They say you never forget your first
love. Seemingly, it is the same in the case of your first comic book published:
Julio Videras
(Granada, 1976) remembers his experience with Cornelia, as well as he takes a close look at the
question of gender roles, the comic universe, creator’s frustration, and the
unexpected paths to real love.
SPANISH GAY FICTION: On the dedication page, you say that it was the illustrator
Lydia Sánchez the one who created the character of Cornelia. Then, how did you
get to this project?
JULIO VIDERAS: Indeed, the authorship
of the character of Cornelia is Lydia’s. While checking out her blog those days
I found several designs of the character, and suddenly my brain clicked into gear.
I had the image, I had the concept. . .then I just had to build up the narrative.
SGF: Cornelia was published in
2008, the year of the global economic crisis outburst. The protagonist is a 22-year-old
student living in an apartment shared with three other people, as she can’t
hardly make ends meet with two underpaid jobs. . .Were you expecting the
catastrophe drawing near back then?
JV: Well, to be honest I think
not [Laughs.] At that time I had a
job, and I was a young guy full of many hopes and dreams. However, my college
days—shitty jobs, roommates—were still fresh in my mind.
SGF: What did Cornelia mean in
your career in the comic world?
JV: It was my first published
work and as such, I love it and hate it in equal measure. Except some reviews of
the time, the comic book passed unnoticed. However, the people who bet on Cornelia feel affection for it. It was
hard in my case, as a series of last-minute changes beyond my control forced me
to rewrite the script, especially the final section. I have to say that I have
never been very happy with that ending, and I have always dreamed of making a 2.0
version where the story was much more perfect but—C’est la vie.
SGF: What about the LGBT community’s opinions about Cornelia?
JV: Well, the truth is that I
do not know. A lesbian friend loved the story, and she especially liked the
natural way in which a lesbian relationship is portrayed. For me, writing a
story with so many female characters and so much emotional burden was a true
challenge.
SGF: And personally, what does Cornelia
mean to you? Does it differ much from your other works?
JV: No doubt Cornelia stands out in my catalog.
Perhaps it is my least-remembered work for the main audience. But, despite the flaws,
it is undoubtedly the most important for me, since it was the first one that I
published; also because of the subject I was dealing with, and, above all, I proved
to myself that I could produce stories that could reach an unusual audience in
the comic book universe.
SGF: If there is something remarkable in Cornelia, it is precisely the lightness of its plot. Did you worry
that this seeming insignificance could
go against the result? After ten years since its publication, would you make
any change on the script?
JV: Actually, the story
practically wrote itself. Many people have asked me if the end was planned from
the beginning, and it really was not. The point was basically describing a day
in the life of Cornelia, full of sorrows and lacking of joys, like a vital
snapshot. However, when I was approaching the end, the denouement seemed to be as
powerful as a kick straight into face; the story could only have one possible
ending. Well, as I have already mentioned, the original ending was different,
more developed. The final scene was really tender, and it worked as a final
moral: Love happens when you least expect it.
SGF: Is there any inspirational muse behind Cornelia?
JV: Well, even if it does not
seem like it, Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy[1] was a great inspiration for Cornelia.
SGF: Your descriptions on the usual customers in a comic book shop are
really funny. What is your opinion about people who are into comics?
JV: Next question [Laughs.] Of course, a good scriptwriter
knows how to mix inventions and personal experiences in equal shares when producing
a story, and Cornelia is certainly
not an exception. I read comics myself, so I find comic readers wonderful and
interesting people. The best gatherings in which I have taken part have always
been about movies or comics.
SGF: Those characters are seen through the eyes of the protagonist. Do
you think that women see the world of comic books from a different perspective
than men? How responsible are comic book authors in that difference?
JV: Although the trend is
changing, the comic universe is still mostly for guys. The reason? Well, I guess the same happens in the movies:
both genders have different perceptions, sensibilities and curiosities. In my
case, I never tried to make Cornelia a
story for women; I just wanted to
tell a story about human relationships with all its implications. Doing this
from the perspective of a female character has been one of the most difficult
challenges in my career as a comic writer.
SGF: Regarding the female viewpoint, this comic follows the chick-lit pattern.
Being a man, was it difficult to approach this genre? As for the readers’
response, has any woman told you that it looks like a comic written by a woman
or, on the contrary, they tell you that it is obvious that there is a man
behind the script?
JV: As a matter of fact it was
a real challenge, but in general I was satisfied with the result. When you
write a slow-paced story like this,
the script works in a very different way; these stories are much more sustained
on the content than the form. Dialogues are as important as silent panels; you
must seek affinity with the reader, touching those feelings deep inside us all.
Like Cornelia, we all have suffered anguish, disappointment, and the weight of
the world on our shoulders; we all have cried sometimes because of unrequited
love, or we have asked ourselves the reason of many things happening to us. Basically,
Cornelia is nothing else but the
story of someone who, in the chaos of everyday life, finds happiness where she
least expects it. Some female readers have told me that this story is too sensitive to be written by a man [Laughs.]
SGF: Regarding the ending, why did you decide to make Cornelia turn
homosexual? Do you agree with Rocío when she says that “if people cared to look
for love only (no matter the question of gender), the world would be a much
more beautiful place”? Have you applied this philosophy in real life?
JV: As I have already
mentioned, the story led me to that ending on its own. To be honest, today I could
not imagine another possible ending now. And I absolutely agree on Rocío’s theory.
I feel my answer below is perfect to answer this question too [Laughs.]
SGF: Among your dedications there is someone that you describe as your future wife. In the comic, Salva
fatefully runs into his ex, who left him for another guy just a few days before
they were to get married. Were you expressing your fears at that moment?
JV: Well, I can say that my future wife ended up becoming my current wife [Laughs.] And to everyone’s relief, I did it willingly and consciously.
SGF: How similar is Salva to you? You describe him as a huge fan of
comics, roleplaying, horror movies and Italian food—
JV: Not much—except that I am
a huge fan of comics, roleplaying, horror movies and Italian food [Laughs.]
SGF: Cornelia was Lydia
Sánchez’s first published comic also. What is your opinion about her work? Considering
that you have worked with male and female artists, would you highlight any
difference between both sexes in the work process as well as the result?
JV: Lydia put her heart and soul
into every single page, and we both suffered a lot to push this project
forward. In point of fact, I have been disconnected from the professional world
of comic books for a few years now and, except that I have come across her in
some conventions in Barcelona, I have not followed her career very closely. I have
truly taken a look to some of her later works, but I would be lying if I said
that I know what she is currently involved in. Well, the only female
illustrator that I have ever worked with is Lydia, so I do not have much
experience about it either. However, I am sure that this story would have been
very different had the illustrator been a man.
SGF: Did you and Lydia Sánchez ponder over continuing Cornelia’s story
in later comics?
JV: I think that we only dreamed
of publishing our first work at all costs at that time. I really do not
remember if we ever talked about it; each one started with other projects, and
our professional paths did not cross again.
SGF: What are your most immediate projects?
JV: Right now I am retired, though I threaten to return—
[1] Cornelia shares with this touching 1997 American movie (Quentin Tarantino claimed
that this was his favorite film that year) a casual way in storytelling, as well as a thought-provoking standpoint
in the question of gender roles in romantic relationships. Note that both this
Spanish comic book and Mr. Smith’s film depict lesbian characters created by
male straight writers. Additionally, Chasing
Amy is set in the American indie comic world, and Kevin Smith is a comic
book writer himself.
