Out of all that, what kinds of things influenced you the most? We were even active members of the Society for Creative Anachronisms!ģ. And we spent days spent exploring rivers. I was lucky in that my parents exposed me to a lot of different influences - all kinds of books and movies. Some of my early drawings are vast underground scenes full of creatures that aren't that far removed from some of the species in the 'Zita 'books.

I've always been drawn to weird creatures. The 'Zita' books feature some pretty strange creatures. I've also lately been interested in projects that separate words and pictures - illustrated novels on the one hand and wordless comics on the other.Ģ. I find things like characters' body language to be a wonderful storytelling tool. I work a lot on the structure of my stories and I get a lot of joy out of that, but my art is not just in the service of the story, it's very much a part of the storytelling. In my case, I think the two are pretty inseparable. Do you tend to think of yourself more as a writer or as an artist? His work can be seen online at A Q&A WITH 'LEGENDS OF ZITA THE SPACEGIRL' AUTHOR BEN HATKEġ. Hatke lives and works in the Shenandoah Valley with his wife and their boisterous pack of daughters.

Ben Hatke's first graphic novel was 'Zita the Spacegirl.' He has published comics stories in the Flight series as well as 'Flight Explorer.' In addition to writing and drawing comics, he also paints in the naturalist tradition and, occasionally, performs one-man fire shows.

Zita and the spacegirl