We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Jeannette Arroyo and Ren Graham, co-creators of the upcoming Blackwater, a fast-paced graphic novel (adapted from the webcomic) that follows two boys falling in love in a haunted town. We got to ask them about their favorite webcomics, tropes galore and so much more!
Hi Jeannette and Ren! Thanks so much for joining us. Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
REN: Hello! Thanks for your interest in Blackwater and having us here to talk a little about it, it’s a huge honor! I’m a full time graphic designer that does freelance illustration (and comics, too, evidently!) in my free time. I love reading, isometric RPGS, and gardening, too.
JEANNETTE: Thank you for having us! I’m a freelance artist who has done illustrations for children’s books alongside publishing Blackwater. I hope we can share more of our stories in the future.
Lightning round: what was the first book you can remember reading and the first drawing you remember creating?
JEANNETTE: That’s a tough question. I think the first book I remember reading through was a Goosebumps book, but I can’t recall which one specifically. I used to always draw dogs as a kid, mostly trying to capture the likeness of my own pets at the time.
REN: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, I think. It was such an elaborate world, it really drew me into the fantasy of reading. As far as drawings, I was making a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog original characters as a kid. That, and crayon drawings of Pokemon battling each other.
Now, tell us about Blackwater! What can readers expect?
REN: Mild horror with a little bit of teenage angst. And a lot of moody New England forests.
JEANNETTE: A coming of age supernatural tale!
Blackwater is pitched as Stranger Things meets Riverdale. How did you come up with the idea for Blackwater and what inspired you to turn it into a webcomic first?
JEANNETTE: Ren and I are both extremely drawn to the supernatural and the horror genre specifically, and wanted to make a small town light horror story of our own.
REN: Webcomics are extremely accessible and I like that it allows anyone with a vision and a story to get their work out there and share it with people without all of these initial formalized publishing hurdles.
And speaking of webcomics, what are some of your favorites?
REN: I don’t read too many webcomics, but some other comics I enjoyed were Bayou by Jeremy Love (which actually might have started as a webcomic now that I think of it) and Harrow County by Tyler Crook.
JEANNETTE: I think Witchy by Ariel Slamet is an incredibly beautiful webcomic.
Blackwater plays with stereotypes and misconceptions, especially when it comes to what others think of you. What do you want readers to take away from the story?
JEANNETTE: I think we are all a little judgemental and pretentious as teens, despite not being aware of it until we’re older. I’d want readers to be open and empathetic to their peers and acknowledge that everyone is multifaceted.
REN: It might sound a little sappy, but I like the trope of found family a lot and I like to think of Tony and Marcia and Eli as both a tight-knit friend group and a family that can offer support to one another in ways they might not receive at home. This also plays into their engagements with Taylor, the hermit werewolf of the forest, and helping her through her own lonely grieving process.
Tony and Eli couldn’t be more opposites attract, yet they end up being such a great support system for each other. Beyond that trope, what are your favorite tropes to read (and write!) about?
REN: As mentioned before, found family is a big trope I enjoy and I think it’s especially important for people in the LGBT community who might not have that support in their direct family to create that welcoming space elsewhere. Also a big fan of the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope, which I think would be fun to play with more in a future story.
JEANNETTE: I enjoy writing a character who masks their insecurity with an arrogant bravado. I think Tony was fun to write for that reason. A fun trope for sure!
Blackwater has a spooky yet also wholesome vibe to it. If you had to pick a song to fit the graphic novel, which one would you choose?
JEANNETTE: Lonely Boy by The Black Kids and Bad Kids by Black Lips, maybe?
REN: I think that sounds right!
With Blackwater releasing soon, are you already working on another project? If so, can you share a tidbit about it with us?
REN: We have a couple of ideas floating around. One involving the Spiritualist movement in the 1920s and how it intersects with the tragedy of the Great War, the labor movement, and other avenues in New York City.
JEANNETTE: We’re always cycling between at least three separate story concepts at once, but this one is the most far along. Almost finished being scripted at this point!
Last but not least, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
JEANNETTE: I really loved Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. It was a really captivating medieval horror novel with a group of very endearing and charismatic characters.
REN: I have a few! White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi was a recent favorite. A really gruesome, moody meditation on the supernatural bonds in a multigenerational family and how they intersect with Colonialism in the UK. Tenth of December by George Saunders was also a hilarious collection of satire touching on elements of class and freewill. I always have to rep Shirley Jackson, too. The queen of subtle horror! I haven’t read a short story or novel of hers that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy.
