Comic Boom - Comics in Education - with creator of Mexikid, Pedro Martin

Lucy chats to comic writer and artist Pedro Martin.

Pedro Martín is a former Hallmark artist and the creator of Asteroid Andy. He chronicles his life growing up Mexican American online in a comic series called Mexikid Stories, and in his debut graphic memoir Mexikid.

You can find Pedro on Instagram: @mexikidstories

Links to everything  discussed in this episode  can be found on the podcast padlet.

You can SUPPORT the podcast by buying a comic or buying me a comic at: https://ko-fi.com/lucysb

Producer and Host: @Lucy_Braidley
Contact: comicboompodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

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0:10

Hello, and welcome to comic boom, the comics and education podcast. If you're interested in hearing more about the crossover between comics and education, then this is the podcast for you. My name is Lucy Starbuck Bradley, and each week I'll be joined by a fellow educator, an academic librarian, or a creator of comics to discuss their journey into comics. Um, provide some inspiration to influence your practice and hopefully as well as I say every week, hopefully shine some light on titles that can bring into your libraries into your classrooms and onto your bookshelves at home. As well. This week. I'm very excited because I am joined by Pedro Martin. Who has created one of my favorite titles for young readers that I've read this year. A brilliant book called Mexican. You will hear a lot more about that in this episode. Petro is a former hallmark artist and the creator of asteroid, Andy. He Chronicles life growing up Mexican American online in a comic series called Mexikid stories and also in his debut graphic memoir, Mexikid. Here's what Petro had to say.

Pedro 1:12

Hi Lucy, how's it going?

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 1:13

It's good, thanks. I'm really excited to have you on. We've just been chatting beforehand but I didn't actually mention how much I love your book. Like, genuinely my favourite book of the year. I absolutely loved it. Yeah, no, I really, really, really loved it. and we're going to talk about it in a lot more detail but, first of all, can you tell us a little bit about your journey as a comics reader? Because that's how we always podcast. where did Your love of comics all start

Pedro 1:38

well, the interesting part about it is that my, my, my family are from Mexico and my, my father and my mother were both undereducated. My father only went to like third grade and I don't think my mom ever went to any kind of school. And so, we didn't really have. book books in the house. So, but I had a huge amount of brothers and sisters. There's 9 kids in my family. but my older brothers and sisters, as soon as they started kind of getting their own money and they started bringing in like mad magazine into the house, which that was like exactly where I learned how to read because like it was just everywhere. The pictures were funny. I could kind of sort of figure out what was going on. I could figure out the sound effects and stuff like that. And it just kind of like picked up from there. So whatever they brought in the house, that's what I consumed. And they eventually brought in comic books. I would consume comic books and then it kind of, you know, expanded from there. And then I became a total geek and when I did have my own money, then that's where it went. It went to comic books. It went to, you know, walking, you know, the mile and a half to the quick stop store to, to pick up comic books every Wednesday or whatever it was and, you know, read them on the way back home and, store them under the bed and everything. So it's been a going on for a while.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 2:59

And what was the, what do you think it was that, that pulled you in and made you into that geek?

Pedro 3:08

I just, I just, I didn't think about it until later, but I really liked. Just not knowing what was going to happen next and I liked just having a twist and a turn. And because comic books, you know, it's a monthly thing. They always leave you

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 3:25

Mmm, the cliffhanger.

Pedro 3:27

and I'm, yes, and I was just a sucker for that kind of thing. And every time I find something like that, and I'm a big fan of like the old Flash Gordon serials and stuff like that. So I just love, even though the Flash Gordon serials, Their cliffhangers were ridiculous ridiculous and their solutions were insane and ridiculous. I Just loved that feeling of like, oh, oh, oh what's gonna happen next? And so those those monthly comic books were like that for me were like, oh, I can't wait for next month to find out What happens?

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 3:58

really interesting, because a few times this season, talking to guests, TV has cropped up as being something that they were also, really engrossed in and loved. At the same time as a child and I wonder if there is that link between that kind of cross that the weekly TV Obviously it doesn't happen anymore Well, it does sometimes but but Netflix generation has not got quite the same length of weight for the next episode of a TV program what do you think?

Pedro 4:22

Yeah, exactly. and even, even if they are like, if, if we are binging, it's like. Between the bathroom break of one episode and the next episode, you know, you're like in the bathroom. You're like whoo How how are the pinky blinders gonna get out of this jam? You know, we just did a whole a whole binge of Peakie

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 4:42

I love Peaky Blinders

Pedro 4:44

oh, it's too much. It was too

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 4:47

You need a rest now.

Pedro 4:48

much Yes, I did I did say let's watch cooking shows for a while let's just

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 4:53

You need to take a breath. so what sort of, you mentioned a couple of titles, but are there any particular highlights of titles that you loved as a child? And also then bringing that into your current reading diet. What do you like, what things that are out there at the moment are you really enjoying reading?

Pedro 5:09

well, well, originally, like, I really liked, kind of compilations of old Silver Age comics where they would do, like, the Superman family comic, and it was like a dollar, and then you would get, like, an entire story arc in one, in one book. It was kind of the early graphic novel, which I really loved cause I loved having the whole arc. In one

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 5:31

Yeah.

