Shutesbury girl, 10, creates own world in comics

By MACKENZIE ISSLER The Recorder

Published on November 09, 2007

SHUTESBURY - Ten-year-old Alexa Kitchen had a brilliant idea for a drawing.

All she needed was a piece of white paper and her trusty black pen - but there was one small problem.

Alexa was sitting in the middle of her fifth-grade class at Shutesbury Elementary School.

Sometimes she doodles on the edge of her paper, but to make sure her idea would not be forgotten, she scribbled a few words and a sketch on one of her pink and white tennis shoes.

That way it was out of sight - but definitely not out of mind.

Alexa has been drawing comics since she was a toddler - and her artwork, full of emotions and detail, has brought her recognition.

"She has been drawing since she could hold a pen," said Alexa's mother, Stacey, as she sat recently in an armchair in their home tucked in the woods of Shutesbury.

"She took to this like other children take to video games and sports."

Alexa made her public debut at the 2004 Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art book fair in New York City, where she sat at the end of table with her own little section. There she made a sign to sell her sketches - $2 for regular, and $5 for "fancy" ones.

"They were so popular with the attendees and professionals that it was quoted in Publishers Weekly that she was the talk of the show,'" said Stacey.

Stacey said her daughter's work has been published since she was 5 years old, but that her first "real" book is "Drawing Comics is Easy! (Except when it's Hard)," which was made to teach her classmates how to create comics.

Alexa was nominated in 2007 for both a Harvey Award ("Best New Talent") and an Eisner Award ("Best Publication for a Younger Audience") for the book - she was the youngest nominee in each award's history.

Her work has been praised by professionals such as Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman, Mark Schultz and R. Crumb.

Her newest published work is her postcard book "Kidding Around" with funny comics she drew when she was 8 and 9 years old.

Her comics are by no means just a series of random drawings - they fuse both her detailed artwork and creative text.

She is certainly telling a story.

Alexa said sometimes she does wordless comics - "when you let the picture do the talking."

How did she get started? "I just kind of taught myself," said Alexa, as she worked on another drawing on one recent late afternoon.

Her work space of choice is the large, low coffee table in the living room.

Scattered across its top were stacks of plain paper, comics-in-the-works, her favorite black pens, scissors and staplers.

"I almost always use a black Uniball (pen)," she said with her dependable tool in hand, ready to draw some more.

Most of her work is black and white line art.

What inspires her? "Just whatever pops into my mind," said Alexa.

One of Alexa's comics in her book of postcards is "Life is Unfair, Part Two."

The one panel comic showed an island with a mall, restaurant, casino and museum - and another island with a stranded man with a thought balloon thinking "damn."

Alexa, explaining the comic, started talking a little faster to explain herself - that this is the only time she has ever used a "swear" word in her comics.

"If I were stuck on an island, that's what I'd say," she said. "At least if my mother wasn't around."

It was just the perfect word for the situation.

Drop everything

"When I want to draw, I draw," said Alexa.

Stacey explained this is no stretch from the truth.

Stacey said the family traveled to San Diego when Alexa was 6 for a comic convention.

Alexa's father, Denis, originally started his career as a cartoonist and then became a publisher.

While Denis was busy at the convention, the mother and daughter went off to have some fun of their own at the zoo.

They weren't even half way through the zoo when Alexa pronounced, "Mom, we have to leave."

She said she had an idea for a drawing and they had to go or her mom had to buy her a notepad for her to draw in at the zoo.

Stacey said she had purposely left all of Alexa's drawing materials back at the hotel so her daughter would enjoy the zoo and all the animals.

Alexa got very upset and they had to leave and went back to their hotel room.

"She sat happy as a clam drawing for hours in the hotel room," she said with a smile.

"I just get a lot of pleasure out of drawing comics ... it is kind of hard to explain," said Alexa.

The early' years

Alexa learned to read at 4 years old - pretty much on her own, according to Stacey.

Stacey said she and Denis noticed their daughter's new ability while reading bedtime books to her.

Sometimes, she said, they would skip over words and sections to get her to bed early.

It was when she started pointing out that she'd caught on to their little trick that her parents knew their 4-year-old knew how to read.

From then on, Alexa's love for reading and language grew.

Stacey said she was - and still is - continually asking her parents what words mean and how to use them.

Alexa has grown up surrounded by comics, a library of books on the subject and art on the walls - and to an outsider this may explain her love for drawing comics.

But Stacey explains that Denis has two grown children who grew up in the same surroundings and were never interested in a career in the comics industry.

"Why Alexa took to it is a mystery," she said.

Stacey came from a musical background, having both recorded original songs and performed on stage at the age of 6.

She said she was a paid performing vocalist in elementary school and that she "retired" at 23, having had enough of the pain the industry can cause.

"Having come from those experiences had made me very protective of Alexa," she added.

"I don't want those same kind of stressful expectations for her."

When it comes to the attention, Stacey said Alexa was excited about the nominations she received for her book, but other than that, she really isn't fazed by the extra attention.

"She's a shy, quiet girl who prefers not to let the outside craziness into her creative world," she said.

"If people like what she does, that's great. But her whole existence really is only about making her ideas come to life for her own satisfaction."

And, Alexa said comics might just remain a hobby of hers. In fact, she said she might want to be a lawyer when she grows up.

"I find all kinds of loopholes in (her parents') rules," she said with a huge grin.