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DEL RIO DETAILS SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH
by Jennifer Contino (Pulse)
Dreams can come true. As she grew up, Tania Del Rio imagined working with Archie Comics and now she's working on two of their titles: Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats. Not bad for someone who was working in retail just a few short years ago. Find out how she went from comic, manga, and cartoon fan to revitalizing not just one but two Archie properties and more in this interview.
Del Rio said her love of comic books began with a love of cartoons and colorful shows like Sesame Street. She said her first taste of sequential art came from comics based on some of her favorite cartoons in the '80s: The Popples, The Get-Along-Gang, and He-Man. And, as one might imagine from someone currently working on two Archie Comics properties, Sabrina The Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats, Del Rio also "had quite the collection of Archie Comics."
"I’ve been reading comics for as long as I could hold one and enjoy the pictures. While I was a kid, I liked seeing my favorite cartoons turn into comic books, even though the art and stories usually weren’t all that fantastic," she continued. "When I was a teenager, I got more picky about art. I only was attracted to comics with really strong art. This is why I got hooked on any manga I could find (it was scarce back then), Jim Lee’s X-Men and Wendy Pini’s Elfquest - because the art in these books was so great and it really inspired me as an artist. Now, as an adult, I guess you could say I’m even more picky. I like nice art, but I feel like a strong story is the most important of all. It doesn’t matter if the art is gorgeous. If the story is weak, I won’t continue reading it."
Some of her favorite cartoons helped influence the type of comic creator she became. When Del Rio discovered anime and manga, those subjects became more to her than printed pictures or cartoons, they got into Del Rio's blood. "I discovered anime and Japanese videogames first and these led to my discovery of manga. I used to watch a great anime show in the '80s called Mysterious Cities of Gold. It was so much more epic and complex than most of the American cartoons on TV. Sailor Moon was another early introduction to anime/manga. I loved the premise of these normal young girls who became powerful and fought beautiful androgynous villains. Again, it was so different from all the American shows. I was also a huge videogame fanatic and loved the complex, emotional storylines of games like Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy II and III. I was beginning to get sucked into this world of Japanese media where things seemed so much more complex and emotional than anything in America. I knew about manga but it was hard to find where I lived. I finally did manage to get my hands on some issues of Ranma ½. I was hooked."
"In American comics and animation, it seems that the focus is on action and adventure," she continued. "Everything feels a little rushed as if they’re worried the audience will lose interest if they slow things down. In manga, they take their time to tell a story. Through the course of a series you really get to know the character and all their facets. I like how Japanese manga isn’t as conservative as American comics. They’re not offended by nudity or homosexuality. They don’t censor themselves, which I appreciate because I dislike censorship. I remember how shocked I used to be when I first discovered Ranma ½ and that this boy actually turned into a (sometimes naked) girl. Coming from American comics, it took some getting used to, but I enjoyed it more than anything else I had read. In Japanese anime, I’m inspired by Hayao Miyazaki. His films are so enchanting and imaginative I can’t get enough of them. As far as manga influences, I love Ai Yazawa because her art is so quirky and unique, and Rumiko Takahashi for her great sense of humor. Other artists I like are Miwa Ueda, Fuyumi Soryo, Yayoi Ogawa and Eiichiro Oda."
Del Rio said she used to imagine working on comics when she grew up. She imagined drawing another Archie Comics staple, Sonic The Hedgehog. "I actually had a circle of Sonic-loving pen pals and we would draw Sonic comics featuring ourselves as Sonic-esque characters and we would send them to each other in the mail. Even though I spent a lot of time drawing comics based on my own characters, I never actually thought I’d be able to be a comic artist ... I knew it was a tough field to break into – especially for women. It seemed that the only successful female artists were those who took the reigns into their own hands and started their own companies – like Wendy Pini. I decided to pursue animation instead, which was another big interest of mine. I thought my chances of becoming an animator were much greater than becoming a comic artist. Plus, animation is quite similar to comics in many ways."