Pedro 5:33

uh, which was, was a lot of fun. So all those kind of reprints of the old Silver Age comics were kind of my bread and butter for the longest time. Just because I could get them all at the same time and I could, you know, sit, sit and do the whole thing. nowadays, actually, the, the funny thing is, is that now I'm kind of on a. Kind of a mini book tour. I'm doing a lot of book festivals, the library festivals, and so I've been picking up panelists books and, and trying to read them either after I've talked to them or before I've seen them kind of thing. So I'm kind of reading a bunch of middle grade stuff like, what was I just reading? Oh, um, Remy Lye, and she did a book called Ghost Book that just came

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 6:19

Okay, don't know that one.

Pedro 6:20

It's really, it's really lovely. It's very kind of cool. She's, she's, uh, she's from out of Australia, she was sitting at, sitting with me at one of the signing tables, and I happened to look over at her signing books, and she, I, I always sign with a big stamp, I have a big rubber stamp, and I looked over and she was... drawing a portrait of everybody who came up to get her book. It was infuriating. What are you talking about?

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 6:47

It's showing you up.

Pedro 6:50

And I'm, and I'm, I'm clear, I'm clearly 30 years her senior and I, I have this lazy stamp that I'm like, Oh, but her book is really wonderful. Um, and I just picked up, last kids on earth, and the forbidden fortress. and then I was rereading, Persepolis. Because I'm, I'm trying to write new and I'm like, I need to kind of cleanse the palette of, the nowness of things and trying to like get into some, somebody doing a more of a memoir kind of thing and that, that, that book is just one of the great memoirs, you know,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 7:26

Yeah, definitely.

Pedro 7:28

simply told and just beautiful black and white and just really lovely. And it's just nice to kind of like sit down and go through it one more time and go like, Oh yeah, you can just let the pictures take, take the lead in some cases, you know, just let, let the reader fill it in, you know, for themselves, which I forget, you know, because as the writer illustrator, I feel like I have all the information that I want you to have, and I'm. Eagerly pushing it out towards you. And sometimes I forget that you don't need that as a reader. Like you, you have a part to play in this whole, in this whole dynamic. And I have to give you that, that moment to, to do your thing.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 8:09

Your book is very much about your Mexican heritage. And you mentioned your parents there. Is there much of a comic book scene in Mexico?

Pedro 8:18

That's a really good question. I was, I was just there. Back in October and I didn't get a chance to hit any of the shops, but, from when I was, when I was a kid and I was there and I kind of, there's a little bit of a, about it in my book that there are just reprints of, you know, of, of the standard DC Marvel comics, but then there's also like very, and this is just going back to those days, but there's very specifically Mexican. They're the smaller comic books, smaller in size and stature, but they're very adult, you know, there's a lot of witchcraft and there's a lot of murder and there's a lot of, bodice ripping kind of scenarios that for, for a kid who likes superheroes. There was very little in there for me, you know, because and it was just more the titillation in the other than anything else I like I would pick them up and just be like flip flip flip flip like oh, I saw some stuff. Okay Now back to Batman

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 9:19

It'll be interesting to find out who the Contemporary Mexican comics creators are and what they're doing. That'd be really interesting. if we move on to your... I've got I've already said I loved. Um, partly because, well, just I loved everything about it. I felt all the emotions whilst reading it. I, as a, as a child, I watched, we've got a TV programme here called Blue Peter, which is for children, like a sort of magazine show. And they had a special, when I was, I don't know, about seven or eight, they had a special episode about Mexico. And from that moment... I was, had a childhood obsession with Mexico, and, which is really a strange thing for somebody living in small town, England, So, I was very excited to see your book and I just, I found it, really rich in so many ways.

Pedro 10:06

Oh, that's very nice of you to say. Thank you.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 10:08

But for people who maybe haven't read it yet, it's only just been released, is it been released yet in England? It has just yeah. Can you give us a little bit of an introduction to the story of Mexicid and the story that's told within, within the book?

Pedro 10:22

Sure. so when I was, um, I think when I was about 12, my parents crammed all 11 of us into this Winnebago motor home and a pickup truck with, uh, ropes for seatbelts and took us on this incredible 2000 mile, uh, Road trip down to Mexico to get my grandfather and bring him back to live with us in the United States. And that was, I was not on board with this idea at all. This was, this was not an idea. But you know, as a kid, you don't have the choice of, you know, the idea your parents have, so. and one of the reasons I was not on board with this idea is that like we were already, we were just living in a house that was built for five and there was already 11 of us in there. and then I knew for sure there was going to be a language barrier because my parents and my older siblings were all born in Mexico and grew up speaking

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 11:14

Mm.

Pedro 11:15

The younger four of us were born in the United States and we learned a mix of Spanish and English. I was just like, we're, what, what am I going to talk to this guy about and how, like, can I, you know, adequately explain the difference between Chewbacca and Bigfoot? I mean, there was just all, all the important things. Yes. All the important things would just get it. It's going to be a staring contest. So, so anyway, as the trip was going, it goes along. I start hearing stories about my grandfather from older siblings and other people. That start piquing my interest because they like play him out to be kind of a hero type person and it's like, oh, he might have been a hero of the Mexican revolution. Um, he might've been, uh, you know, a real proficient street fighter and he could have been the very first Mexican Jedi. Like, like all these stories started flying around and I'm like, okay, well now I'm back on board. This, this is good. I want this guy on my team. So when we finally get to my grandfather, he's not exactly what, you know, people have told me he is, or I don't see him that way. And, um, also he's not ready to come back to the United States to live with

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 12:26

Laughter

Pedro 12:27

He still has something he's got to do. And, unbeknownst to me in the story, I'm going to help him achieve his goals. that's kind of the story in a nutshell.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 12:37

At what point did you realise that this I think quite often we take for granted our experiences as children, as Normal? Or like that you did, you sort of take them in your stride at what point and maybe think that they're not, might not be interesting to other people. Did you always know that this was a really fascinating and unusual story? Or did that take you a little bit of a while to kind of come to that conclusion? Hmm.

