Enikő Bányász on Garfield, Goblins, and Kindness

Hi, Enikő! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions. First of all, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Hello, Team Oneshi! Thank you so much for interviewing me, it’s been a real pleasure to be part of the Sidequests Anthology! As for myself, I’m a Hungarian-American creative educator and aspiring comic artist. I also dabble in other mediums aside from comics, such as illustration, character design, and plush crafts! Outside of art, I enjoy collecting retro technology, making mixtapes on physical cassette tapes, and playing DnD with my friends. 

How did you get into creating comics?

I think my fascination with comics goes all the way back to when I was first learning how to read, such as when I was given my first Bible, which was in comic book format! [When I was] a kid, my uncle lived with our family of immigrants, and he collected a lot of Garfield comics; it was one way that helped our family learn English! I remember reading a lot of Garfield, as well as the Sunday paper comic section; even if I didn’t understand some comics, I was still impressed by the art alone! As a kid, I would trace pages from Garfield and write new words into the panels to create my own comics, but it wasn’t until about middle school when I seriously started getting into developing my own style and stories. Many of my early comics I made in that time were based off of online writing and roleplay sessions with my friends, full of Mary Sues and angst-y plots! For me, comics have always been an incredible way to communicate stories and ideas, and give people a voice; sometimes your English teacher is Garfield, and sometimes your hero is a sparkledog werewolf which is secretly you in disguise, and it doesn’t matter because it can be so empowering!

What inspired you to create “Goblin’s Quest,” specifically?

To be honest, I really wanted to make a cute Goblin character for a while, and had the idea of his design roughly in my head. I wanted to create a scrappy little character who’s shown signs of being roughed about, but [is] still bright and optimistic as ever. As I started to draw and plan out his design, a little story also formed along with it. I was mostly thinking about how I could successfully put a beginning, middle, and end into just 8 pages, since this was my first time being challenged to stay within those boundaries. I knew trying to create a grand adventure would make my brain explode and really put a lot of pressure on me, and I felt like what I really wanted was a cute little story, like chicken soup for the soul, haha!

Upon thinking about what Goblin’s biggest obstacle would be, I realized that a lot of the time, problems just show up unannounced, and we have to respond to it the best of our ability, so I wanted something like that for my story as well. Sometimes we do our best, but things happen outside of our control in ways we don’t plan.

But what I really wanted to emphasize in my short story was how important it is to pay attention to and help those around us however we can. We think the world can be so big due to the way communication and travel has developed so rapidly, but in a lot of ways we are much closer to each other than we think we are; we have to look out for each other. So all the kindness and help Goblin gives to others, in turn comes back to him, and I think that can really be a reward to a quest in itself. (But a delicious pie at the end of your quest is good, too!)

If you were to be assigned a quest like the goblin in your story, what kind of mission would you like to be sent on?

Haha, well I wouldn’t mind a shopping-list quest, personally! Hopefully in my quest, I’d also like to take a walk through the scenic and wild countryside to the market. I feel like I’d probably take more stops than he would, to admire the scenery. But I hope it would be to fetch some food so I can grab a snack to eat while I’m out and about!

Who are some people who inspire you creatively?

This may sound super corny, but there’s no one who inspires me more than my dear friends. I feel like we’ve gone through a lot through the last decade, and yet they still continue to impress me over and over again, with books being published, gallery shows, and just pure perseverance despite everything. Clive Hawken, Maria Frantz, Lonnie Garcia, Ezra Curry, Seaerra Miller, Carissa Grouell, just to name a few, have always blown me away with their hard work and their never-ending kindness. I don’t think I’d be the creative person I am today without such a group of beautiful and supportive friends.

What kind of stories (especially comics) do you like to consume most, and why?

Believe it or not, even though most of my work is fiction, my absolute favorite genre is non-fiction! I love to read and learn about other people’s experiences and events from [the] modern day and the past, especially things I never would have sought out otherwise. I always tell my students that if they’re stuck on what to write about, write what you know, or look at the world around you. I encourage them to read at least one non-fiction book for every three fiction books they read. They usually groan, and say how they hate non-fiction, and I was the same as a kid, so I don’t blame them! But I’ve come to learn and love that there’s things that happen in reality that can surpass anything anyone can create in fiction.

What fictional character do you most identify with?

If you know me (or [have] seen my decorated car), you’ll learn pretty quickly that I’m a big fan of Spongebob Squarepants! It may sound silly, but I aspire to be as bright and cheerful and optimistic as him someday. It’s definitely a show that’s always been a comfort to me and brought me many smiles and laughs throughout my lifetime. Though, in honesty, I feel a lot of the time I’m more like Patrick Star!

What do you think comics bring to the world that other media can’t?

This is a really big question, and I hope to do it justice, but if we look back on my answer to an earlier question, I made mention of my uncle who was really into Garfield comics in his early adult life. Garfield was one of those few “Western” things that was allowed and present in 1980s Hungary, and he carried it with him when he came to the United States. Just like when my mother came to the United States and learned English through the help of television, Garfield comics became a method of learning a new language for my uncle and my family as well. I think comics have an awesome power of being able to communicate many things nonverbally, and not just with what’s going on in the story, but outside of it as well. In this instance, Garfield comics wasn’t just Garfield comics, it was a media that crossed political borders and helped enter a new country and a new life. I think that’s a really incredible thing, perhaps not exclusive to just the world of comics, but it’s more of a personal example of what comics can bring to the world and the lives of others.

Are you currently working on any projects—comics, art, or other things?

Well, I currently have a couple ongoing passion-fan-comics, as well as a couple more serious original comic projects that are in the planning stages. My passion projects are mostly fanworks where I use pre-existing worlds to help hone my comic-making and storytelling skills, as I work towards other projects, which will be original stories and characters, with intentions of self-publishing or pitching to publishers!

One of those stories is going to be set in the 1990s and modern day, a story of a sentient computer and the computer’s user as they each grapple with how much the world has changed around them. It’s a silly story, but hits some tough topics, and will be longer-format. My main intention is to only use technology that was around during the 90s to create it. I’d really like to go all-out nuts with the exploration of using mixed digital media, as I’ve amassed a bit of a collection of retro tech; it would be awesome to put it to good use! But I’m also working on a shorter comic story called “Kitty Clown Town,” a sweet little unexpected love story about a town full of kitties, who are also clowns.

Where can our readers find you online?

I do my best to be active on social media, but apologies in advance if my postings are a bit sporadic!

You can find me here:

https://www.instagram.com/enikoscraftcorner

https://softwareangel.neocities.org/art