Transcription of interview conducted by email on 8 November 2014. Parts of this interview were used in Farthing, A. & Priego, E., (2016). ÔGraphic MedicineÕ as a Mental Health Information Resource: Insights from Comics Producers. The Comics Grid. 6(0), p.3. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16995/cg.74


L.B. LEE, CREATOR OF LOONY-BRAIN COMICS AND HEALTHYMULTIPLICITY.COM

CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOU STARTED LOONY-BRAIN?
The website actually got started a few years after we started making our comics. People really enjoyed them, but at the time our web presence was limited to LiveJournal and DeviantArt, neither of which is well-situated for comics. So we got together with two friends of ours at the time and made healthymultiplicity.com, where we could keep our comics front and center without constant archive-diving.

As for why we started making comics, it was mostly out of sheer frustration. We kept encountering other multiples (people with multiple personalities) who complained of disclosing their multi status to people, only to find there were no resources to hand over. Everything was either extremely technical and jargon-heavy, or operatic traumaporn. We started making our comics with an intent of giving a third option. Turns out, we're actually pretty good at breaking down complicated concepts, and we've been doing it ever since.

HAVE YOU BEEN INFLUENCED BY ANY OTHER COMICS ARTISTS OR WORKS DEPICTING MENTAL HEALTH OR BIOMEDICAL ISSUES?
At the time, we didn't know any! We were the only person we knew who made comics at all, never mind educational mental health comics. We did take our inspiration from a four page comic posted on DeviantArt about six months before we made our first comic, MPD for You and Me:
http://tigrin.deviantart.com/art/D-I-D-You-Know-58072489 But you can't get it in print, far as I know, and since it's only on DeviantArt, it's buried deep in the archives.

Nowadays, we draw inspiration from other comics creators we know who cover similar topics: Cathy Leamy, who has done comics on diabetes, menstrual products, and mindful drinking; Maddie Prager, who uses surrealistic effects to explore the mind of her characters; Kimball Anderson, who uses poetry and quiet details of life to nudge greater issues; and Laurel Lynn Leake, who has done abstract self help comics and motivational prints.

WHAT DO YOU THINK MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS OR TRAINEES COULD LEARN FROM READING YOUR COMICS?
I think the biggest thing they could learn is that mentally ill people have important things to say about their own experiences, and that they need to listen. Sure, our comics teach about the conditions themselves, but what people seem to most appreciate is how ordinary it is. We focus on daily life, coping, and bring a humanity to these conditions that often get distilled down to a bullet list of symptoms. We make ourselves PEOPLE, rather than problems.

HAVE YOU HAD ANY INTEREST IN YOUR WORK FROM ACADEMIC OR OTHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS?
Not really. Part of it is my own fault; I don't know how to approach them, and I left higher education years ago. We have had some interest from community mental health centers, individual therapists and the like, but not many. The only educational institution who's had much interest in our work are zine libraries, who take an interest in radical mental health.

Perversely, a lot of the people who'd be most invested in mostly show up at cons we can't afford to attend! Because we're disabled due to mental illness, we live below the poverty line, and those cons are EXPENSIVE [intervieweeÕs emphasis]. ÊWe're talking $300 for the table alone, not including travel, hotel, and print costs. These cons and institutions are intended for doctors and people with money, not us. Some require academic certification, which we don't have. The sheer cost of going has precluded us from going.

This is why we mostly end up tabling at tiny little conventions surrounded by other comic book people, punks, and zinesters. They're the only events we can afford!

HAS ATTENDING AND TABLING AT COMIC CONVENTIONS INFLUENCED LOONY-BRAIN? IF SO, CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW?
It has helped give us more direct feedback about our work. For instance, we've been tabling at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo for four years solid, and we have fans who come back every year to see what new stuff we have. With sales records, I'm able to make some guesses as to what people are most interested in, and vary my output accordingly. It also helps us meet up with other creators who can give valid input on our work. And on a more direct level, it was how we got our first bulk order from a community mental health center in Piqua, Ohio. At that point, I was actually considering quitting the con circuit for good;
needless to say, that changed my mind!