Pedro 13:04

a lot of times within my family, we'll just repeat the same stories over and over again. I'm sure this is, this is true with every family. Like we'll get together at Christmas or on camping trips and someone will start telling a story that we've already heard hundreds of times. Right. But. As they're going through the story, somebody in our family, it's, it's the family motto. Somebody will interrupt and say, Hey, that's not how that happened. And then they'll kick in with their version of the story or their kind of Rashomon of the story. and as that was happening, you know, I was kind of taking note and I was one of the, you know, the ones who'd like to tell the stories, but I was taking note that everybody had their own point, point of view on that story. And later I started thinking, well, that story must have meant a lot to everybody because everybody had a, you know, steel lock on that, on their version of that story. And so, so those stuck with me that, that these stories were important not only to me, but they were important to them. And so I kind of hung on to them for a long time and thought like, like, Oh, I would like to tell this story to different audience someday. And, you know, and so I kind of put that. Especially this story. I put this one in my back pocket for a long time.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 14:16

So did you approach the story from, that you were going to tell it from your version? From your own memories, or did you try and include other perspectives as well? Did you sort of refresh your own memory by doing a bit of research into that kind of family history?

Pedro 14:32

Well, well yeah, I, I, I did take, some of the best bits that everybody had, I had taken note, note of, that they had mentioned in their retellings of the story. And when I did tell the family I was going to do something like this, I, I actually like sent out a text message to all my brothers and sisters, and I said, Hey, I'm going to tell this story. And I hope that's okay. And I think I have a book deal and you guys, if you have any problems with it, tell me now and I'll, you know, we can discuss offline or something and to a person, they said the same thing. They said, that sounds great. Good luck with that. Which in my family means I don't believe this is gonna happen you big liar

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 15:21

Of course you're gonna write a book.

Pedro 15:23

Yeah, sure sure you are so I so I took that as a seal of approval or disapproval and I moved forward with it and but that was as I was writing the story Individually, they would kind of come to me and they would throw me a memory and just say like, Oh, do you remember that kid with the running nose? And you know, who wanted pop rocks from us? I'm like, Oh, I totally forgot. And there's like this perfect point that that, that would happen, that that would make sense, and I totally forgot that. And, and other, just other details like that would always pop up where they would say like, you know, so then after the fact, after I sold the story and I told my, my dad, I called him, I said, this is, I sold the story. It's this story. And I hope, hope you're cool with it. And he got super excited about the whole idea. and then he started calling me like almost every other day, like, uh, like tequila clock. And he would be telling me. More stories that he thought I could sell, you know, he'd be like, Oh, I got a good one for you.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 16:30

I love

Pedro 16:31

tell me this story. And, sometimes, you know, because of the tequila clock situation, sometimes he would tell me the same story multiple days in a row,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 16:40

Hmm,

Pedro 16:41

but they would be sharper every time, like he had, he would have adjusted it for. My laughter or my, you know, shock or something. So they got better and better. And I'm like, Oh, okay. I see what's happening. This is classic storytelling technique where he's just like, I'm, I'm getting more vibe if I change the character to this, or I say the voice this way and stuff, so, so he was doing that the whole time I was working on the book. And, you know, I told him. You know, books locked. I'm not adding new stuff to it, but he's just like, well, this was for your next one and you can use this and you can use that. So, so I got a lot of material out of him during that whole process, which is wonderful.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 17:22

some of the elements of the story that, that made it into the book, I can imagine them being quite difficult experiences for you as a child. What was that experience like to go back and revisit those kind of trickier times?

Pedro 17:37

that was really tough because I think I know what you're talking about. two very darker incidences within the story and the, When I wrote the original, the first draft and I sent it into my editor, she had a lot to say about it because she was kind of like, you're playing, you're playing some of this as comedy where it doesn't seem to be a comedic moment. It seems to be like, like you're looking back at it as an adult rather than experiencing it as a kid. And so she kind of challenged me to go like, go back and rethink this story, but through young Pedro's eyes and kind of hear his thoughts and what he's thinking about at the moment, because now when I tell some of those stories or when I've even told the story about, you know, towards the end of the book, it was always told as a, as a comedy piece, you know, it was always told about like how flabbergasted I was and the stupid mistakes I made. But then when, you know, I went to write it, you know, the editor made a really good point. She was like, well, this is the first time these people are going to be hearing this

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 18:46

Yeah.

Pedro 18:47

And they're going to be hearing it through the voice of a, of a child. And the child is not going to be making fun of this. The child is going to be seriously traumatized by this incident. So, so it was, so it was a struggle for me to kind of like drop the comedy and to be like. This is, this is real, and, you know, treat it as such, as, you know, as much as you can, and then, you can use your comedy for deflating, you know, any kind of issues afterwards, kind of

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 19:16

I think it really worked. Like, you don't, you, you're able, as a reader, I felt able to feel those moments and then also safe in your hands as a writer that we would come out of it and there would be some lighter moments as well afterwards. So yeah, I think it's, yeah, definitely part of that kind of rollercoaster journey through the book. As I said, I felt like I felt all the emotions.

