BY JOHN CARTER JR
(All Art Featured in this piece were created by G. H. S. T)
Autophobia is a webcomic created by the talented G. H. S. T, a webcomic artist who is developing very timely stories about the LGBTQ youth and mental health issues and awareness. Autophobia is “a coming of age comic about dorks falling in love.” The comic features Louis Beau, a highschool teenager exploring who he is, what he wants, and who he wants to love. He does this through the loveable Daniel York, a teenager who has a tendency to be awkward around his crush, Louis. Throughout the weekly releases of this story, character develops in a natural and beautiful way, the aesthetically pleasing art style benefits this completely. We had the opportunity to reach out to G. H. S. T. for an interview concerning the development of her work, in particular the webcomic Autophobia, and the effect it has had one her life.
JPCJ- When and how did the concept for Autophobia come into fruition?
G. H. S. T- It’s a bit funny, I initially, created the characters Louis and Daniel in the Sims 2 to play out a story about two boys who fall in love and play with all of the drama in their lives—it’s not the Sims unless there’s drama, haha. That was back in maybe 2009 (maybe even earlier, yikes!)—the comic officially started in July 2010. When I started the story, it was just a seed of an idea; it’s grown to be so much more. The more I worked with the characters and formed their personalities and of those around them, the story grew. It wasn’t until 2012 when I felt I had a solid framework for where I wanted the story to go and what all I wanted to convey. When I started the comic, it was honestly on a whim and I remember thinking “well, let’s see where this goes!” I never imagined I’d actually get this far!
JPCJ- Where do Louis and Daniel get their inspiration from?
G. H. S. T- This is a hard question to answer—I’m not really sure! There are aspects of their characters that are inspired by parts of some of my own experiences, such as Louis’s anxiety, but really I just started with the “cold, brood” and “happy, optimistic” lovers trope and built off of that. I’m sure there are other things that have indirectly inspired them, but not really anything I can consciously put my finger on and say “YES! This will be Louis/Daniel.” They just slowly morphed into their own characters over time.
JPCJ- Not only is this comic display a relationship of an inter-ethnic couple but also one of people of different body types, was this intentional or was it something that just formed over time?
G. H. S. T- Including characters with different ethnicities and different body types was intentional; I wanted a realistic cast. Although, drawing different body types was something that came over time as I developed as an artist, but as my skills improved, it was definitely a conscious decision. It’s also important in terms of representation—I’ve had folks share that they’ve felt represented through these characters and I think that’s great.
JPCJ- Where does the inspiration and development of Mia come from and will we see more from her?
G. H. S. T- Of course we will see more of her! She is Daniel’s best friend, after all, and she is growing a tolerance for Louis (haha). She also struggles with mental illness like Louis (she has clinical depression), so I would like to further explore her experience with it. Mia is based quite a bit on my middle school friend group—we were all into the goth subculture back then. I thought it would be fun to have the “mysterious and quiet goth girl” be best friends with Daniel who is seemingly the exact opposite. At least that’s how it is on the surface—in actuality, they’re both just big dorks!
JPCJ- Are there any characters you are looking forward to introducing or expanding on in the future?
G. H. S. T- I really look forward to expanding on the characters in Louis’s friend group, as well as introducing Daniel’s father (for better or worse). The formal introduction of him is important to Daniel’s character, and maybe not in the best of ways. It’s a dynamic I’m very interested in exploring, especially as it might compare and contrast to Louis’s relationship with his own father.
JPCJ- I have been extremely impressed by your handling of Louis’ panic or anxiety attack scenes, did you do any specific research on these mental health topics or have specific inspirations?
G. H. S. T- Thank you! Aside from my own personal experiences with anxiety, I also majored in psychology in undergrad and got my masters in school psychology, so I have done a lot of research into mental illness and mental well-being.
JPCJ- When reading Autophobia I have noticed that a lot of the moments that are Daniel focused are seen from the outside in, can we expect more narration from Daniel?
G. H. S. T- Can I just say that I love that you noticed that? That’s been intentional. The current chapter (chapter 19) is more Daniel-centric, but we still don’t get to hear his inner thoughts other than what he shares out loud. It’s definitely in the plans for Daniel to shine with his own narration at some point. We’ve already seen a few other characters’ perspectives, such as John, Chloe, and Mia…Daniel will definitely get his day, but not just yet. For a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, I think he has a lot more going on in his head than a lot of people, including Louis, realize.
JPCJ- Is it pronounced (Louis) Lu-ee or Lu-iss?
G. H. S. T- Lu-iss, like how you would pronounce “Lewis.” (though feel free to pronounce it any way you’d like, I won’t know haha!)
JPCJ- is Autophobia and The Fool That Once Was in the same Universe?
G. H. S. T- Yes! Although, I do have plans to completely reboot The Fool That Once Was. The story was not quite working out like I had hoped, so it’s back to the figurative drawing board for that one for now.
JPCJ- What has Autophobia done for your life and how does your emotional expression show in this work?
G. H. S. T- Autophobia has been a part of my life for such a long time now, it’s kind of scary to imagine life after it (thankfully [?], we have a long way to go before then). Writing the story has been an outlet for me in ways. It’s not autobiographical by any means, but a lot of things are based on some of my own experiences, such as coming to terms with my own sexuality (I’m bisexual like Louis) and anxiety. Writing Louis’s struggles with anxiety has helped me to contextualize it in ways and better understand how my own anxiety manifests. In terms of emotional expression, I have been told I have very animated facial features and talk a lot with my hands, so I suppose that has helped me with drawing the different expressions and their body language!
Thank you G. H. S. T for this opportunity, been a huge fan for a while now! You can find their social media links and the Autophobia Comic below:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/itsaghst
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/itsaghst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsaghst/
Comic: http://www.autophobiacomic.com/