Meet Hope Larson, creator of All My Friends!
What initially drew you to comics?
As a kid, I was big on reading and making up stories, but I loved drawing, too. Over the years I went back and forth between seeing myself as a writer and as an artist, and eventually, I managed to combine those two interests into comics–but that didn’t happen until my 20s.
I did read lots of comics from an early age, however! This was a time when there were tons of wonderful comics in the newspaper–Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side–and I read them every day as a kid. Then, when my family moved to France for a year when I was 7 or 8, I started reading “bandes dessinées,” which is what comics are called in French. I loved Tintin, Astérix, and the My Little Pony comics of the late 80s and early 90s. Later, in high school, I became obsessed with manga like Ranma ½, and then American indie comics like Ghost World. All of those books and comic strips influenced me and drew me to the kinds of stories I write today.
What was your inspiration behind All My Friends?
All My Friends is the conclusion of the journey Bina embarked on in All Summer Long, when starting a band was just a twinkle in her eye. She’s come a long way since then, from finding the confidence to start a band, to grappling with creative differences and friendship challenges in All Together Now, to working out how to make a record and navigate the music industry in All My Friends. These three books contain many of my thoughts about living a creative life, and they apply to any creative person, whether they want to be a writer or a cartoonist or a musician, like Bina. When I was a kid who wanted to be a writer, I had absolutely no idea of how to get started; there was no transparency about how to go from “I want to make a book” to actually making the book and getting it out into the world. All My Friends doesn’t contain all the answers, but it does suggest thinking outside the box and doing it yourself if gatekeepers (like Bina’s well-meaning parents) stand in your way.
That’s the ultimate message of All My Friends and Bina’s story as a whole: Don’t let anyone stop you from making art and following your dreams. With ingenuity and a little help from your friends, anything is possible.
What scene or panel sequence did you most enjoy drawing?
I’m most proud of the concert scenes at the end of the book. I let myself go wild with gooey, swirly panels and imagery that are meant to symbolize how it feels to hear the music each band is playing. (There are lyrics, but I’ve removed them, ‘cause spoilers.) Bina’s band, Fancy Pink, has a poppy, sun-soaked California sound, so I drew some Los Angeles/Hollywood imagery for them. Cooper’s band, Anne Surly, has what I imagine to be a guitar-based dreampop sound, so I drew long, swirling speech bubbles and wavy panel borders for them.
A comic about music is a little bit of an odd choice, since of course comics are silent, but that’s part of what made it fun. The music in the book can ultimately sound like whatever the reader imagines.
About the Book
From New York Times-bestselling and Eisner Award-winning creator Hope Larson comes All My Friends, the final standalone book in a middle grade graphic novel trilogy about friendship, family, and music. Perfect for fans of Real Friends by Shannon Hale.
Middle-schooler Bina has everything she’s ever wanted. She has new friends and a new band whose song is about to be featured on her favorite television show.
But being in the spotlight is hard. When Bina and her band are offered a record deal, her parents are not thrilled. Now, Bina is barely speaking to her mom and dad. To make matters worse, Bina and her best friend, Austin, are still awkward around each other after their failed first date.
Can Bina untangle the various melodies in her heart? Or will fame go to her head?
