This interview with Svetlana Chmakova took place at the Baltimore Comic Convention, the day after the Harvey Comic Awards.

Be sure to get your copy of Dramacon Volume 2 today!

Billy Aguiar: This is an interview with, Svel…svetleen

Svetlana Chmakova: …Svetlana

B: You know, I know how to pronounce it correctly; I just can’t do so when I am thinking about it.  Whenever I think that I must pronounce it correctly, my tongue doubles in length.  Let me just say, the creator of Dramacon, at the Baltimore Comic Convention, the day after the Harveys.  So what did you think of the Harveys?

S: It would have been nice to win that award!  Besides that, I loved it.  I have never been to an award ceremony before, and it was great.  I love Kyle Baker, and he was really the highlight of the Harveys.  Seriously, I have never seen him MC before.  Everyone was really funny.  I didn’t really know any of the books that won or didn’t win, so I just enjoyed people watching and talking to the people at my table. And the food was awesome.  Best cake ever.

B: My goodness, an award ceremony with decent food?

S: I keep on hearing banquet food is supposed to suck, and yeah, yesterday was pretty good.  The corn was a little weird, but…

B: It was probably fresh, that’s always a problem.

S: Ah, okay.  Yeah, it was good.

B: Then afterwards, was anybody else from TOKYOPOP here?

S: I would not know, I am pretty sure no one from the company was here.  They would have told me.  I don’t know about other artists, I think Pop Mahn was supposed to be here….

B: Yeah, he is

S: I haven’t had a chance to look around yet.

B He is far more better known, he has been working in the American comic industry for eight years, so…

S: More than me, 1, no 2, 2 and half.

B: But you didn’t find any, as one of the few manga creators there, everybody was cool with you there as compared to how it seems at times how manga and comic fans don’t get along.  Everyone treated you well, just as another creator…?

S: Well yes!  …But then again I never really mentioned that I do manga, so, they didn’t know.  But everyone was great, really nice people.

B: Let’s talk a little about your background.  You moved from Russia to Canada when you were 16, from what part of Russia were you originally from?

S: It’s a small town near Moscow called Dubna.  We moved when I turned 16.

B: So you were basically a Moscovite, one of those Central Russians, as compared to …

S:  We were in the Moscow region, but we were in Moscow all of five times for half a day at a time, so I don’t know if I count as a Moscovite or whatever.

B:  But your family moved to Canada when you were 16, was it your whole family, not just you..

S:  It was most of my family--my father, my mother, my younger sister.  My older sister stayed, she’s married and has a kid.

B: You guys came here for a job, new job or …?

S: My father did work for a company here, so they invited him to move with the whole family.