Why did you choose Etsy as a platform for selling your physical comics? Could you describe the advantages and any disadvantages youÕve come across.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ETSY AS A PLATFORM FOR SELLING YOUR PRINTED COMICS? COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES YOUÕVE COME ACROSS?
Honestly, I chose Etsy because it was there. It was that or StoreEnvy, but Etsy didn't take too much of a cut and allowed people to search and find me, so I gave it a shot and it paid for itself almost instantly. For someone below the poverty line, it's nice to only have to pay $5 a month in shop fees!

Storenvy costs less, but a lot of my Etsy orders seem to come from people who specifically like Etsy itself, who get curious or creative with their search tags. There's a community aspect there that I don't fully understand, but hey, it makes me money!

DID YOU CONSIDER OR TRY OTHER WAYS OF SELLING COMICS ONLINE? IF SO, COULD YOU NAME THEM AND GIVE YOUR REASONS FOR DECIDING AGAINST THEM?
Before Etsy, I actually used this godawful system of Paypal menus. It was clunky, ugly, and didn't have the respectability associated with Etsy. It worked for a few years, but we started getting a lot more orders once we moved to Etsy! It looks a lot better too.

ARE YOU CONSIDERING ANY NEW WAYS OF PROMOTING OR DISTRIBUTING YOUR COMICS, EITHER PHYSICAL OR DIGITAL EDITIONS?
Yes indeed. We're in the process of making ebooks and digital files so people can put them on their e-readers. I really do hope to drag myself to one of those DID cons, even though I'm sure it will leave me grumpy and broke. Since we recently moved to the Midwest, that opens up new cons to table at, and new people who haven't heard of us.

I am also trying to contact mental hospitals and send them sample copies, but that hasn't been working out so well, and I'm not sure if the problem is on my end or theirs.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW YOUÕVE USED YOUR WEBSITE, DEVIANT ART AND TUMBLR?
DeviantArt at this point is mostly an art storage spot; I haven't been social there in years, on account of just getting older and finding that no money or sales was coming from there. Our work might help some kids, but they don't pay us for more.

We're only on tumblr because everyone else is. We use it as a soapbox and quick advertising, but I don't think we make much money off it. Sure, we get reblogs and such, but that's not the same as money. It's a fun way of keeping track of art, and I advertise my events and such, so people who
like us personally like to follow our activity with it. Tumblr and Livejournal/Dreamwidth are our most active platforms, and where most people socially interact with us.

The healthymultiplicity.com site is how I keep my basic information and comics front and center. It's the stuff that people share over and over, the easy way to get the important stuff. I honestly don't even know how many pageviews that site gets! It's just much easier to link stuff with it. I see it as the hub, where everyone can get where they need to go from it.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHTS INTO THE REASONS PEOPLE PURCHASE YOUR COMICS?
I honestly think they buy them because we make stuff nobody else does. A lot of people stay in the closet because of stigma, which makes it almost impossible to sell their work offline. We're the only person besides Madison Clell and our buddy Zyfron who does comics about multiplicity at all from an insider perspective. Clell only did print, and Zyfron only did digital, then lost most of the strips in a closet scare years back. ÊSo it's basically only us who does both at all regularly. It's a captive market, and even people who normally don't care about those things get curious just because it's something so peculiar to them.
People seem to buy our work not just because they want the comics themselves, but because they actively like us and want to see us succeed. ÊPart of that is because I've been very open and honest about our life online--homelessness, poverty, family issues--and so fans get emotionally invested in our success. We aren't just some faceless life-support for comics; we're people who desperately need the money we get from our sales. It's why I am so grateful to have the fanbase we do. It is small, but it is devoted!

ENDS