Pedro 19:38

Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 19:39

to talk a little bit about how the book started off. Is it, am I right that it started as a webcomic? Or that you started making comics online first before you got your book deal? How did, how did you first get involved in creating comics?

Pedro 19:57

Well, back when I was, I used to work at Hallmark Cards and, when I first started, this was before they had computers and the internet and everything in the, in your office. So we would have assigned work and I would get like three cards a week to do and I'd usually spit them out pretty quick. And then I would have two days at the end of the week with nothing to do. And so, we had these little, uh, they're called three by five cards, three inches by five inch cards. That, were in everybody's office because, at Hallmark these were the, the currency of ideas. So, if you had an idea, you'd write them on these cards and you'd put them in your boss's chair or an art director's chair or something. And then those would get elevated to somebody who would eventually make something of it or whatever. But anyway, we had these cards everywhere and so when I got bored and I was... done with my work, I would just start writing these little stories. Each card would be one panel, and, and these were just memories of my childhood, and so I would write little stories, and then I would put a rubber band around them, and then I had this, Batman lunchbox, and I would just throw the piles into the, into the lunchbox,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 21:03

very cute.

Pedro 21:04

and, and

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 21:07

Imagine you there with your little lunchbox.

Pedro 21:09

I know it's for, it's actually, it's still, it's still behind me. It's in my office. but I had, so when I left Hallmark 27 years after, and I was unpacking stuff here, here at home, I found a lunchbox and I popped it open. And I was like, Oh my gosh, these are, these are still here. And I went through them and I was like, these are pretty funny. I kind of liked these. And so I thought I would just put them out in the world as stories, you know, what, what the heck. And so I just started doing This Instagram story thing, using the rules of Instagram, which are like, you can only have 10, 10 pictures per story. And then I doubled it because I couldn't shut up. I just, uh, make it, I'll make it 20. And so, I just started doing a story every week. And I've done hundreds of these stories and at some point I decided, well. You know, I should, I should get paid.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 22:01

That's always nice.

Pedro 22:03

I should try to make some money off of this. And so I, I packaged them up and I wrote, uh, I packaged them up thematically. And then I wrote kind of a story in between the themes. To tie them all together and then I, sent them out just blindly to just different publishers and I got absolutely no response, nothing at all. And so then a friend of mine said, Hey, you should probably get an agent, see if an agent can kind of crack the, crack the wall. And I'm like, okay. So I, I sent it to an agent and this agent, Dan Lazar, really wonderful guy. I sent him this pitch and he, he called me back and he's just like, you know what, I don't like any of this.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 22:46

Is that the feedback you were looking for?

Pedro 22:48

Yes, exactly. Well, he didn't say I don't like anything. He just says, I don't know what I could do with this. He says, but he said in your final chapter story, he said there was one line that you wrote in there that says, this says, we went down to Mexico to get my grandfather and bring him back to the United States. Things got dark and I don't want to talk about it. And he's like, what is that about? And I'm like, oh, that? And I'm like, well, I was frustrated there at the end. And he's like, well, tell me that story. I want that story. He's like, put all this stuff away and just tell me that story. So I said, okay. So I outlined that, that story. And he's just like, yes, this is what we need. This is what we can sell. And so he, he kind of, which was the funniest part about this whole thing. You know, I had grown up with comic books for years and years, so I understood comic books and I don't think he thought I understood comic books because he'd only seen my Instagram stuff. And so he was like, okay, tell me about the squares. Like why squares? And I'm like, what do you mean? Why squares? And he's just like, everything's squares. What's that about? And I'm like, I don't know. That's, that's how the universe sees Instagram is squares. And he's like, have you ever considered the rectangle? Like, Hmm. The rectangle. Yeah. He's like, yeah, he said, maybe rectangles. He said, rectangles mixed with squares. Have you ever thought of that? I'm like, I can see that. And he's just like, how about no rectangles and no squares? Have you ever thought of that? I'm like, that's a really good idea. I'll, I'll give that a shot. So I did with the funny, the funniest part about it, that whole thing was that, that we're on a zoom call and there's a huge poster of Batman behind me the whole time. But I'm like, I know comic books. They're right behind me.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 24:35

I love the, just the, the way it moves in and out different panel structures and at different points in the story. I love the colorways and it feels the, just the colors feel really nostalgic, as well for like part of the story. I've just found it very engaging on lots of different levels.

Pedro 24:53

Oh, that's great. That's great. Well, you know, you know, when it, that whole thing was all done during the. During the pandemic lockdown. And so I was down here and I had this hard and fast rule. And my wife totally understands that she's very, very understanding. And I told her, like, didn't want to show her anything until it was published, like no sketches, no, nothing

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 25:14

What?

Pedro 25:15

well, she could come down. She, cause the walls were covered with sketches, but she wasn't allowed to like, walk over to them and read them because I just, I love her so much that I only want her to see the purest version of it. And so there was so much I had to work out that I was just like, you're, I don't want you to see the messy parts yet. I want you to see the finish finish. So she didn't see it until it was printed in the hardback that got delivered to the house. And I'm like, now you can read it.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 25:42

That's crazy.

