If you’ve been following our coverage here at Comics Beat, you already know this babysitters club novel author Ann M. Martin yes adapted into a graphic novel Comprised of a list of top cartoonists. And the 16th book to be adapted, The Baby-Sitters Club: Christy and the Walking Disaster go through Allen T. Crenshawavailable now at your local bookstore and/or public library.
To learn more Christie and the Walking DisasterThe Beat spoke with Crenshaw via email. We asked her all about her personal history babysitters clubabout the impressive panel layouts she uses to depict the action at softball games, and how her parents supported her chosen career path as an artist.
AVERY KAPLAN: Do you have any personal experience? babysitters club?
Allen T. Crenshaw: Yes I do! Growing up in the early 90s, I read my older sister Erin’s old collection of Martin’s original series. We’re also fans of the TV show on PBS (long before the TV show on Netflix, which was pretty good too!).
KAPLAN: How did you first become involved in the Graphix adaptation? babysitters club?
Crenshaw: About a year after my first graphic novel came out—Number of kisses 8 While working on my next book with Colleen AF Venable – a World Health Organization Headquarters graphic novel about an artist at the Battle of Gettysburg – I was invited to try this series.
I created character designs and provided several pages showing how I adapted the original text Stacey’s mistake Enter the comics medium. After several rounds of revisions, my piece made its way up the editorial chain to Martin. I must be doing something right because I am now writing my third BSC book and will be writing a fourth in the future!
Kaplan: Yes Christie and the Walking DisasterChristie formed a softball team: Christie’s Crusher! Do you have experience with softball and/or other sports? How did this experience (or lack thereof) influence your work on the adaptation? (I’m more like Claudia, checking out her nails in the stands).
Crenshaw: Ha! I’m on a similar boat, except I’m on the playground behind the softball field, balancing on the roots of a big tree, imagining I’m on a great adventure. I know this from experience because my aforementioned sister Erin played softball and I watched her games with my mother.
Erin was a godsend for this particular adaptation. Not only did she know the game and the original, but she had a deaf teammate at the time, like Matt Braddock. I call her every time I have a rules question about softball, so the scene where Kristi gets a million phone calls from the Crushers is based on real life!
Fun fact: Although in the original story, 2-year-old Gabbie Perkins played with wiffle ball, Erin thought she should be a backup runner in the big game.
Kaplan: One thing readers might notice Christie and the Walking Disaster This is how the panel layout differs during sports action scenes. Can you tell us how you approach these dynamic, story-emphasizing layouts? What is needed to describe movement in a static medium such as a sequence diagram narrative?
Crenshaw: I could spend an entire interview answering this question! There is a great video article Patrick H.Williams On why baseball is narratively and visually the best sport to film. I guess this applies to comics too!
Baseball (and by extension softball) is animated visually by the placement of players on the diamond and narratively by the players’ individual roles on the team. For example, there is huge dramatic interplay between pitchers and batters, but neither can function without the other players.
When I was tasked with adapting a softball story, I knew I would need help since I didn’t have much experience in the sports comics genre. Luckily, I’ve always been a big fan of baseball movies, e.g. sandy land and a league of their ownso I went back to those old favorites to understand their narrative structure and scene composition. I was looking for the best examples of baseball/softball comics and stumbled across Crossover games go through Andaman At my local library. This series in particular is incredibly inspiring—not just for its depiction of the game, but also for its characters, slow narrative burn, and emotional payoff. I carry copies of these books with me throughout the process from thumbnail to ink.
As for those page layouts: It’s important to me to emphasize the bursts of activity that happen during a softball game (usually after the quiet moments). To show action in a static medium is to contrast stillness with movement. Therefore, most panels are laid out on the xy axis, until the character starts acting, and suddenly the page is designed on a diagonal and the character breaks out of the constraints of the panel borders. I also try to have the action move in the direction of the reader—right to left in the case of American comics—to build momentum and maintain the energy of the page turn. (There are exceptions, of course, especially since runners on a baseball field are actually going in circles, so they might retrace their steps or cross each other.) I’m always thinking about the relationship between comics and readers; A very participatory medium!
