Richard: Can you tell us what "Emiko Superstar" is all about?

Steve: Well, it's all about a teenage girl named Emi. She's always been something of a geek but lately her fellow geeks have been going in directions that just don't appeal to her. When they head off to a "young executives" retreat for the summer, she's left alone to a babysitting job in boring suburbia. That is until a crazy dreadlocked girl bursts into her life and Emi is introduced to the world of underground performance art.

Trying to find her own type of performance, Emi "borrows" some poetic angst from her employer's diary. Coupled with a new sense of fashion, Emi's performances make her a superstar of the art scene. But we'll see how long can she hold onto this life of secrets before everything starts spiraling out of control.

The writer, Mariko Tamaki, is fairly new to comics but she has a few novels under her belt and and turned in a great story for Emiko Superstar.

Richard: What is the Minx line of comics?

Steve: Minx is a new line of graphic novels from DC Comics. The imprint is directly targeted at teenage girls, so you can expect a lot of strong female characters and coming-of-age stories. Some will have a healthy dose of romance. A few will have a dash of fantasy mixed in. Many will be dealing with the universal struggles of being a teenager, in combination with the unique challenges that each protagonist faces.

Each graphic novel is a stand-alone story but sequels are a possibility in some cases. For example, I was pleased to hear the first Minx book, THE PLAIN JANES, is getting a sequel.

Richard: What is Emi's personality like and how do you bring it across in your art?

Steve: Emi's a smart girl but she's also shy and somewhat clumsy. If I had to pick one word to describe her, it might be "awkward". And that really appealed to me. I enjoy trying to capture that subtle awkward nature that many of us can associate with our teenage years.

Richard: How would you describe your art on this comic?

Steve: I recently replaced Philip Bond on THE ESCAPISTS and I consciously shifted my style to match his (an easy task, since he's always been an influence). I think my art in EMIKO SUPERSTAR keeps some elements of what I picked up during that experience, without being as blatantly Bondish. The characters are a little rounder and with a lot of the little quirks my art has always had. I'm confident in saying it's the strongest my artwork has ever been.

Richard: You had to match your drawings with Mariko Tamaki's writing how was that?

Steve: It's been easy. Sometimes it's a good challenge for an artist to tackle genres beyond what they're used to but it's also nice to find a project that's firmly planted in your comfort zone. That's what this book is. The light-hearted nature of EMIKO SUPERSTAR seems to be what I'm naturally good at. It's also filled with my kind of content. It's got big party scenes full of wildly-dressed, tattooed kids. It's got quiet, awkward moments where facial expressions and postures say more than anything. It's got plain suburban settings contrasting with more decrepit graphittied settings. And I gotta say, I just have more fun drawing stories with young characters.

It has been interesting working with a newer writer who's still learning comics-specific storytelling. I think our editor, Shelly Bond, has been a big help in showing Mariko what does or doesn't work well in this medium. And my input on certain things has felt more crucial than with my previous collaborators like Rucka or Ellis or Vaughan--who have already mastered all that stuff.

Richard: Do you remember the first published comic you had art in?

Steve: I'm wondering if I had any fan art published when I was younger... but I can't remember anything actually making it to print. When I was eighteen I contributed a 4-page story to an ashcan-style anthology called Assorted Meats, but that didn't have any real distribution. My first properly published work would have been QUEEN & COUNTRY #1.

Richard: What was your contribution to "Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects" video game?

Steve: My buddy Didier Arpin brought me onto that project to help him with storyboards for the cinematic sequences--all the backstory stuff about the new characters. Once the boards were done, I mostly worked on prop designs and layouts, so the 3D modelers had something to work from. Lots of alien lab equipment. I also did a bunch of Photoshop touch-up work, transforming in-game graphics into cool looking "cards" that players can unlock.

Richard: Why do you teach "Introduction To Comic Book Production"?

Steve: Because aspiring comic artists can use all the help they can get. Years ago, when I got out of high school, I knew I wanted to draw comics. But the nearest comic book school I knew of was 3000 miles away. So I studied animation instead and learned how to make comics on my own. Now that I've built up a fair bit of knowledge, it feels good to teach those storytelling tricks to aspiring artists. Hopefully I can help them get past certain hurdles faster than they would on their own.

It's also nice to have a little extra income. Especially consistent income, since there's no job stability for me in comics.

Richard: What future projects do you have planned?

Steve: Right now I'm mostly just focused on drawing EMIKO SUPERSTAR, since I'm not even at the halfway point yet. I recently did some character designs for an animated series that's in development, so I'm curious to see what happens with that. Comic-wise, I might be working on something with my girlfriend when my schedule opens up. I do want to do another graphic novel on my own some day and I have several ideas I've slowly been working on. Unfortunately I've been too busy drawing and haven't found the time to shift gears into writer mode. But I can't really complain since I've been digging all the drawing gigs that have come my way lately.

Richard: Do you have any interesting stories that have occurred during your career?

Steve: Nope. All the good stuff has been erased from my memory by the Comics Code Authority.

Richard: What would you like to do that you have not?

Steve: Create a comic with as much emotional resonance as Craig Thompson's BLANKETS or Scott Morse's VISITATIONS. Also, have my own line of toys and clothing.

Richard: What comics did you read as a child and do you read now?

Steve: When I was around nine years old, I remember reading comics like ARCHIE, MADBALLS and ALF. Then I drifted away from comics until I was around thirteen and started checking out some SPIDER-MAN and other superhero comics. But I was turned off by the characters' long, convoluted history and the fact that there were four different Spidey titles. Luckily Image Comics started up and I was able to jump on board stuff like THE MAXX, SPAWN and GEN13 when they began. My town didn't have a comic store, so I had to rely on the pharmacy's spinner rack and a shoddy mail order company. It was a few more years before I was introduced to a wider range of genres, largely from Oni Press.

Nowadays, I still read a lot of Oni stuff. I really enjoyed THE DAMNED and I'm looking forward to Rucka's STUMPTOWN series and Vasilis Lolos' LAST CALL. Some of the stuff I get regularly would include CRIMINAL, POWERS, CASANOVA, DMZ, LOCAL, RUNAWAYS, HELLBOY, BPRD, EX MACHINA, SCOTT PILGRIM, AMERICAN VIRGIN, BUFFY, etcetera.

Richard: How can someone contact you?

Steve: My contact info is on my website: www.steverolston.com

Richard: Any final words of wisdom?

Steve: Don't eat the yellow snow?