Pedro 25:44

I

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 25:44

You've blown my mind. It's not so many levels.

Pedro 25:49

So, oh, so the reason I said I told that story was because the only feedback I got was from my editor and my designer. So I didn't get really a lot of feedback. So I wasn't sure how people were going to read it and, you know, absorb it. So I haven't been finding out about it until like this last month and a

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 26:09

And what's that been like?

Pedro 26:11

it's, it's been, it's been wonderful. And, um, just, you know, I'm, I'm humbled. Everybody's been just super, super sweet. And it has been very emotional to have people, you know, read back to you or, or recite something you've written or. or talk about something you've drawn that you thought you had only done in your private, you know, bat cave mind, you know, kind of a thing where they're just like, Oh, this, this part meant a lot to me. And I'm like, what do you, how did you know about that? And you're like, well, it's in your book. I'm like, Oh, that's right. I forgot.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 26:44

I, so my, my, my nine year old son has read it as well. I wasn't quite sure. He would normally read, shorter stories, comics, more kind of comic strip style collections. I wasn't sure what he would make of it or quite what he'd take on board. And it was really, really interesting. He, uh, well, first of all, he wants to go to Mexico to buy fireworks. That was his first take out.

Pedro 27:06

Definitely.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 27:07

I was but he, at one point he, he referenced, I can't remember what happened, but it was, it was like the right kind of circumstance and is it Grito, the noise that, I dunno

Pedro 27:16

Oh,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 27:17

Rito. He was like, I, he's like, oh, I wanna make that noise right now. And I was like, and it was the right context. I was like, oh, you have actually, you, you've really absorbed it and taken it, taken it on. I thought that was really interesting. Yeah, it's cool.

Pedro 27:32

I'm sure other cultures have their version of this. I don't know what it is. It's the, it's the combination of being sad and happy at the same time and not being able to express it other than this sound. And thank God we have it, you know, because if I didn't have that sound to do, you know, I'd be like, I don't know how to say what I need to say at this point. But, when they were doing the audio version of the book, they wanted me to record myself doing it and, and I was like, well, the kid, the person who's going to do it, the voice, my voice is going to have to discover their own because you, you can, you can mimic somebody's, you know, you can try, it's just, it'll be more authentic if he does it himself, like if he goes off and figures his out, I won't be. Okay. You know, mad that it doesn't sound like mine. I'm like, but it'll be authentic to him kind of a thing. So, so he did and it was wonderful.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 28:30

I'm really fascinated that there's an audiobook. how does that work? Is it just of the words? Or is there some kind of building in of the content of the images within that?

Pedro 28:40

There's a, there's a lot of audio effects, a lot of background music and, you know, uh, descriptions and, and it's really nice. It's like an audio play. It's really, really cool. They did a great

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 28:52

That's great. I'll track that down. one of the things that I really loved, um, as well was the depiction of siblings and that kind of family dynamic, which is a really big theme throughout. I just wondered, you're talking about the different kind of receptions that it has had and have you had feedback from your family, from your siblings about it?

Pedro 29:14

I was just going to check my email to see if there's any C synthesis. Nope. Nope. They're all good. I was just there and I saw a couple of them, uh, and they had nothing to say. And I don't know. Well, my, I've gotten emails from the, some of the different brothers who have said, you know, they really enjoyed it. but like, there hasn't been like a deep discussion or, uh. Questions about why, why am I wearing that shirt? Why did you do that haircut? Like none of, none of that has been asked or addressed. So I think that, I think maybe around Christmas when we get together again, maybe that'll come up. So I'm still waiting to hear. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Well, Noe, who's kind of the antagonist in the book, I was kind of afraid that he, cause he's still, he's still that guy. Yeah, he didn't change the rest of us grew up. No, we, the rest of us grew up and, uh, but he, he didn't say anything. I fully expected him to say something. And then I thought, well, maybe he didn't read it. So, but then he did let, let on that he had read it and he's, was asking when the next one's coming out.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 30:30

Mmm. I love it.

Pedro 30:31

Oh, okay. So then he approves, I guess. So, but I, I didn't want to go fishing for anything, you know, cause I didn't want to catch anything. So I'm like, we'll just leave it at

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 30:41

Yeah, I really like to find out how people work. You've talked about having sketches on your wall, so it's very much a pencil and paper. You've come to a point where you had this, this book. What's your creative process?

Pedro 30:56

As far as the drawing part of it, it started out with, you know, this, non repo blue pencil that I've used for years. On vellum and the cool thing about that. And if anybody ever wants to kind of start this process, everything looks good in this blue pencil. You could draw anything and it just looks like, Ooh, you're just getting started on a masterpiece. Everything looks like it's got potential. and then, and then it goes to crap after that. Oops, sorry. It didn't mean to say, but, um, yeah. Uh, so I started early on, I started that way. And then as I, when the book got picked up. My wife, bought me a, um, an iPad pro with procreate on it, which, which mimics the blue pencil and the vellum perfectly. Like I could, I could, I had, was able to adjust it. So that did the thing I liked when I was doing it with pencil and paper. So I was going through less vellum, but printing out everything. And make it look like I had sketched all day. And I really liked it. It, it, it feels really good. And then I got it to mimic my pen work from my online, uh, drawings. So I was able to kind of ditch all the, all the pen, the live pen stuff and just use all digital. So digital pencil, digital pen, and then the, the line work I would take and put, bring over to Photoshop. And then I would do all my color over in Photoshop. And then I had created a, a font when I started doing the, the online version. So I was able to use that font in the book. And so it all kind of came together pretty quickly. Um, once I figured out what. What all the tools did and then, and then I kind of, you know, stuck to, I didn't want to like explore new tools because like my head, the capacity for just these three things in my head. And I'm like, if I just stick to these and I do these as well as I can, then I don't need anything else. And it should be

