A massive thank you to everyone who’s pledged to support our first ever Kickstarter campaign so far.
We’re so close to half way funded… if you haven’t yet backed the project, this would be a great time to do it! Have a look here.

This week we’ve been sharing more information about the second of our 2022 books – Sleeping While Standing by Taki Soma. It’s a collection of funny and moving autobiographical stories, and we’re really excited about it. In the book Taki leads us through her early childhood in Japan in the 80s, to moving to Minnesota, the separation of her parents, childhood trauma, teenage angst, death, drugs, comics, health issues, love, fertility, pets and zombies; all of life is here in this book!

Taki Soma is a HUGO award nominated artist, writer, and a colorist. She’s worked on projects such as Rapture, Sinergy, The Victories, United States vs. Murder, Inc., Bitch Planet, Dick Tracy, The After Realm, Iron Man and others – her work can be found throughout publishers such as Image, IDW, Marvel, Dark Horse, Jinxworld at DC and more! She lives surrounded by furry critters and a husband who shares the same passion in comics.

Sleeping While Standing will be 100 pages long, paperback, full colour. Page size 158mm x 240mm.

Here’s an interview with Taki about the book, and some sample artwork.

Is Sleeping While Standing your first autobiographical book? What was it like working autobiographically after so much time working on fiction? Was it something you’d always been interested in doing?

Sleeping While Standing is my first autobiographical book, yes. Working in this way was an intimate and visceral experience on the surface, but I realized that part of how I approach both nonfiction and fiction is by processing everything life throws at me, so it didn’t feel all that different from fictional works from the past; was it something I have always wanted to do? I don’t think so. I worked on one story just to help me process it a couple of years ago, and many more subjects just kept popping up that I just had to follow that instinct.

What did you most enjoy about the project, and what were the biggest struggles?

The joy I experienced from this project is many – challenges I set for myself to tell each subject in four pages or less was at the top. It was also the biggest hurdle because the details of each story in this book are so much more than what I was able to portray in such limited space.

How did you approach the project… what was your starting point?

The very first story I worked on was the one called ‘Box’. I was in pain in many ways and I needed an outlet to express and process it and the result was Box. This story set the precedent for the rest of the book; the fact that it’s four pages and talks about very difficult memories from my life.

Did you show your work-in-progress to many people for feedback, or did you prefer to mostly go it alone?

I shared parts of it with trusted friends, yes. And then there are people I shared the whole thing with who guided and supported me – they are my husband Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Michael Bendis, and David Walker. I am eternally in their debt… except for my kidney. Stop asking me, Brian.

Were there any particular influences on this project, either from the world of comics or from other art-forms?

I always say this to questions like these – practically everything in life is my influence. I cannot imagine that I had no influence when I was working on it but I also didn’t have any particular thing in mind, either.

How did you create the artwork for the book, what tools did you use?

With age and Multiple Sclerosis, I reluctantly integrated digital art into my practice. Until one day, it’s one hundred percent digital. It’s much easier on my body and energy level this way. So, I created Sleeping While Standing using my lovely Wacom.

Did you learn anything from making this book?

I processed traumas while working on this book in a way I never imagined. Nothing will replace therapy with a psychologist, but this was the icing to mending scars. I learned that you can’t undo what’s been, but I can live with them if I continue to work on them.

And finally we asked Taki to fill in one of our Creator Profile questionnaires!
Here’s more about Taki:

To find out more about this book and the other upcoming titles we’re raising money for, visit our Kickstarter page.