The Comic Arts Fest is in full swing. Our next event will be on Saturday, February 11, 2:00 PM at the South San Francisco Library - Grand Avenue Branch, opens a new window. The Grand Avenue Branch Library will be hosting a Comics Workshop with Thien Pham, opens a new window.
A comic book, visual artist, and high school teacher, based in the Bay Area. Pham illustrated Gene Luen Yang's Level Up and his own food review comic strip, I Like Eating, which was syndicated in the East Bay Express. His first solo work, Sumo, is a poetic tale of a washed-up football player turned sumo wrestler.
Get to Know Thien Pham Through His Own Words
Let's find out more about this comic artist and what inspires him through a series of questions.
Did you read comics as a kid? Which ones?
I read mostly superhero comics when I was a kid. I was definitely a Marvel guy. My first comic was a Spider-Man comic and I still love him. When I was a teenager I was big into X-Men and also stuff like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
What are the biggest influences on your work?
When I was a kid, all I wanted was to draw like Jim Lee, but i didn't really start drawing comics seriously until I started reading Optic Nerve by Adrian Tomine.
For any aspiring graphic novelists reading this interview. What advice do you wish someone had given you when you were first starting out?
Just do it and put it out there somehow; don't worry about how good it is or if you're good enough. Just do it and grow.
What’s the one question you’ve never been asked in an interview, but always wanted to answer.
Do you believe in dinosaurs? Answer: No
Will you be going to Thien's workshop?
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