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 32:55

And how long did it take you from sort of start to finish because it's quite a substantial body of work, it's, I mean, there's a lot of detail, and it's very thick, like in terms

Pedro 33:05

It is very

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 33:06

story, and yeah, there's a lot in it, so it feels like it, yeah, it would have been a lot of work. How quickly

Pedro 33:13

Well, the funny thing is, so, so when I first got, I think it took me like probably six months to get the, to get the pitch right before we got the book. So when, when, when the book sold, my first question is, which is my first question every time is like, how long does this have to be? And my editor is just like, well, how long do you want it to be? And I'm like, I don't know. I, cause this is my first book. I don't know, uh, 250 pages. She goes, Oh yeah, sure. That sounds, sounds great. And then I, the next question is when's it due? And she's like, she's like, well, when do you want it to

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 33:48

250 pages?

Pedro 33:50

yeah. And I'm like, I don't know. And she's just like, well, let's pick a date. And so, so we picked a date and I said, okay. I said, I'm going to give you the, all the finished roughs on that date. And she's like, okay, go. So this is after the manuscript was approved. And so I started working and I worked just nonstop. Towards the end there, I was getting up at 530 in the morning and working till 530, 12 hours straight, just cranking, cranking, cranking. And so on the day it was due. I was putting together my pdfs to send and I was looking at the pdf count and the pdf count was like 320 And I was just like oh That's reason that's reasonable like i've seen books that are a little bit like in that range 320. So i'm like cool cool cool And then I looked again. I'm like, well, no, no, that's 320 spreads that's 640 pages So then I just hit send because

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 34:54

Oh well.

Pedro 34:56

I'm like, oops, I overshot. So yeah. So the first draft, the first pencil draft was 640 pages. And, and it took like, I think a week before she got back to me and she's like, she goes, Pedro. She's like, um, she goes, did you realize that this is 640 pages? And I'm like, yeah. She goes. You know, we don't do books that long, right? And I'm like, uh huh. And she's like, you know, because that would be fiscally responsible. I'm like, I getcha. Because it needs to come down by half. I'm like, okay. So I spent, well, I gave them a pass at it. I said, why don't you guys take a stab? And then I'll take a stab. And so they took a stab at it. And, and then the following week I took a stab at it and I was able to. tear away about 300 pages, you know, in a weekend, I think I just literally like tore pages apart and slap panels into panels into places and kind of re put it together and send it back. So this is, this is what I need to stay, save to tell the story. And she was just like, that's great. That's perfect. Let's just, you know, clean up the edges and make the transitions work. And then. So, so yeah, I did a, I did a, I learned a lot, I learned a lot, you know,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 36:20

if you cut that, it doesn't, it doesn't feel like there's parts missing or things that have, like, it doesn't feel like it's been halved when you're reading it. So yeah,

Pedro 36:29

Oh, good, good, good,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 36:31

So it's a, definitely was a good process I think, but yeah, it must be difficult to leave all of that work to one

Pedro 36:39

no, no, you know, what is interesting, I had mentioned this story to somebody else and I said, you know, the cool part about it is, is that you do get to like lay it all out and just kind of see what makes, what What makes the story and what doesn't make the story, which went in your head, you think it all makes the story and then when you see it kind of spread out in front of you, you're just like, well, this is just, you know, this doesn't help at all.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 37:10

This podcast is listened to by a lot of teachers and librarians, people working in education, as well as comics creators, I just wondered, I think it's really interesting to Dig into a little bit of the idea of how your experiences in education have helped you, do you think, on your journey, although it was quite an extended journey or something that you came to sort of later in life. Do you think there are any things that you learnt or experiences that you had in your education that have helped

Pedro 37:44

I think, I think a lot of it, and I've talked to some people in the library world just recently who've, who've brought, who've reminded me of, the kindness and the patience that teachers and, and librarians specifically, take with kids who are trying to find. where they belong in the world and, or what their, or, or even the importance of whatever story they're trying to tell or whatever story they're trying to find. And I think, you know, in the U S right now, we're having this terrible, discussions of banning books, which is horrifying and, and they're, they're banning them for the wrong, for, for no reason other than it's politics, but. When you go into a library, you're going in to find yourself. And if you can't find yourself in a library, you have to go someplace else to find yourself. And sometimes those places are sketchy. And so, I've always found that teachers and librarians have always been able to, like, kind of give me a real safe space. I'm going to discover things and gently push me towards things that they think, you know, this kid might react well to this and, you know, I remember a teacher saying, Oh, you, you might like these, this book of Norse science. Uh, Norse legends, you know, this kind of seems your, your way because it has these really wonderful drawings that I know you like to draw and that it has these, you know, crazy stories of, of gods and serpents and whatever. And I'm like, yeah, a hundred percent load me up. And I remember walking away from those stories, not those books, not so much about the stories, but about those drawings. And I'm like, like, I, I've never known a Clydesdale before. And like, now all I want to do is draw Clydesdales. You know, it's just. Which I still can't do, but it's just, you know, that the inspiration so, so it's, it's the tiniest thing you could do the tiniest, moment to give a kid is the best thing in the world. And you'll think you didn't do enough that day. But if you did it once, you've done plenty, you know, so that's kind of my message to teachers is like, it's appreciated and you probably don't hear it often enough, but those little, those little niceties and those little moments are really, really, they're the seeds that go, you know, grow years from now that people will remember that you did that.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 40:11

Hear, hear. Well done. That was amazing. Thank you. Completely agree. You've mentioned you had lots of other stories from your dad. But what have you got planned next? Is it more in the kind of memoir space? Are you thinking about doing something different? What do you think is next for you? Or what do you know is next for you?

