Even though Esther Pearl Watson's comic Unlovable is exposed to 80,000 readers in the bimonthly feminist magazine Bust (the former stomping ground of Eisner-Award-nominee Ellen Forney), her work is virtually unknown in comic shops, save for her self-published minis and her contributions to The Best American Comics 2006 and Blab! anthologies. 
While teaching, exhibiting in fine-art galleries and drawing illustrations for clients such as Rolling Stone, Watson edited two books with Todd: The Pain Tree, a collection of poetry by teenagers that she and Todd illustrated, and more recently, Whatcha Mean, What's a Zine? a well-received how-to for young adults on how to create, print and distribute a zine. It included advice from heavyweights such as Eric Nakamura from Giant Robot and minicomics master Dan Zettwoch. "My husband and I really like creating works for this age group," explained Watson. "Most of our work is based off our growing-up years. I would have loved to have found these books in the library when I was 13." When queried about working professionally with her husband, Watson replied, "He knows my work very well, my motivations behind pieces, what sucks. Sometimes he can be too blunt or we are around each other too much (24 hours a day)." 
Watson's main body of cartooning work is (Tammy Pierce is) Unlovable. Loosely based on a teenager's diary she found in a gas-station bathroom in the mid-'90s (when asked how faithfully Unlovable followed the source material, Watson answered, "I love awkward moments and go on tangents, but some passages are pretty close"), she uses pen and ink on 8 1/2" x 11" paper to draw what very much looks like doodles in the margins of a high-schooler's notebook; unflattering'80s fashions and nose-picking are portrayed with equal affection. Watson chose to use this art style because in minicomics "I didn't want to think about rules. Also, I love primitive, self-taught, heta-uma, art brut, etc ... " She sent a copy of her first Unlovable minicomic to Bust, and was hired by editor Laurie Henzel: the sensibility of the cartoon, which details the sometimes ordinary, sometimes humiliating, often poignant and frequently hilarious exploits of underdog Tammy Pierce was a good match for the zine-gone-glossy that celebrates the Chubster Gang and Leslie Hall, the rapping gem-sweater lady. However, Watson had to adjust the format of the comic: her minis are one panel per page, but in Bust the strips appear as a nine-panel grid. Watson clarified, "I wanted to tell as much story in magazine page as possible, that's why there are nine panels. But I prefer not to use panels but page pacing to control timing and story. I sometimes create new stories for Bust, tell existing Unlovable mini stories or expand on existing stories. It all depends on my mood when making the comics for Bust." When it was observed that her transitions and layouts are influenced by her fine art and illustration work, she responded, "That's true. I think comics could use more people coming into the storytelling form from different backgrounds." Kristy Valenti currently works for The Comics Journal and Fantagraphics Books, Inc.
Uncharted Territory is © Kristy Valenti, 2008
