ASIA MILLER reveals what happens when LINDSEY CHENG DATES A WHITE BOY!!!

Asia Miller sits down with Interviews Editor, Andrew Irvin, to discuss their graphic novel, Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!!, coming out May 5th from Andrews McMeel.

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COMIC BOOK YETI: Asia, welcome to the Yeti Cave! Your publisher says you’re based out of Chengdu at the moment – how is everything going over there? (My daughters visited a friend on their first solo international trip last year and loved it!)

ASIA MILLER: Hi! Thanks so much for having me. I had an apartment in Chengdu for seven months, but now I’m actually back in the US for my book tour. I’m a bit biased, but I do think Chengdu is one of the best cities in the world. I’m glad your daughter had a good time there! 

CBY: So let’s start with the inspiration of Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!!. What can you tell us about the mix of hapless white boys with poor communication skills and limited perception of their own intersectional privilege that went into the making of this graphic novel? When did this journey begin, and how has it evolved since it started?

AM: Haha, so the original comic was made for Shortbox Comic Fair in 2024. The idea had come to me when I started brainstorming around December 2023. I had been really obsessed with the Scott Pilgrim comics my junior year of college, so there was that latent pool of knowledge to draw from. I was inspired by the one scene where Knives Chau said, “I didn’t even know there was good music until two months ago!”  I also had recently watched Noah Baumbach’s Kicking and Screaming, and wanted to make something with a similar self-awareness towards the pretensions of college boys, but from a female perspective. Besides that, a lot of the story is a mix of experiences both I and my friends have gone through and messages I wish I could beam into the brain of my younger self.

CBY: Kicking and Screaming is a fantastic examination of male immaturity, so now that you mention it, the evocation is clear. While still expressive and playful, you’ve stepped in a slightly more human-scaled style for this story compared to Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist. Noting the overarching thematic and situational nods to Scott Pilgrim you've mentioned, what other narrative and creative influences have you drawn upon in creating this title? What are the core inspirations from your childhood, and what have you consciously put into the mix with this title that distinguishes it from your other work?

AM: I’m eternally tonally inspired by the 2006 Ouran High School Host Club anime, it’s been my favorite since I was a teenager and I re-watch it every year. Pacing wise, I looked a lot at Sex and the City episode structures to figure out how to fit a whole relationship into a relatively short graphic novel. I made the original Shortbox version of the comic in three months (May-July), so I was trying to be as economical as possible. I also grew up with things like Dear Dork Diaries and Chibi Maruko-Chan, which I feel like influenced my cartooning. 

CBY: Aha! My daughters went in cosplay as the twins from Ouran High School Host Club last year. I can certainly see where you draw upon both illustration styles in your work. While you’re the sole creator, both writing and illustrating the entirety of your graphic novel, Amanda Meadows is credited as Editor, Julie Barns as Art Director/Designer, Jennifer Straub as Production Editor, and Jeff Preuss as Production Manager. Can you share a bit about how you pulled your production team together after meeting Amanda at the Shortbox Comic Fair, and the sort of support they provided? You mention in acknowledgements various supporters for their respective roles in bringing Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!! to life - is there anyone else you’d like to mention who plays a supporting role in your creative process?  

AM: So Shortbox Comic Fair is actually a digital comic fair that takes place over the course of one month, run by Zainab Akhtar. As a participant, you basically have to just make a 15+ page comic for the event that is available for digital purchase on the Shortbox site for one month. Amanda had bought a PDF of ‘Lindsey Cheng’ and reached out to me about pitching to her higher ups about putting out a physical version through AMP (Andrews McMeel Publishing). It took a few months to finalize things, and Amanda encouraged me to find an agent. It was actually harder than I expected, despite the existing book offer, since a lot of agencies thought I was too “indie” or didn’t have enough illustration in my portfolio. I was so close to giving up and just hiring a lawyer to look at the contract or something, but then my agent, Wendi Gu at HG Literary, emailed me implying that my original query to her didn’t go through properly. That’s how we ended up working together, and it’s been really great.

Agents help you negotiate contracts and develop pitches for future projects. It made all the trouble I was going through finding an agency feel like fate, haha. After that, I mainly talked to Amanda about editorial stuff (making the bonus chapters, coloring the pages, etc), and now I’m working with Kat Anstine, a marketing specialist at AMP, for book release stuff. It’s cool to feel like the people I’m working with respect my vision so much, I really appreciate my situation. I also was just so psyched that this book was happening that I was thanking everyone I knew in my acknowledgements, lol. I don’t think there’s anyone I left out. I basically made the comic over the summer after I graduated college. I was subletting at a friend’s place, and it was fun to sit around together drinking wine and thinking about what band shirts Jason should wear.

CBY: Having people who both appreciate your work and hold a vested interest in seeing you succeed must be very encouraging. On the note of band shirts, I love the array of visual Easter eggs you’ve included, from the Modelo bottlecap to Jason’s American Football t-shirt, to Lindsey carrying a Kusama-inspired polka dot pumpkin tote. I (as a former white boy) own three t-shirts, all from Midwest emo bands, and my wife (decidedly not-white) owns that specific tote, so this hits very close to home. (She picked it up at Kusama’s recent National Gallery show here in Melbourne, and I had a great time chatting with Simon Elliott about his graphic biography on her life). How did you land on the specific personal signifiers that happen to carry such evidently strong cultural connotations?