Pedro 40:32

Well, I don't know what's next. I've been working on, I'm working on a sequel to Mexikid. Um, our, our family, I know I shouldn't even be talking about this.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 40:41

Top secret, we won't tell

Pedro 40:42

going to get mad. My agent, he doesn't listen to this stuff. Put it at the very end. He won't get to it. Um, so my family, we grew up as a family of sharecroppers. So we picked strawberries on the, uh, All summer long and on the weekends. So that was our whole family was out in the fields. And so this all takes place in that world of, of, uh, immigrant labor and work and kids, underage kids being out in the fields, little, little kids. You know, my little brother Alex was probably like, I think I started when I was probably like. seven or eight. So he was probably like five or something when he started picking strawberries. So we were like little, little kids.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 41:26

I can't get my children to do anything.

Pedro 41:31

Although we got paid, we

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 41:33

Oh, there we

Pedro 41:34

So there, there was that there was a, there was a, so, so it's, it's this whole adventure of the last. It's the last year of that time when my father, gave us the option of work, keep, continue working with him or, or leave and go learn to do something completely new. So he gave us this, this amazing decision to make. And so that's kind of where the story starts is where he says, okay, you don't have to come back, but you have to do something else. And so everybody has to figure out what they're going to do. Um,

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 42:07

That's really cool. That sounds very, very interesting. I love it.

Pedro 42:11

So hopefully, hopefully we'll, we'll get that one out. And then I also kind of in the back of my head, I've been wanting to do this. I'm trying to remember, I'm trying, I'm trying to figure out the term I want to use about it, but it's kind of like, uh, Latino retro futuristic, sci fi serial.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 42:34

Cool.

Pedro 42:36

Yeah, I had kind of been playing with some, some Ray Gunn stuff when I was a few years ago, where I was just like, Oh, you never see Mexicans in the Flash Gordon world. Like, what if the, the world of Flash Gordon was, was started in Mexico and what would that world look like? What would the, you know, the 1930s cool retro, you know, Sci fi look like if it was Mexico and so it's kind of that's kind of what I'm playing around on the back burner myself

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 43:06

really, that sounds amazing. So to end the podcast, I ask. Our guests if we were to add one comic or book to our To Be Read piles tomorrow, what would you recommend that we read?

Pedro 43:20

I just I just started rereading talking about sci fi I just started rereading Tom Strong it's a comic book series, from, Alan Moore and Chris Sprouse. And it's this very like super optimistic, story about this. Superhero that was created by his parents. He's kind of, he's kind of a science experiment where they're trying to make the ultimate man but it's set in this, not too distant future. And it's, it's every trope that. Every comic book has already done, but in this just really lively and fun and unheavy kind of storytelling, but it's just, it's just really fun. And I, I, I keep a stack of them in the, you know, the side table next to the bed. And, and I pull one, one out every once in a while, just to kind of like, Oh, that's right, comic books are fun. And they're not like, it's not all zombies and not all

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 44:15

just looking at pictures of him now, there he is, he's very muscly. The ideal man's always very muscly. That's a very fixed notion

Pedro 44:25

Good point, good point by these stupid comic books, it's just, it's just, it's just really what I just, I don't know, for some reason it just spoke to me and I was wanting to kind of refresh, you know, refresh my brain during these dark times and, and I, and I pulled out a stack

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 44:43

Yeah, I think it's important. We have to have moments of lightness, don't we? And reading is a great place to retreat to, in those challenging times. And yeah, and that's exactly what you want is something that's, yeah, fun.

Pedro 44:56

Yeah.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 44:56

Brilliant. Thank you so much, Pedro. I've absolutely loved talking to you. I definitely recommend everyone go out and buy Mexikid right now if they haven't yet, it's a brilliant, brilliant book so thank you so much for coming on today.

Pedro 45:07

Thank you so much for having me and, uh, you know, I, I hope everybody enjoys, you know, a little bit or all of it. And then if you don't pass it on to somebody else, I appreciate it.

lucy-sb--she-her-_1_10-12-2023_191554 45:18

Brilliant, thank you.

