Nick Abadzis is a writer and illustrator who wrote the 2007 instant classic Laika, the heartbreaking graphic novel about the USSR’s first space pup, profiled a few months ago on Kittysneezes. He also wrote for Marvel Comics in the 1990s, and has written for the children’s TV show Bob the Builder. His CV in the world of illustration and writing (particularly in the form of graphic novella) is extremely impressive.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Mr. Abadzis about his favorite things and various inspirations.
Kittysneezes: At this moment in time, what is your favorite song?
Nick Abadzis: “Gaeta’s Lament” from the Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 soundtrack by Bear McCreary. It is magnificently sad.
Kittysneezes: What’s your favorite band that you don’t think a lot of people would have heard of?
Nick Abadzis: I guess my favourite “cult” band are Big Star, who made three albums in the early 1970s. They recently reformed and did a fourth one, which is OK, but the original three are the ones that make my hair stand on end. The first is wide-eyed 70s pop, the second is dealing with the reality of being in an unsuccessful band and the third is an incredible descent into dark nights of the soul, where and how did it all go wrong, etc.
Kittysneezes: What, if anything, is on any particular wall (your choice) in your domicile?
Nick Abadzis: I have a picture of America Ferrera in her full Ugly Betty regalia on the wall in front of me, behind this computer monitor. Also a handprint on a paper plate by my four-year old daughter.
Kittysneezes: What’s the strangest thing you own?
Nick Abadzis: Strangeness is subjective, so it’s not really for me to judge.
Kittysneezes: Who’s your favorite visual artist (excluding yourself)?
Nick Abadzis: Edmond Baudoin.
Kittysneezes: What are the five most recent films you’ve seen?
Nick Abadzis: The Baader Meinhof Complex, Milk, Rachel Getting Married, Revolutionary Road, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Kittysneezes: What’re your top three movies?
Nick Abadzis: At the moment: The Last Picture Show, Alien, Three Colours Trilogy (technically that’s three movies but I’ll count ‘em here as one).
Kittysneezes: Do you own any original artwork, and if so, whose?
Nick Abadzis: I’m assuming you mean by cartoonists. I own a Jamie Hewlett original and a D’Israeli original that were given to me when I worked with both artists on Deadline magazine. I also own a piece by a guy called Edmund Bagwell who is maybe not so well-known an artist, which he gave me when we worked together on a horror story for a British comic many years ago. That’s a pretty amazing piece. But the only piece I ever bought was a small painting by Vanessa Davis of a girl floating serenely in a swimming pool. That I had to own because it is beautiful. I love her work.
Kittysneezes: What is your favorite game?
Nick Abadzis: Ice-Cube Scrabble
Kittysneezes: If you could say one thing to David Byrne, what would it be?
Nick Abadzis: Another album with Brian Eno, please.
Kittysneezes: What are your five most favorite books in the world?
Nick Abadzis: Tove Jansson: Moominpappa at Sea, Alice Walker: The Temple of My Familiar, Brian Eno: A Year With Swollen Appendices, HG Wells: The Time Machine, Hergé: Tintin in Tibet.
Kittysneezes: What is the most boring thing you’ve ever experienced?
Nick Abadzis: Being forced to stand in line for hours usually initiates a level of extreme boredom for me.
Kittysneezes: If you could name a child anything in the world, what would it be?
Nick Abadzis: Happy.
Kittysneezes: What is your favorite meal?
Nick Abadzis: Ackee and saltfish.
Kittysneezes: What is reality?
Nick Abadzis: What you make of it. Observable and therefore happening.