Author and artist Michael Cho will be promoting his first full-length graphic novel, Shoplifter (Pantheon, Sept.), at BEA. Cho has worked on mainstream comics projects like last year’s Batman Black & White anthology (DC Comics), as well as working on illustrations and in children’s books. He’s also authored Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes (Drawn & Quarterly, 2008), an art book of Toronto cityscapes.
“Shoplifter was gestating for a long while,” says Cho. “Initially, it was planned to be part of a book of five interrelated short stories, but while I was writing, it grew longer and longer, and I realized that it should be a stand-alone graphic novel.” Cho’s debut is the story of Corinna Park, a 20-something copywriter at an ad agency in a big, unnamed city, struggling to find her place in the world. Unlucky in love and feeling like she’s lost sight of her dreams of being a writer, Corinna knows there must be something more to life, but is unsure how to find it.
“I’ve always thought that part of the role of the artist is to try to honestly depict the times they live in. Corinna’s struggle is something I saw echoed in many people I’ve known,” says Cho, who is himself an artist of around Corinna’s age, living and working in Toronto. “She’s a woman in her mid to late 20s—a time when it can feel like you’re treading water and waiting for something to break. You sort of know where you want to go, but are unsure or unconfident of how to get there. Corinna is a person who is talented, knowledgeable, and intelligent enough to critique, but, for a variety of reasons, is unable to create. I think it’s a situation that many literate, well-educated people can relate to.”
Cho’s masterfully subtle two-tone art brings a new depth to a familiar subject. “While I work in a lot of different styles, I do enjoy working on monochrome or two-tone art,” Cho acknowledges. “I find that it helps eliminate some of the distractions of full-color art and allows me to better capture nuances of mood and atmosphere. To me, two-tone work is more intimate, and it fit better with the feeling I was trying to convey throughout this book.”
Cho, too, is taking part in the “Best in Fall 2014 Graphic Novels” today on the Uptown stage at 4 p.m., and will also be available for interviews tomorrow at Knopf's media event.
