Michael Bracco is a Baltimore-area cartoonist who often attends Washington's comics shows. He's frequently identified by his studio's nom-de-plume, Spaghetti Kiss. His comic Creators is debuting as a webcomic next month, but you can buy it in print now.
Mike Rhode: What type of comic work or cartooning
do you do?
Michael Bracco: I’m a science fiction geek and most
of what I write and draw falls into that genre. I love drawing robots and monsters and the work revolves
around that type of character design.
How do you do it? Traditional pen and
ink, computer or a combination?
I am a very analog artist. I do all of my comic work in
sketchbooks so that I can keep the work portable. I work in pen and ink with
Zebra brush pens and Microns to do the paneling, drawing and lettering. I do scan them and use the computer for
color but tend to scan tons of watercolor washes and cut them up in Photoshop
to make it feel a bit more hand done.
When (within a decade is fine) and
where were you born?
1979. It actually makes me sound younger to say the year than just
the decade.
You attend events in Washington, but don't live here.
What neighborhood or area do you live in?
I am in Baltimore City actually and
have lived there for 14 years. I moved here in '97 to go to college and never
left.
What is your training and/or education
in cartooning?
I went to Maryland Institute College
of Art and received a BFA in illustration in 2001 and a Masters in Art
Education in 2002. Other than that
my education in comics comes from years of reading them.
Who are your influences?
I do have some comic artists who are
huge influences but really I am most inspired by movies. The greatest challenge to me is to
create comics that have the same sense of pacing as my favorite movies. Movies like The Professional, Alien, 12
Monkeys, Star Wars and so many more have been my biggest sources of
inspiration.
If you could, what in your career
would you do-over or change?
Part of me wishes I had got the ball
rolling on my career earlier but the 6 years I spent not really getting my work
out there in my twenties were the years I cut my teeth and learned the
most. I guess I wouldn’t change
much of anything. All the tough
times and challenges, even the really brow beating and ego killing moments are
really what ended up defining me and giving me the work ethic I needed to be
successful at all.
What work are you best-known for?
Probably my Apparel line and not my
comics at all. I have a very
awesome and loyal fan base for the books but the clothing line, Spaghetti Kiss
gets all the attention.
What work are you most proud of?
The Novo series. I spent almost a decade building that
world and developing the story and the characters into a 6 graphic novel
series. It was the first thing I
published and it will always be my baby even though it has been finished for
almost 4 years.
What would you like to do or
work on in the future?
I
have been working on a book for the
past 2 years called The Creators and have recently decided that I am
going to put it out as a web comic. Up to this point I have always
exclusively done print comics and I am really excited to start this new
endeavor.
What do you do when you're in a rut
or have writer's block?
I just try and keep writing until I
break through it. Bad art/writing
is just a necessary step in getting to good art/writing.
What do you think will be the future
of your field?
I think the independent market will
really open up. The non-superhero
book has risen so high in the past decade and I think creators keep bringing
new ideas to the table.
What local cons do you attend? The
Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?
TONS! I vend at SPX, Baltimore Comic Con, MagFest, Awesome Con,
Smudge, Katsucon, Anime USA, Annapolis Con, Collectors Con, Baltimore Tattoo
Con to name a few. I also do a lot of craft shows like Pile of Craft, Holiday
Heap, Merry Mart, Honfest, Artscape and Crafty Bastards
What's your favorite thing about DC?
The food. There are so many great places to get a good drink and a
good meal.
Least favorite?
On the surface, most of DC’s culture is based around politics and I am not a big fan of that. It takes a while to go deeper and find
the local culture of the city but when you do you get to see what makes DC
really great.
What monument or museum do you like
to take visitors to?
I don’t know if this counts, but I
love the Cherry Blossom festival.
Do you have a website or blog?
My site is spaghettikiss.com and you can find me on
twitter, instagram, facebook and tumblr under spaghettikiss too!