Pedro 45:20

Thank you

45:23

There you have it. Thanks so much Pedro for coming on this episode is great to talk to you. It's brilliant to be so inspired and enthusiastic. About a book and then be able to talk to its creator so soon after it's come out, that was a brilliant experience for me. So thank you for coming onto the show. My mind is blown mostly by the fact that you did not show your wife the. The book at all until it was already printed. That is crazy. We really enjoyed that little nugget. I thought just to end this episode, I would put together because I do love memoirs and graphic memoirs so much. I thought it just pulled together a very short and top line. Just a few things, a few titles that I have enjoyed. That would be for younger readers. Readers as. The vast, vast amount for older readers out there. Oh, you gotta do to get. Referenced. Quite a lot, can't help herself, in the podcast, but there's also a few titles that I think will be great. To have in libraries. Obviously it goes without saying Raina Telgemeier is the OGE. When it comes to graphic memoirs for younger readers. For nine plus. If you aren't familiar with her titles, check out smile as a starting point, There's so many great titles that she's written, and they're very much the foundation of what I see to be. The thriving graphic memoir. For children. Out there today. Um, also of course, Where stars are scattered. by Victoria. Jameson and Omar Mohammed Mohammed. And, uh, another great, great, very well known graphic memoir. Children age nine plus, uh, Victoria has been on the show as well. So if you have not. Listened to Victoria's episode or comic, boom, go back into the archive episode 10 of season two, and you will. I'll find Victor. Victoria's episode there. I actually thought that was a great one for younger listeners as well, to be shared with the class. If you happen to be looking at where stars are scattered in your classwork. So, I did actually on the website Comic Boom website, I put chapters in there to help you find the right sections that might be suitable telling them, listen, with your class. Or comics group as well. So that's available. Something I was sent, sometimes we will send me. Things through, keep me up to date with what's out there. and I was sent. Bye Jim Bolton. A digital archeologist that's his Instagram title. Anyway, I believe it. Some information about us comic series that he's working on and I'm. Going to put some links to the Padlet. But i thought it was a really interesting concept This idea of the people that. that have been Absolutely. Absolutely core to creating the online Nine Digital world that we now. now we'll take for Granted and what their roles I've been in in the creative And the architecture I have that digital world and this. this is what jim sent So that is currently. currently working on a series of Comics that tell the stories of engineers Who laid the foundations of our digital world Much more eloquent than My ramblings previously it says we're all familiar. familiar with the tales of plucky startups launching Their businesses from humble Garages But what about the unsung Hero's. He laid the foundation without any expectation of personal gain okay so these are The people that aren't getting rich. unsung heroes of the information age pays tribute to these selfless trailblazers and celebrates The original spirits of the internet Uh, spirit categorized by openness generosity and collaboration so i thought they sounded really Interesting the first comics available soul searching telling the story of the barbados born inventor of the search Search engine Allan I don't know if i'm pronouncing that correctly and the second line in the sand tells a story of lynn conway who's had a groundbreaking role in the invention of the methodology that enables today's billion transistor microchips That sort of thing blows my mind it's not it's not a world that i know a lot about especially Not The kind of technological terms but they're It Just definitely seems like there is yes again We think of maybe hidden stories being something of the past but it seems not very much it's still happening today the history that we find out about is not all that there There is i thought that was a really interesting sounding project And it really piqued my interest i wanted to share with You Another title that someone sent me a link about tucked me in a post on instagram about was From a regular listener from library mice who. who listens to the show "Hi Library Mice". And she sent me details of a book let's just come out called layers by Penelope Bagieu. It's out in hardback came out at the end of october Tober the blurb on that is penelope Pens her first autobiographical Cool work and it's hilarious and bittersweet young adult graphic memoir Penelope never thought she'd created a graphic memoir But when she dusted off her old diaries No really this book is based on her actual diaries Uh, She found cringe-worthy hilarious and heartbreaking stories Begging to be drawn In layers Bagieu reflects on her childhood and teen years with characteristic wit and unflinching honesty the result is 15 short stories about friendship love Grief and those awkward first steps towards adult hood that sounds really good i have ordered it It hasn't come yet but i am looking forward to reading That as a teenage diarist myself I. i don't know if i'm looking for Naturally now i've just considered that But i don't. I am looking forward to reading it. it should be Really good so yeah another one. To Check out Um four. Older readers 14. Uh, Plus that one that's not my personal opinion that is from The internet Um, one further recommendation, of course, from the beginning of this season. Emma Reynolds drawn to change the world. Another brilliant collection of graphic memoirs. Tracking the lives and the early experiences of young environmental campaigners from across the world and how their campaigns grew in LinkedIn with each other and to form a global movement that we now know today. If you want to hear more about that? Tune in to episode one of season three with emma Reynolds. Reynolds I'm a massive fan of that book as well. thank you so much listening this was the penultimate episode of comic boom next It's going to be our last one For this season There's a number of things happening The next week that might mean that that episode. episode comes out a little bit late just probably a warning but it will be there Within the week so just keep your eyes peeled On your apple podcast on your spotify in case I get out a day late or something like that thank you so much for listening as always you can support and follow the podcast On instagram a t comic underscore. Underscore boom underscore podcast you can follow me on twitter at lucy underscore bradley And you can also support the podcast on kofi.com. Ford slash lucy sb that's K o hyphen f i dot Com forward slash lucy sb and on that you can have a look at some of My comics you can buy comics that i have made and you can contribute to the podcast if you would like to support the podcast. podcast in a non-manager monetary way which probably He is what most people would like to That that is also very very welcome you can do that by tweeting by sharing episodes by telling your colleagues and also by leaving reviews On platforms such as apple podcasts and spotify Spotify wherever you're accessing this content and that just really helps people to be able to access it and know that it's the quality hopefully think it's quality and share the love of the podcast so thank you so much for listening today you've been listening to comic Boom which is produced and hosted by me lucy starbuck But greatly Thanks for listening