August 12, 2019

Mary Shyne ’18 is a comics artist and publishing professional now working at the Peanuts Studio as Staff Artist/Approvals. If you are headed to SPX, she will have copies of her comic Get Over It. It’s about a delivery cyclist who stumbles onto a lab practicing an experimental form of therapy. Instead of couch talk, the lab transforms a patient’s emotions into a monster then, with a special glove, defeats the monster. You can find Mary on Instagram (myrtlewilloughby ) or on Twitter (mshyne). Mary gave this interview with Angela Boyle ′16.

Who was your thesis advisor and why did you pick them? How was your mentee experience? 

For my first semester, Meredith Gran was my thesis advisor. I basically grew up alongside the crew of her comic Octopus Pie while I was a twenty-something in Brooklyn, so it was a tremendous honor to get her feedback on my work. Unfortunately, Meredith couldn’t advise me through second semester—so in January of my thesis year, CCS’s own Jon Chad stepped in at my request. I’ve always loved his artistic approach to action comics and book production, I knew he, too, had a deep appreciation of shonen manga, and I knew he’d implicitly understand what I was going for in Get Over It. (He has a comic named Bikeman, after all!!) He’s continued to be a fabulous mentor and friend, even past graduation, and I can’t thank him enough. I still use the TIF file of speed lines he gave me to this day!

What are your responsibilities as a staff artist at Peanuts Studio? 

Our mission at the studio is one of stewardship—we’re charged with keeping Schulz’s artistic legacy alive, and as a staff artist, that means creating new art that reflects the spirit of the strip and the quality of Schulz’s lineart. (Also, to answer the question I’ve been asked most: no, we’re not drawing any new strips! But there’s fifty years of great comics that Schulz gave the world for any new reader to explore, so I encourage y’all to dive in.) I also work closely on new animated content, which involves a lot of story and character/prop design work, making sure the way Schulz drew things and conceived of a narrative is carried forward into new content.

What are your responsibilities for approvals at Peanuts Studio? 

I make sure the art that goes onto product isn’t altered in any way and is used appropriately. It’s pretty rad to be able to work with big name brands making the merch I’d want to buy!

How do you balance your work at Peanuts with your personal work, such as Get Over It? 

Burning the candle at both ends, as ever! I work 8 hours at the studio and then come home and put in 3 hours at the drafting table. It’s not ideal, energy-wise, but it frees me from having to think about my artwork as something that needs to generate capital. I did a similar thing before I went to CCS when I lived in New York, working 8 hours doing digital production at a major publisher then putting in 3 hours at my studio at the late DIY venue Silent Barn. I guess I’ve built up a muscle for it overtime. It’s a little easier now that my day job is at the studio, because all of my coworkers do a similar thing with their artwork and understand the grind. Plus I work on art all day, so by the time I’m sitting at my own drafting table, my muscle is PRIMED.

Do you see an endpoint for Get Over It? Do you have other personal projects you are working on? 

I actually initially wrote Get Over It to be self-contained, but three months ago, I rewrote the last 3 pages to leave it open-ended. So much about Get Over It was about drawing New York City and working through the complicated feelings I had for the city, I thought that once I settled into my new post–New York, post-CCS city, I’d be done with the story as a whole. But then I started driving around San Francisco . . . and DANG, does it make me wanna draw backgrounds! I’d love to draw an action comic (especially a bike one!) on these slanty streets. So now I’m sort of cooking up a sequel, but I’m also just giving myself time to have a normal life. I guess you could say I’m working on the personal project of . . . ~*~LIFE~*~.