"I went to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design," she continued. "I picked it because it had a complete animation program and a complete comics program. Even though I majored in animation, I took all the comics classes that were offered. Many of my comics teachers were professionals from the field and I learned a lot from them. I think my style is a blend of everything that has inspired me over the years. Disney animation, American comics, and manga. I think the fact that I was trained as an animator makes it so my style is always evolving. As an animator, you have to learn how to draw in someone else’s style and do it consistently. When I worked as an animator, I did some pieces that were Looney Toons-esque, some that were abstract and modern, and some that were more realistic. Because I’m able to emulate many styles, I think I end up soaking them up like a sponge and blending them together to create my own look."
Del Rio said it was her work in the Rising Stars of Manga Volume 2 that helped get her a foot in the door at Archie. But she never might have tried to enter that competition, if she hadn't had such a tough time after graduating landing a job in animation. "Nobody was hiring and the only jobs I could find were short two week stints," she said. "I was forced to work full time at a retail store which I hated. I basically felt depressed and creatively drained and didn’t feel like doing anything artistic. But I heard about TOKYOPOP’s Rising Stars of Manga contest after buying Volume 1, and got a little inspired. I decided to try and enter. I didn’t expect anything to come of it, but it just felt so good to be doing something artistic again. To my surprise, I got into their second Volume with my story Lovesketch."
"A local paper interviewed me," she continued. "The folks at Archie saw the interview, since they’re located pretty close to where I live, and they called me up. They told me they were thinking of giving Sabrina a manga makeover and just wanted some of my input and ideas. I submitted a four-page sample and I got the job. The actual four pages I submitted ended up being the first four pages of Spellfreeze in #58, my debut issue!"
Del Rio was anxious for the chance to work on this character and saw so much potential and many different possibilities. "Sabrina is a magical girl and these are quite common in Japanese manga," she said. "It seemed like a perfect fit for the character. When you have a character that can use magic, I think the first tendency is to make it slapstick as in: how many things can possibly go wrong with all these zany spells? I thought it would be interesting to take the focus away from the magic and make it more about relationships and character growth. The magic makes a fantastic backdrop and adds quite a bit of interesting possibilities, but it’s no longer the main focus. The story is about Sabrina, as a girl, as a witch, as a person."
"First of all, I changed her overall look," she continued. "She used to be drawn in the Archie house style: very attractive and curvaceous. I liked her old look, but it didn’t fit the shojo style I was going for. I made her look younger and more wiry, like a real 16 year-old who hasn’t quite finished growing. I gave her a younger bob haircut. As for the stories, rather than have each issue be a collection of short gag stories, each issue is a complete story that has threads that carry over into future issues (although each issue can be enjoyed and understood on its own). As I mentioned, I’m putting more of an emphasis on relationships and character development. Basically, I’m inspired by Japanese shojo, which are commonly about regular girls, romance, and sometimes a bit of magic. I really appreciate Archie giving me the freedom to explore the characters and their world. I feel like I really know the characters and what makes them tick. I’m not just writing the stories, I get wrapped up in them. To me, the characters are alive and I’m not always sure what will happen next. And, now that I’ve figured out the character designs, I love drawing them. Especially Shinji!"
Del Rio admitted there was a bit of a learning curve on Sabrina. "I think it took me a little while to really grow into the style. During my first few issues I think I was still nailing down the character designs and getting to know the characters and their individual quirks. Also, early on, one of our challenges was the worry that people wouldn’t give it a chance because they might assume that manga Sabrina was just a knock-off of 'real' manga or that we were just jumping on the bandwagon, trying to do what was 'cool' for the kids. I’ve been doing Sabrina for over a year now, and I think we’ve shown the nay-sayers that this is a quality book that each person involved puts a lot of effort and care into. I can’t give too much away, but I will say that there will be more romantic drama and heartbreak, more fights, and more secrets revealed about both Shinji and Sabrina in issues to come."
Sabrina The Teenage Witch is available monthly from Archie Comics. You can learn more about Del Rio and her latest projects at her blog: http://www.livejournal.com/users/taniadelrio/ You can read a piece with her about Archie's favorite rockers, Josie and the Pussycats here: http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=004237 Keep checking back with THE PULSE for news of her Arana/Spider-Man special.
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