With the release of the Pink Monsters graphic novel from Oni Press this week, we are delighted to be joined by comic artist and illustrator Claus Daniel Herrmann.
Hi Daniel, it’s so wonderful to have you here with us.
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Thank you so much for having me here! I’m a 44-year-old comic artist and illustrator, and I live with my partner in Cologne, Germany, where I run a small design agency with a friend. Pink Monsters is my first project with an international audience.
Can you tell us about the origins of Pink Monsters?
Pink Monsters is based on my experience with a spiritualist who painted over some of my favorite monster drawings in pink to “neutralize” them when I was about 12 years old. She justified this action by citing scary ideas that terrified me at the time. So much so that I didn’t draw any monsters for years. In the book, I have the boy Frank go through a very similar experience with a spiritual healer named Thea, in order to explore how such an act of intrusion can occur.
What can you tell us about Frank?
Frank loves to draw and plays volleyball in his free time, but he’s rather shy and reserved. He worries about his depressed father, Georg, and uses drawing and video games as a distraction from the stress at home. He knows Michael, one of the cool kids, from sports. Through his drawings, Frank manages to become friends with Michael. Over time, Frank realizes that he is developing romantic feelings for Michael.
You created all of the art for Pink Monsters. What part of that process did you enjoy the most?
I really enjoyed drawing the final panels, and especially the characters! I had been working on the storyboard in my spare time over a long period and struggled to get back into the flow time and again. For the final artwork, I then set aside a few months and worked 100% on Pink Monsters non-stop. During that time, I was able to focus entirely on drawing, was constantly in the flow, and watched as my drawing style improved and took shape. Fun!
How did Oni Press get involved with Pink Monsters?
Pink Monsters was first published in Germany by Reprodukt Verlag. AM Books then handled the international licensing. After Oni Press acquired a license, I spent several weeks working closely with editor Christopher Cerasi and translator Thomas Mauer—who also did the fantastic lettering for the American edition—and I couldn’t have imagined a more pleasant collaboration.
Who is Thea?
Thea considers herself a spiritual healer and is convinced that she possesses secret knowledge and special abilities. Frank’s mother, Sandra, invites Thea to their home in the hope that she can help Frank’s depressed father, Georg, since all medical treatment has so far been unsuccessful. Thea introduces the concept of positive and negative energies into the household—a simple idea that, unfortunately, leads the family astray.
How long did it take you to create the Pink Monsters graphic novel?
All in all, work on the comic took a little over six years, including a one-year hiatus. I approached Reprodukt Verlag after about two years of continuous work, during which I had been working on an initial storyboard in my spare time. The publisher then hired freelance editor Wiebke Helmchen, with whom I worked on revising the script for about a year and a half. The rest of the time, I drew a new storyboard and did the final artwork.
Could you tell us about the use of colour in the Pink Monsters graphic novel?
The colour pink is the only bright colour in the comic and comes to represent various ideas as the story unfolds. The colour is introduced alongside Thea, who enters Frank’s family’s dreary, grey house. At first, we associate it with the warmth and comfort that Thea radiates. Later, the monsters from Frank’s drawings that give the comic its title are coloured pink, and the colour’s meaning changes significantly.
Was creating Pink Monsters a difficult process?
There were difficult periods, and it was a very personal process, as the story is based on my own experiences. An important part of the writing process involved separating the relevant memories from the irrelevant ones and rewriting them so that they came together to form a complete story. Some of those memories were also very painful. I’m glad that Frank finds a solution in the span of the book – it took me much longer.
Did you have a goal in mind for Pink Monsters, and do you think you have achieved your goal?
My goals have changed as I’ve been writing: at first, I mainly wanted to poke fun at the world of the occult. The first draft was accordingly humorous, but it was hard to understand why Frank takes Thea seriously at all. To explore this question, I rewrote the book extensively, and I think it was worth it! It still has its funny moments, but Frank’s story now carries much more weight.
What can you tell us about Pink Monsters?
In Pink Monsters, a boy named Frank must resist the influence of the spiritual healer Thea. Thea’s esoteric advice is actually intended to help his father, Georg, overcome his depression, but it ends up making Frank feel deeply guilty, as the dark energies in his monster drawings and his friendship with a gay friend are supposedly making his father ill. Pink Monsters tells the story of how Frank finds himself in this situation and how he deals with this crisis.
Any message for the ComicBuzz readers?
I hope you find people who accept you for who you are and respect your boundaries. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for no reason—especially not ideologues and new-age gurus! And if you want to see an example of how cult-like structures can take hold, read Pink Monsters.
We would like to say a big thank you to Claus for chatting with us and wish him the best of luck with the release of Pink Monsters.
