Women In Comics Month: Interview with Kelly Fitzpatrick

In honor of Women in Comics this March, PREVIEWSworld talks with colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick!

PREVIEWSworld: Tell us a little bit about yourself! What are you currently working on?

Kelly Fitzpatrick: I’m currently working on Dark Engine, Peter Panzerfaust (Image); Neverboy, Veda (Dark Horse); and The Shield and The Black Hood (Archie) alongside some work I can’t talk about yet. 

PREVIEWSworld: How long have you been working with sequential art? What titles, companies, and creators have you worked with over your time in comics?

Kelly Fitzpatrick: I’m pretty new in the industry. I’ve only been working in comics since January of 2013 and coloring full time since March of 2014. I started off flatting and then assisting Jordie Bellaire, who taught me the majority of what I know in coloring comics. My first couple of jobs were with BOOM! coloring Deceivers, Cimarronin, and two issues of Suicide Risk. From there, I started working with Tyler Jenkins and Kurtis Weibe on Peter Panzerfaust—which led me to working on an issue of Rat Queens with Tess Fowler and working on The Chaining with Tyler at Dark Horse Presents. Some time during all of this, I got to work on Ash and the Army of Darkness, Ash Gets Hitched, and an Army of Darkness annual for Dynamite. I just finished working on Terminal Hero for Dynamite too.

PREVIEWSworld: Did you have a mentor or hero in the industry that inspired you to pursue a career in comics?

Kelly Fitzpatrick: I’ve always wanted to pursue comics since I was little and watching the 90’s cartoons of Batman, Spiderman, and X-men. I got discouraged and really doubted myself that I could ever pursue it when I finished college in 2010 after hearing hundreds of “no’s” when looking for a job in illustration. It took a couple years of working a dead end job in another country for me to realize I wasn’t doing what I always wanted to be doing and around that time, Jordie was looking for help. I applied for a job with her and quit my stable teaching job at the time and moved back to America without knowing if I had gotten it or not. I had already made my mind up at that point that I was going to do what I loved no matter what. Luckily, I got the job and with some hard work, things took off from there. 

PREVIEWSworld: In your opinion, how has the comic book industry evolved in terms of gender?

Kelly Fitzpatrick: I think in the last couple years gender representation has gotten significantly better. Writers like Kelly Sue DeConnick, Gail Simone, Becky Cloonan, Kate Leth, and G. Willow Wilson have really helped in diversifying comics from a writing standpoint. I wish I had books like the current Batgirl and Ms. Marvel around when I was young. That’s why I gravitated towards shoujo manga (Japanese comics geared towards women) because there wasn’t anything like that growing up that was western. Image comics has also really helped by publishing books that crush gender roles and stereotypes like Bitch Planet and Rat Queens. There’s work to be done, but it’s definitely an exciting time in comics.

PREVIEWSworld: What stereotypes do you see surrounding women in comics? How could people of all genders go about breaking those stereotypes?

Kelly Fitzpatrick: The biggest stereotype is, unfortunately, still that women don’t read comics or that super hero comics don’t appeal to women. Women are under-represented in both creating comics and on the pages of comics. I learned at a young age to identify with Batman (a lead male protagonist) because I didn’t really see myself reflected in any of the other characters that were female. The female characters were often side characters and were so unrealistically female to me they might as well have been alien (and some were). As a culture, we don’t ask that of boys—to identify with lead female protagonists. We discourage it because it is thought of identifying with a lower status. So how do we change a culture of gender stereotypes? It’s a really complicated question, but I would say the easiest answer would be to challenge ourselves daily. Talk to people from different backgrounds, cultures, etc. to get a better balanced perception. I think this is something everyone can work on—even myself.

PREVIEWSworld: How do you want to see women represented in comic books 10 years from now?

Kelly Fitzpatrick: I’d love to see more women on the pages of comics and working behind the scenes of comics! I’d love to see the day when there is no need to talk about gender in comics at all.

PREVIEWSworld: If you could give advice to any aspiring editors, executives, writers, or artists, what would you tell them?

Kelly Fitzpatrick: Make things. Do things. I’ve met so many talented people who get discouraged and give up before they really try. If you want to draw in comics, make comics and talk to people currently drawing comics. If you want to color comics, color sample pages and talk to comic colorists currently coloring comics. Same goes for writing. Just create! Go to conventions and talk to people. Use twitter also! Twitter is great for talking to people in the industry. Everyone has twitter.

PREVIEWSworld: And lastly, are there any up-and-coming women creators who you would recommend readers check out?

Kelly Fitzpatrick: I hate to use that expression. I feel like I’m "up-and-coming" because I haven’t been working in the industry very long. Some of the people I’m listing have been working longer than I have, but are all super, super talented and deserve to making loads of money and for people to be yelling their names off their rooftops! So please go support Ruth Redmond, Marissa Louise, Tamra Bonvillain, Paulina and Savanna Ganucheau, Taneka Stotts, Vanessa Del Rey, Emi Lenox, and Megan Wilson. There are so many talented women out there that are already really established and well-known that I hope you support too!

Check out more Women In Comics Month interviews in our special section on PREVIEWSworld!