‘Graphic Details’ Q&A: Miss Lasko-Gross

Image by Miss Lasko-Gross

“Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” is the first museum exhibit to explore this unique niche of autobiographical storytelling by Jewish women. The touring exhibit, sponsored by the Forward, features the work of 18 Jewish women artists. The Jewish Women’s Archive — its Jewesses With Attitude blog is a partner of The Sisterhood — is interviewing each of the artists about their work and their experience as a female, Jewish graphic artist.

This week’s interview is with Miss Lasko-Gross, author of “Escape from Special,” based loosely on the author’s life growing up as a Jewish girl in the suburbs, and “A Mess of Everything,” a pseudo-sequel to her first book. “Escape from Special” was nominated for YALSA’s 2008 Great Graphic Novel award and “A Mess of Everything” was named on of Booklist’s top 10 graphic novels of the year in 2010.

Leah Berkenwald: How did you get into cartooning?

Miss Lasko-Gross: Like many cartoonists I started with clumsy imitations of work I admired (Tank Girl, Akira, Love And Rockets etc.) Then moved on to self-publishing and distributing original comics, doing pieces for zines, anthologies and finally becoming a graphic novelist.

Leah Berkenwald is the online communications specialist at the Jewish Women’s Archive, and a contributor to its Jewesses With Attitude blog, which cross-posts regularly with the Sisterhood.