We had the opportunity to talk to Natacha Bustos during New York Comic Con this year. Bustos currently is the artist/penciler of Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur.



moon girl
Photo: NewYorkComicCon.com


Check out our conversation about her work life, all the melanin in Moon Girl and Latinx representation at Marvel.  



Blavity: So talk to us about how you started with Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur. What is the process of working with Marvel?



Natacha Bustos: The process with Marvel is we work together. Primarily, we work by email. We have a lot of communication and every opinion counts and that’s nice. Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder (the writers of Moon Girl) are doing a super great job with the script. When they have the script ready and it’s approved by Marvel, it comes to me and I read it carefully. And then I add things with my art. They are always open to my opinion and it’s very kind. It’s a great way of working.

Blavity: Let’s talk about your art and how you draw. One of the things I love about Moon Girl is that it’s so rich in color. There’s so many characters of color in Moon Girl, like Lunella and her classmates. And you see so many different types of melanin that pop out on the page. How did you learn to experiment with color?



NB: The thing that’s most important to me is that the people I see on the street appears in the comics too. Because sometimes I feel like [people that’s in the comics] are not exactly what you see in the street. I try to do more diverse persons in every panel that I can. It’s great with Lunella Lafayette, I love this character. I love working on her expressions and her relationship with the dinosaur. And because she’s a child, the expressions on her face, she has to have it. It’s good to draw her.



Blavity: Last question — America Chavez. It got announced that she will be getting her first #1 comic. Being a Latina, what would you like to see in the next 2-3 years in terms of Latinx representation at Marvel?



NB: I think Marvel is doing a great job now, and I think it will be growing year by year. And now I’m seeing more creators and more diverse creators, which is super great. We even have more women creators. I hope in maybe five or more years we will see all the panorama very different from now. It’s a signal that we’re growing and that there’s more progress. We all deserve to work in comics on the same level.   



Want more interviews like this? Sign up for Blavity’s daily newsletter!