Note: Connor Szerjna is a Staff Artist for The Daily Campus.
With more ways to release graphic novels than ever thanks to various internet sites, more and more young artists and writers have taken advantage of this. Among those is University of Connecticut student Connor Szerjna.
Szerjna, a third-semester art major, recently completed a graphic novel called “What’s Going Andre?,” which was released on Nov. 15 on the website GlobalComix. The 35-page novel follows a day in the life of Andre, the percussionist of the band Jenny and the Animal Farm, as he tries to make it in time for rehearsal, featuring twists and turns throughout.
The vibrant art style of the novel comes from two of his main inspirations – Nickelodeon cartoons from the 1990s and comic strips. As he got into art and drawing growing up, he noted that the “imperfect styles” of comic strips resonated with him “because it sort of stepped away from this sleek sort of looking art form” that he saw in other places. From there, he soon gained an interest in graphic novels for its free-flowing approach.
“I realized that I had a lot more fun with this specific visual medium where can go panel to panel, you can be as creative as you want and you’re not confined to forcing a voice for your characters,” he said. “You leave it up to your readers on how your characters sound, and I really enjoy that aspect because the characters I create can be anything anyone wants them to be.”
The novel was an independently-produced project by Szerjna, noting that he likes giving himself projects with specific timelines to give him something to focus on during his free time and continue to perfect his artistic craft.
The process for “What’s Going Andre?” began in early August by coming up with a story that could capture the energy and personalities of the character ideas he had. He said that one of the biggest challenges was giving these characters depth “so they’re not just pale imitations of the feelings or the personality traits they have.”
He was particularly drawn to creating a character and storyline that those with anxiety could relate to, which turned into Andre rushing to band practice. This storyline also allowed itself for engaging visuals.
“The anxious personality [of Andre] was one I knew I could stretch very animated and cartoony, and it gave me the opportunity to be more expressive with my character displays and the faces,” he said. “And I realized doing this could give some people who have anxious tendencies someone they can resonate with.”
Once the story, the characters and designs were fleshed out, he began writing the script, detailing what would be happening in each panel. Szerjna said that he enjoyed this part of the process the most.
“When I’m sitting at the computer and one of the panels is ‘Andre gets a letter in the mail and it shocks him,’ I immediately start thinking of all the different facial expressions [I could draw],” he said. “And that gets me so excited because I’m thinking ‘I could take this any direction.”
After sketching the panels, the longest part of the process that featured plenty of trial and error, Szerjna sought an online medium to publish his work. He specifically wanted it online after print copies from a previous project he worked on came back with multiple errors. The application process to GlobalComix was simple, asking some questions about the novel, and it was easily published.
Szerjna said that he’s feeling accomplished now that the novel is released and that he met the dates he set for himself to complete it. He’s already started working on follow-up projects to “What’s Going Andre?” with a focus on the novel’s other characters.