Writing, for me, is very inspiration-dependent. And inspiration can be a jerk.

For 'Boxers and Saints', the tension between Eastern and Western ways of thinking was very personal for me, and I needed to control every aspect.

This is a profession for me, but I started off as a self-publisher working on my own schedule and my own stuff before moving on to graphic novels with First Second Books, where there was definitely a schedule, but it was very different from monthly comics.

If I'm writing about a modern-day suburb, there's going to be details of the home and furniture, and if I'm writing about a historical period, those details, those pieces of the world are going to be there as well, but they'll be simplified, because I'm cartooning it.

Creativity requires input, and that's what research is. You're gathering material with which to build.

My first job was as a programmer. So I feel like I'm familiar with the information technology sector and the information technology culture.