Last night, we shared our exclusive interview with the writer of Insight's upcoming
Mean Girls: Senior Year,
which is a comic book sequel following the hit 20014 comedy from Tina Fey
(30 Rock, Baby Mama). If you haven't had the chance to take a look at our chat with this book's scribe, Arianna Irwin, who is also known for creating
The Comet, you can do so
here.
While the book doesn't come our way until October, this May will see the first chapter released in the form of a
Free Comic Book Day issue of
Mean Girls: Senior Year, and chatting with the creative team now gives fans an idea of what to expect.
We'd like to give an extra special thanks to the team at Insight Comics who helped make this interview possible via translation, as artist Alba Cardona and I speak two different native languages.
Joe: Unlike most comic books where the art is created completely from the artist's mind, this is based on the Mean Girls film and because of that a lot of the characters you are drawing are based on real actors. Do you find it difficult to capture their likeness, or do you prefer it to original characters?
Alba Cardona: Some characters were easier than others, but all of them have been fun to draw, especially Karen! I wanted to show the resemblance in every character, so I kept sketching them until I finally decided I was happy with the character designs.
At first, I was more comfortable drawing the new “plastics” because they are original characters and they don’t have to look like any real person, but I finally got used to the movie characters as well and I enjoyed drawing them even more.
Joe: Mean Girls came out over 15 years ago. Were you a fan of the film then or was it something that you watched after taking this job?
Alba Cardona: I watched Mean Girls on TV a bunch of times back to 2000s, so when I received the offer I got really excited! When I rewatched the movie after I got the gig, and I got very nostalgic, haha!
Joe: Who is your favorite character in the movie, and is it the same in the comic?
Alba Cardona: My favorite character from the movie has always been Janis. I love acid and punk characters, and she has a strong personality that I admire a lot. Also, the Janis-Damian team is priceless!
But drawing the comic I’ve gotten to love Karen, especially. I remember thinking Karen was really dumb when watching the movie, but she is so pure that you have to love her. In the comic, Karen and Janis are a team and drawing them together is one of my favorite things of this comic. So yeah, Janis in the movie and Karen in the comic.
Joe: If you could draw and adapt characters from another movie or show, which would you choose?
Alba Cardona: So many! I’ve always been drawing Harry Potter characters since I’m a total fan. But Steven Universe, Glow, Stranger Things, Sherlock, … I’m in too many fandoms to pick one, to be honest.
What do you guys make of Alba Cardona's comments? Get a preview of the
Free Comic Book Day issue of
Mean Girls: Senior Year with the images below, courtesy of Insight Comics!
Mean Girls: Senior Year picks up at the beginning of the school year following beloved Tina Fey’s 2004 film. After struggling to survive the wild events at Northshore High School the year before, Cady Heron learned her lesson and is swearing off drama. It’s all about good grades, SAT prep, and college applications from here on out—but new transfer student Megan Moretti isn't about to let Cady stay focused.
Megan is determined to rise to the top of the popularity food chain and become the newest Plastic. Cady, Regina, Gretchen, and Karen will have to band together and stop this queen bee wannabe from turning the school inside out all over again.
Teenage Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) was educated in Africa by her scientist parents. When her family moves to the suburbs of Illinois, Cady finally gets to experience public school and gets a quick primer on the cruel, tacit laws of popularity that divide her fellow students into tightly knit cliques. She unwittingly finds herself in the good graces of an elite group of cool students dubbed "the Plastics," but Cady soon realizes how her shallow group of new friends earned this nickname.
The Mean Girls: Senior Year Free Comic Book Day Preview will be available at participating comic retailers this Free Comic Book Day on May 2nd, 2020.
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