My work is often known for its dramatic gestures and facial expressions. As a fan of animation, I make it a point to imbue my characters with as much action as possible – even if I’m just depicting dialogue scenes. I imagined everyone was on stage and they were performing in the cheap seats. I relied on those instincts to translate the physical characteristics of softball onto the page.
Kaplan: This is your second time balanced scorecard Adaptations from previous releases Stacey’s mistake. How are you adapting? Christie and the Walking Disaster Different – or, have you found balanced scorecard Adapt to the slot?
Crenshaw: and Stacey’s mistakeI focused more on getting familiar with the existing graphic novel series and adapting it as faithfully as possible (except for a subplot about the housing-free community near Stacey, which was modified to be about community theater). This book is an exception in the series as it is the first to take place entirely outside of Stoneybrook. I had to do a lot of research to depict real locations in New York City.
In contrast, Christie and the Walking Disaster Back in Stoneybrook, there’s a new spot of my own design on the elementary school baseball field. There’s still a lot of research to be done, especially with the use of ASL, but I’m giving myself more freedom in the storytelling. Having a BSC book makes it easier for me to adapt and build the story to better suit the visual medium. I wanted to further emphasize the evolving relationship between Christy and her stepfather Watson. I also want Bart to kiss Kristy! I felt like I was really able to make the book my own while still keeping the integrity of the original story.
Kaplan: Anything special? balanced scorecard Do you find this character particularly relatable?
Crenshaw: I like this question because it’s not asking about my favorite character, it’s a very different thing. I think the character I relate to the most, for better or for worse, is Mary Anne. I couldn’t help but see some of Mary Anne’s less positive qualities in myself; for example, I was very sensitive to criticism and cried easily. But she’s also very organized, smart, and caring, traits that I think I share.
Kaplan: You dedicated this adaptation to your parents for several reasons, including their support of your career as an artist. Particularly for parents of children who are aspiring artists who may be reading this, can you tell us a little bit about how your parents supported you on this career path?
Crenshaw: I am very grateful to my parents. They saw my interest in painting and did everything they could to foster it. I never wanted pencil and paper. They signed me up for watercolor painting classes when I was seven. They encouraged me to audition at an arts magnet high school. They provided me with a college tuition loan, which I couldn’t afford until many years after graduation.
I know these are financial privileges that many do not have, and I am acutely aware of the place they place me in my career. But beyond that support, my parents always showed an interest in things I cared about. My dad would read newspaper comics with me every night when he got home from get off work. My mother taught me grammar and she watched my favorite cartoons with me. They read some of the books I had read and encouraged me to watch and read some of their favorites as well.
They wouldn’t let me slip away without working hard and wouldn’t give me anything I wanted. But they let me know that the things I enjoyed were important to them and that what I wanted to do was possible.
Kaplan: In your creator bio you mention that when you’re not making comics, you enjoy video games. Are you currently playing a game (or games)? Do you have an all-time favorite game?
Crenshaw: My favorite games are always changing, but the ones that have had the biggest impact on me are travel. It was the first video game I ever played that I felt was a masterpiece of art, and I haven’t played anything quite so extraordinary since. Some of my other favorites are Interstellar pioneeringthis shame series, Stardew Valleyand Return of Obra Dinn. i just finished Lorelai and Laser Eyes now i am playing Life is Strange: Double Exposure.
KAPLAN: You are one of a growing number of talented creators working on Graphix balanced scorecard adapt. I’m curious if you guys ever get together (including virtually) to discuss your respective projects?
Crenshaw: I’ve only met a few other adapters, but we did chat virtually. They are such a friendly and supportive group of people! I love seeing everyone’s unique comic style. It’s really great that Graphix encourages us to express our personal voices in the arrangements.
The Baby-Sitters Club: Christy and the Walking Disaster Available now at your local bookstore and/or public library.
