GM: Hi Jinky! A major in marketing and a minor in art, yet here you are, one of the world's top comic book artists? It must be a source of inspiration to all those artists out there who want to make it but the grades aren't great. What's your advice to aspiring comic book artists?
JC: Top artists? Do I look like Mike Deodato to you? Do I have a square head, a butt chin, and one humungous eyebrow across both eyes? Do I?? :) Advice? Learn your craft. I attended Glass House Graphics's CREATING COMICS SEMINARS probably nine times, doing hundreds of layouts and many dozens of pages, before I was ready. I went in steps, made sure I learned the right way to do it. And I had to know how to draw the stuff for real before I could make conscious decisions what to exaggerate and adapt. It took me years to learn how. There's no magic trick.
GM: Your website is huge and colourful, like Banzai Girl. Do you feel that a big web presence has helped to bring Banzai Girl to the attention of people who might otherwise not have heard of her?
JC: Sure! www.BanzaiGirlJinky.com is one of the worlds' largest FREE model websites, so that certainly makes a difference. Though I admit, appearing in FHM Philippines, Mirror, Play, Femme Fatales, Wizard, and so on helps, too.
GM: I read that you deliberately targeted Banzai Girl at guys and gals. Do you get the impression that more men than women read your comics? It's certainly the case in Britain that more men attend comic conventions and frequent comic shops than women do. I can't speak for the States but I'd guess it's the same over there. Also, the major newsstand chains in Britain don't stock nearly enough comics, which is why there are some specialist shops. Do you have the same problem in the US? Being a marketeer, do you feel that distribution is a factor in selling Banzai Girl?
JC: Yes, I think more guys read Banzai Girl right now, simply because a larger percentage of guys go to comics shops. But with the BANZAI GIRL trade paperback and my new Banzai GIrls: Breathless Schoolgirls CD being available in "real" bookstores as well as on Amazon.com -- in fact, all over the web -- I think it will make a difference.
GM: I also read that you miss your home and still send money from Banzai Girl to help. Are you able to visit your folks as regularly as you would like to? Do any of them ever get to visit with you?
JC: I just came back from a month-long visit to see my folks in Iloilo. We're hoping my sister Michelle will come to the U.S. this summer. Look for her on my webpage, or check out , if you're curious.
Yes, do check it out, both Michelle and Jinky are stunning, and so photogenic it's just not true! (PaulE)
GM: In every interview I've read, you praise Glass House Graphics to the skies, but you must have started out with a huge amount of comic art talent. You say you had a lot to learn, those guys must have really helped to bring out the best in you.
JC: They did. They're the best people in the world, as far as I'm concerned. They've also made careers for fellow Philippine artists Wilson Tortosa (Tomb Raider), Carlo Pagulayan & Dennis Crisostomo (Emma Frost), Bong Dazo (The Irregulars), Edwin David (Battle of the Planets), Rainier Beredo (colorist on Hulk), and so many others.
GM: Featuring your sister, your brother, your best friend in Banzai Girl must give you a nice feeling, yet you say that comic design and story-telling isn't going to be what you want to do forever. What do you see yourself doing in a few years' time?
JC: Starting a family! :)
GM: You mention Playboy, and you've been featured in FHM magazine. Does that aspect of the publishing world interest you? Could you be tempted to do a photo feature in Playboy, or are the stunning photos of you and Michelle on your website as far as you want to go down that road? I ask only out of interest ,I don't buy such magazines myself but find I can get everything I need from the fantastic artists I feature in Gateway Monthly, not least Jinky Coronado and Banzai Girl!
JC: As far as "such magazines" are concerned I think there's PLAYBOY, then there's all the others. Totally separate category. Playboy is excellent photography and a person can build a career around an appearance in there. No so other magazines. But I'd still have to think long and hard about being in it, myself. I wouldn't wish to do anything that would upset my family.
GM: You say "English is my third language" after Hiligaynon and Tagalog. You are to be congratulated. Your English is perfect, and from what I've seen in the pages of Banzai Girl, you've got it just right. Comics played a huge part in my early reading, and that of my three kids. Do you agree that reading comics helps people to develop their reading skills?
JC: Definitely! No question!
GM: A "Silver Bulletins" web page headline says "From Beauty Queen to Comics Creator, Banzai Girl Presents Schoolgirl Fantasies". Were you already aware that many men have such fantasies? In other words, did you set out to stimulate their fantasies, or is this something the marketeers (and you) have latched onto?
JC: Wow, did I even see that headline...? Well, I "am" the marketeer. When I started Banzai Girl, it was about me -- and my friends and family -- anyway. I added the whole level of fighting Filipino urban legends later, and when I came to the U.S. three years ago and attended a couple of Conventions for research, I thought the appearing-in-costume angle, and appearing on variant photo covers, was a good idea. I still do a lot of Cons, but I don't need to do the costume anymore unless a Con specifically requests it for a specific photo bit, or something.
GM: Banzai Girl dreams of being a futuristic freedom fighter battling hideous tentacled things buried beneath robotic exteriors. Did you dream this storyline up yourself?
JS:The future freedom fighter part of it came from seeing the flashback in the
Terminator movies, and I built a whole direction off that. I talk my ideas out with my friends and family.
GM: I know that Banzai Girl is listed as one of the comics being imported into Britain on a regular basis. I have a copy of the annual on order myself right now. People write to you and join your fan club to get the fantastic merchandise you've designed and set up. Where do they come from? Are they from all over the world, or are they mostly living in the States?
JC: I get orders from fans all over the world, which is great -- England, Australia, Singapore, Canada, the U.S., it's been nice to see there's interest all over.
GM: Will we get to see the Hermes Tadeu neo-Boris paintings of you on the website? I'm a great Boris fan - the combination sounds stunning, but did he complete them before his untimely death?
JC: Hermes did one painting for me, before he was senselessly murdered by someone stealing his camera, three days before Christmas last year. It appeared on the cover for the "Encore Edition" reprint of BANZAI GIRL #1, and yes, it can be spotted on my website.
GM: Finally, I know you're going to get a huge following over here and in the rest of Europe - can we expect to see the great Jinky Coronado at a comic convention in the UK some time in the future? Have you ever been to the UK?
JC: Never been there! All it takes is a Convention invite with all the details covered! :) Gentlemen, start your engines....
GM: Thanks a lot, Jinky, it's been really tremendous fun doing the feature and asking the questions - thanks for brightening up the magazine! This will be of immense interest to my readers!
JC: I just updated my website with dozens of new pictures and a lot of new art. Check it out! My next big Cons are Wizard World Philadelphia and Wizard World Chicago Con. See you there! Hugs, Jinky