AM: I love details! I draw in a pretty simple style, so it’s exciting to slip something specific in and hope people recognize it. I’m always writing down little things I see in real life that I feel like could become good symbolic character traits or plot points. Your wife has good taste, because I also had the same Kusama tote in high school. I got it at an exhibit in DC. Lindsey’s tote was partially inspired by my own, but I wanted it to be emblematic of her character in a grander sense too. She’s very drawn to bright patterns and colors. The story is specifically set in the 2010s, too, so there’s an implication that she has exposure to things like the Art Hoe movement and FRUiTS magazine through (relatively) female-friendly internet spaces like Tumblr and Pinterest. I wanted her whole style to be “trying to look like the cool FRUiTS magazine girls on Tumblr photosets via the Goodwill bins of her East Coast college town” all on top of remnant pieces from her childhood closet.

CBY: That is a very specific look to encapsulate, but for those who check out the reference links above, I think it will be clear you stuck the landing. In your lettering, you deliver all of the dialogue from Lindsey’s mother first in Chinese, with English subtitles, which comes through clearly as a strong visual. What additional context does including the Hanzi allow you to deliver to readers that may go over the monolingual English reader’s head?

AM: To be honest… I just wanted her mom to talk to her in Chinese, lol. I put the Hanzi on top and English under it to imitate subtitles. I think, coming from an animation background, I imagine my comics as movies in my head. I wanted her mom to speak Chinese and Lindsey to flip back and forth depending on how exasperated she got in the conversation. I guess speaking Chinese became symbolic of Lindsey involving her mom in her life as the story went on. But honestly, it started off just because it was how I imagined the scene tonally. 

CBY: As an additional layer of connectivity between the two, I think it was incredibly effective. Tell me about the decision to depict the secondary characters as animals - how did that idea originate? I recognize it frees you from exploring racial dynamics outside of Jason and Lindsey’s relationship, but how did you decide which character would be drawn as which animal, and the expressive freedom it provides over human characterizations?

AM: I think cartoon animals are more fun to draw. I have to draw the same characters a lot in comics, it makes it more enjoyable when some of them are animals.

CBY: The only exception is Arlo’s girlfriend, Cordelia, who is also white, with a distinct Neopolitan ice cream-looking dye job, and seems to move like an apparition. Can you share a bit about Cordelia’s character, how she embodies “whiteness” differently absent the masculine dimension Jason brings, and how you view her in relation to Lindsey’s journey throughout the story? 

AM: Cordelia was meant to be this kind of ultimate older cool girl. She’s kinda ignorant–as seen in her first conversation with Lindsey–in a way I’m sure a lot of people can relate to experiencing. It’s not, like, overtly racist, but she’s mostly just listening to herself talk. Their initial conversation contributes to the theme of Lindsey not feeling an immediate sense of belonging amongst Jason’s crew. But at the same time, Cordelia’s a girl’s girl in a loving relationship, who challenges Lindsey’s naive admiration of Jason. Initially, I wanted her to be a kind of “cool girlfriend” archetype, like what Lindsey thinks she supposed to aspire to be, but I didn’t want her to be flat or lack agency. She clearly isn’t into all of Arlo’s friends, but she still shows up because she loves him, but also has her own stuff going on. I also thought it would be funny to give Arlo a hot girlfriend, since he’s a strange little anteater with peach fuzz. It’s gap moe. 

CBY: Yeah, Cordelia makes Arlo stand out even more, and the dichotomy reads as you intended. Beyond stylistic decisions, can you share a bit about your illustration techniques? What material and equipment are you working with, and what goes into your process of bringing a completed page into the world?

AM: I work from loose thumbnails straight to final lines, which helps me stay creative in character poses and panel composition. For professional stuff, I work off Procreate on my iPad, which is good for traveling and being able to go out and still get work done. I did do a 100+ page traditional comic for Shortbox last year called ‘Jubilee’, but if I wanna do that more professionally I need to find a more stable workspace. I've been wandering around a lot the past year. Maybe someday!

CBY: I think you've delivered a digital look that manages to capture a textured, bold quality. From the background I’ve read on the AMP and HG Literary sites, you’re working on a new graphic novel for young adults. Can you tell us a bit about how this title found its home, and what’s coming next in your new graphic novel?

AM: I think I accidentally already answered your first question up above. But as far as my new project goes—yes! It’s actually a middle grade GN called “Cosplay Famous”. It’s about cosplay, social media, and queerbaiting magical girl anime. It’s coming out through Stonefruit Studio in 2027. They’re a new imprint, but they’ve got lotsa cool stuff coming out soon with lotsa cool artists. I’m excited to be part of it!

CBY: Very exciting! This is also the first I've been clued in about Stonefruit, so a link has been included for our audience. To close, can you share any work unrelated to your own material that you’ve been enjoying lately? What other comics, films, music, art, etc. has been inspiring you or catching your attention?

AM: I’ve recently started getting into Stephen Chow movies. Though most of the time the fight scenes put me to sleep. I prefer seeing the martial arts in situational comedy. My favorite so far is Flirting Scholar. Being in Chengdu also got me more into techno/electronic music. I’ve been listening to ear a lot. They’ve got a very unique and intimate sound. 

CBY: Asia, it’s a delight to discuss Lindsey Cheng Dates a White Boy!!!, and it’s great to learn more about what went into bringing it to readers. Thanks for your closing recommendations, and if you have any other publication, portfolio, or social media links you’d like to share, please include anything you'd like below.

AM: Thank you so much for having me and for such insightful questions! You can find me on Instagram and YouTube, and on my portfolio site. I also coded a whole webpage for Lindsey Cheng if anyone wants to poke around there.

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