Intervju med Fanzinisterna: Julia Nascimento & Felipe Kolb Bernardes

 

Tell us about yourself! Who are you?

We're Julia Nascimento and Felipe Kolb Bernardes, Brazilian artists currently living in the countryside of Västra Götaland. Before moving to Sweden we lived in Tokyo for nine years. Now Julia works as a freelance illustrator and cartoonist while Felipe works full time as a graphic artist for a Swedish-American company.

What kind of comics do you make, and how did it all start?

Julia: My journey with comics started while I was attending secondary school, but there was a long hiatus until it became a professional activity. Felipe and I started making autobiographical comics about our life as foreigners while living in Japan. I still draw stories about my life, but now the focus has shifted to Sweden. Sometimes I also make journalistic comics.

Felipe: I make silly and weird comics about zombie detectives and fika-obsessed monster hunters. I have always had a desire to making comics when I was a child but it was not something serious. Ever since Julia and I decided to experiment making a comic together in 2016 we haven't stopped.

What are you going to sell at Malmö Comics Fest?

Julia: I have three new comics since last year: “Rhubarb Jam”, about my mum coming to Sweden for the first time last year, “The Colour of Your Skin”, about racism in countries I have lived, and “Trans in Brazil: Hate and Hope”, which discusses the situation of transgender people in my home country. I’ll also bring risograph printed comics, postcards, and posters.

 
Felipe: It will be a mix of fantasy and satirical stories. Among them there's a risograph printed comic about me working grave yard shifts as a deliver in the countryside (Mailboxes I Hate), a comic made in an art residency in Gothenburg (Robert and Berit’s Adventures), and related to and/or printed in Japan (FEiJUada Comics, Childless In Japan, The Crow And The Rabbit).

Who do you think should read your comics?

Julia: This may sound contradictory but I really want to grab the attention of people who usually are not interested in comics, as I think it’s an amazing medium with incredible possibilities for storytelling. Moreover, I’m always interested in pointing out problematic things in society that need to be change as well as telling stories that others can relate to.

Felipe:  My comics are for people who like funny and silly stories, and need a chuckle in their lives. And for those who like zombies, of course.