Sally Jane Thompson is an itinerant postgraduate student, currently tucked away in a corner of England drawing pictures, working hard on her degree and eating lots of chocolate.

Stephen McCranie: Your story for Parable: Volume 1, entitled “Kiss,” is very unique because the entire piece is drawn on wood. What inspired you to use this medium, and what difficulties did you face while creating this comic?

Sally Jane Thompson: The wood was simply a result of too many art school projects involving “finding alternative surfaces” …but I fell in love with the way it absorbs anything you throw at it, so you have to build up dozens of layers, which I think gives a really rich look. As for difficulties, it’s hard to get a sharp edge when things soak in— but most importantly, you can’t erase anything, or even paint over it if you want to retain the grain!

S: I can imagine! Did you have to take photos of the wood in order to get it into digital format?

Sa: Yeah— I’d like to experiment more combining it with digital, but in this case I simply photographed the finished product, with relatively little touch-up. The actual panels were pretty large, and very heavy!

S: Really? How heavy?

Sa: Well, the boards were thick to begin with— and then I thought it would be a waste if they couldn’t be hung, so I made really sturdy frames to screw on the back! Probably not the smartest thing ever. Carrying two at once was a stretch!

S: I’ll bet! Ha ha. So you’re from the United Kingdom… Have you always lived there? What was life like growing up in the UK, and what inspired you to become an artist when you were a kid?

Sa: Not quite! Haha— I’ve been in the UK about 6 months now. I was born and grew up in South Africa, which I wouldn’t change for anything. I wanted to be a game ranger when I was little, and my earliest drawing memories where studying South African wildlife books and drawing all the animals. We moved to Canada when I was a teenager— where I was really exposed to comics for the first time— at least the kind that I would want to make. And now I’m having a great time getting to know the comics scene here in the UK!

S: Well that’s awesome! Can you speak any of the local languages of Africa?

Sa: Hmm…Unfortunately they didn’t start offering Xhosa and Zulu in my school until shortly before I left— so I missed out there. Afrikaans was something I was never very good at for some reason. All I can say are things like “I have a green giraffe” or other things that don’t make sense!

S: Ha ha. So, speaking of the comics scene in the UK, I noticed that you were a finalist for Tokyopop’s 2007 UK Rising Stars of Manga contest. What do you think about the recent Japanese comics invasion? How has manga affected your style and comics?

Sa: Manga was essentially my first exposure to comics that covered a wider range of genres, and showed me how much scope comics have to communicate! So it’s been a fantastic influence, and I’ve learned a lot through it. But I wouldn’t class my work as anything more than manga influenced. As manga has become a more prevalent influence over western comics, there is of course lots of debate over what counts as manga and so on, but I think the more varied influences people have, the better, and I’m glad to see the comics world opening up like this.

S: Me too. It seems to me that the definition of what comics can do is broadening. As comics become more popular, I hope to see more and more people enter the cartooning industry. Now, how did you become a Christian?

Sa: Well the short story is that I grew up in a Christian home, but really everybody has to decide things for themselves in the end. I’ve had a lot of questions, but in the end, everything Jesus did just resonated as so right to me— the way he treated people, the concept of self-sacrifice, and being able to develop ones spirit.

S: Okay, do you have any projects that you’re working on right now that you’d like to talk about?

Sa: Well my biggest project right now is my MA program, which I’ve just started! I’ll be doing a lot of illustrative and possibly even comic-based work for it, so I’m very excited! I’ll also be doing some self-publishing and attending some comic expos this year, as well as doing some workshops and events, and just generally getting my sticky little fingers into as many pies as I can! I’ll be sure to keep John updated once I have some secret projects sorted out!

S: Cool, we’re all excited to hear about them! So, that about wraps it up… I usually end with a silly question, and I’ve been really racking my brains about what to ask you… Is there something really unique or interesting I can ask you about?

Sa: Hmm…I got certified as a laughter yoga leader….I do lots of sewing and make geeky costumes to wear at conventions…I like knitting and crochet and tea and basically am an old lady….

S: A laughter yoga leader! Can you tell me what you do for that job?

Sa: Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to be involved in a group in the UK yet! There was a fantastic group at my university in Canada. It’s all about the idea that laughter is amazingly healthy and good for you, but society doesn’t really allow for us to get that kind of awesome, extended laughter. So it teaches you techniques to stimulate laughter, without relying on humor— and once you get going, especially in a room with ten other people, none of you can stop! Imagine a room full of people laughing for no reason! It’s the best thing!

S: That sounds awesome! Let’s laugh together.

And so, we began a small laughter yoga session together, even though we were communicating by instant messenger and separated by an entire ocean. The following is a direct transcript of the silliness that ensued.

S: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Sa: AHahahahah HAhahahaha ahaha!

S: hee heee heee heee

S: hah had

S: oops

Sa: Hohohoho!

S: I’m actually laughing right now… how incredibly delightful.

Sa: Fantastic! Hopefully some of the people reading this interview will be as well!

S: Even though I spelled one of my hah’s wrong.

S: Well… that about wraps it up.

Sa: Excellent!

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Bryan Ballinger!