: Psychedelic super dreamer who means no harm.

JB: William Shatner (5)

YM: Ohh... dramatic actor with big balls

JB: Okay, finally, since you put yourself in the books so much...Yvonne (8)

YM: Ha Ha! Cartoonist on a mission to give rebels praise.

JB: That I wasn't expecting

YM: Good, I hope!

JB: What is it that is typically in your CD player?

YM: Iron Maiden, Marilyn Manson, heavy stuff. The Conan Soundtrack! Sometimes lighter stuff like James Brown who is fucking great when you are feeling down!

JB: So, tell me about your online strip.

YM: Which one?

JB: There is more than one? I have seen the Cybergrrrl one…

YM: Well, just the ones that are on the BG site. Cybergrrl was actually written by someone else, I was just hired to draw it. It was written by Aliza Sherman.

JB: How did you get involved in the Cybergrrl gig?

YM: They were looking for a cartoonist and they contacted Friends of Lulu who I was affiliated with at the time and I interviewed and got the job.

JB: Are you no longer a Lulu?

YM: Nope.

JB: Is there a reason?

YM: Well, I think the organization is great for artists starting out. It helped me but... I had a dispute with a couple of members for two separate reasons and I felt that if this is how the organization "protects" it's members I'd rather dive into the shark pit of comics and swim on my own.

JB: Who are your comic book influences?

YM: John Buscema, Evan Dorkin, the Hernandez Bros., Heavy Metal Magazine, Mad Magazine, and Jack Kirby are the main ones. I mentioned Jessica Abel's photo stuff inspired me and I worship Julie Doucet! Red Sonja Comics were what I read as much as I could!

JB: John Buscema is an unusual one. Do you like his layouts?

YM: I love his figure drawing, I love Kirby's dynamic lines and composition, I like...

JB: Buscema is very naturalistic by comparison. Very cool and chic.

YM: ...the Hernandez Bros.' subject matter and Evan Dorkin's attitude! I love the magazine qualities of Heavy Metal and the slapstick feel of Mad.

JB: You have been waiting for me to ask that question, I can tell.

YM: I love Buscema! And Tony Dezuniga is a great inker!

JB: Did you read super-hero comics as a kid?

YM: Some X-Men, a lot of Spider-Man. I was into the super-hero thing 'cause it was all I could find. I got interested in my early teens. Once I saw the underground stuff at 17 I never looked back.

JB: What comics are you reading right now?

YM: Mad magazine. That's it really.

JB: Yeah? What keeps you coming back every month?

YM: Jokes, jokes and more jokes. I love that they jam jokes into every crevice of the book.

JB: Did many girls in your peer group read comics when you were growing up, or was it a boys' thing?

YM: No I read alone, but girls would clamor to read my issues of Mad Magazine! They would borrow them and return them and ask for more! I think Mad should market more to girls.

JB: I grew up with older brothers, two of which read comics, so I figured it was mostly a boys' thing.

YM: Well my dad was a big comic lover so maybe it is a guy thing!

JB: What did your Dad read?

YM: He loves Batman.

His book is Eugenus! http://www.eugenus.com

JB: You said your mother is/was a writer. How much influence did that have on you growing up?

YM: It was her hobby and she has a great sense of humor, which she gets from her side of the family.

JB: So it had...

YM: A big influence! She also would worry about the "buxom" women I was always drawing and warned me against "bathroom humor!"

JB: What do each of the BGs listen to when they are alone in the dark, lying in bed?

YM: Madeline listens to Maiden, Erika listens to Ozzy and Sophie listens to techno. Spacey stuff, not too hard.

JB: What do the Hello Kitties play and listen to?

YM: They love Super Junkie Monkeys! Pantera for girls!

JB: So, what is the connection between comics and rock music? There are a few comics at the moment (Red Rocket 7, Blue Monday) that seem to be exploring themes...

YM: They are connected like crazy!! I just don't know why!

JB: Hahahah....great answer!

YM: Tough question, though.

JB: Will you ever "sellout"?

YM: Yes! I will!

JB: What would you sell out for?

YM: Money! Great question BTW!

JB: What would stop you from selling out?

YM: Money!