Liz Prince: Lizes aren’t made: they’re born.  This is a one time deal, right here.

But if one wanted to try to emulate my awes-nificence, they could probably get close by drinking a lot of coffee and damaging their brains with pop punk.  Mix with a penchant for riding a bike even though it makes you smell really bad and you’re more than halfway there, I’d say.

Liz: Comics definitely came first: my first comic book was when I was 8 or 9, it was an Olympic themed issue of Uncle Scrooge that I got at the supermarket when I was visiting my Grandparents in Las Vegas, and I think I might have made us go back the next day just so that I could get more.  I read a lot of Disney books when I was younger; when Disney Adventures magazine printed the first issue of Bone in a 3 parts, I started to branch out find Independent comics that were shelved with Bone at the comic book store.  Things like Milk & Cheese and even some underground comics like Zap.  I was probably too young to read those kinds of books, but my dad wrote me a note that said he didn’t care if I bought them, so the comic book store sold them to me.

Haha, that rules! What a cool dad.  I love Milk & Cheese (the comic, not the food).  I even had a Milk & Cheese shirt at one point.  What about your love for punk, how did that come about?

Liz: At the time I think my favourite band was probably They Might Be Giants, which is kind of punk, but not really.  I didn’t really get into punk music in a way that defined me until Green Day released Dookie.  Although my Dad was a stereophile and a music reviewer, I didn’t really pay attention to music in a serious way, but after I saw the video for Basket Case at my friend’s house when her older brother was watching MTV.

Liz: I definitely prefer comic conventions; meeting fans and other artists, and getting to see my friends who draw comics, it’s where I feel the most at home, even though most of the time the conventions are in a city I don’t live in.  I’m actually not too fond of Music fests, I prefer single shows.  I don’t know if I even really like going to shows that much anymore unless it’s a band I’m really interested in seeing: a show used to be a big social event for me, but that’s fallen out of favor, because I realized that I’d rather hang out with my friends in a venue where we can have conversations without having to shout over a band that’s playing.  Yeah, that’s right, I guess I’m officially OLD.

So I will admit that it’s a little antithetical that I have traveled so much in the last year to see bands: I went to Chicago last January to see the Riverdales, in May I went to Chaos in Tejas, mostly to see Marked Men and hang out with some friends who live in Austin, I went back to Austin to see Descendents in November, and in December I went to Jersey to see one of the Ergs! reunion shows.  Last month I traveled to Philly to see Good Luck, and ended up going to DC to see them again the next night.  I haven’t been to a show in Boston since… November maybe?  But tonight I’m going to see Night Birds and Government Warning.  I’m not a total shut-in over here.

Liz: Yes. All of the time, both in the Boston area (where I live) and in other cities. When I was in Austin last November to see Descendents at Fun Fun Fun Fest, I was at a bar, and a girl came up to me and asked if I was Liz Prince, and she told me that she had to look me up on Google Images to be sure.  She ended up going home and getting my books so I could sign them for her, and in return she bought me 4 shots of whiskey, so it was a pretty good encounter.  Around x-mas I was in a store and I used my credit card to buy something, and the girl at register had a little freak out session when she recognized my name: I was hoping she’d give me a discount, but it didn’t happen.  I’ve been stopped on the street a lot, and when I draw in my favorite coffee shop I am recognized a good amount.

I’m usually surprised when I get recognized, because I don’t think my drawing of myself looks THAT much like me, and I myself am horrible at recognizing noteworthy people: a month ago I was in Brooklyn at a pizza place with some friends, and the actor Justin Theroux ended up being at the table next to ours.  I wouldn’t have noticed, but my friend Zac pointed it out, and I was plotting, if he ever walked by me, that I would stop him and ask if he was Justin Theroux, and if he said “yes” I would just look back down at my food and give an unenthused “cool” and if he said “no” I do the same thing but say “too bad”.  He never walked by, so I guess I’ll have to use that on some other celebrity, if I’m ever in the same room as one again.

Liz: This could be a retardedly long list, so I’ll just say ones that I think it could fit for:

Lemuria
the Copyrights
House Boat
the Creeps
Mean Jeans

If the Parasites put out a new record I would shit my pants if I got to do art for it.

Basically, if you’re in a band and you think you fit in with my musical tastes, I would most likely be totally stoked to do art for you.

Liz: I was pretty surprised when I went  to the Small Press Expo last year and I got a lot people being concerned that I hadn’t had a new If You Make It comic for a month or so: I didn’t realize that a lot of COMICS fans followed those, as opposed to just people who either found out about the strips through my website/twitter/facebook/what have you, or people who just check out IYMI regularly.  Unfortunately, I’ve had to take a break from drawing an IYMI strip for the last month or so, because I had a lot of other anthology/freelance deadlines at the beginning of the year.  And now that it’s almost March and the spring convention season is starting again, it might be another month or so before I return to IYMI.

I am considering going to Chaos again this year, even though I’m not such a music fest fan, and as far as music fests go, Chaos is mostly out of my area of interest, but Marked Men are playing again, and Dillinger Four will be there, F.Y.P. is playing a reunion show, and I just like having excuses to go to Austin.  Two of my best friends live there, and the food is amazing, there are cool places to go swimming, and I heard a new pinball arcade opened up, so what’s not to love?

Liz: The 3rd issue of I Swallowed the Key to My Heart should be out by May or June, and hopefully the 4th will be out in the Fall.  I will have stories in a few anthologies, including the 12th issue of Not My Small Diary. I’m also going to put together an ALONE FOREVER collection, because so many people have demanded it, and I might do a reprint of my highschool comics collection I Was a Teenage Comic Nerd.  I also made a set of 4 buttons that I will have a conventions and in my webstore.

Liz: If you’re considering writing me an email based on my ALONE FOREVER series about how you think I should get into the dating game, please chop your hands off before you push send and make me really angry.  Thanks.

*To keep on on the exploits of Liz Prince, all of her blog posts, comics, and links to various social networks can be found on her website Liz Prince Power.*