“You Can’t Wait for Inspiration.” An Interview with Bravest Warriors Comic Writer Kate Leth

As the series writer for the Bravest Warriors comics, Kate Leth has successfully captured the attention of young readers through witty dialogue and storylines that keep fans coming back for more. Bravest Warriors, created by Pendleton Ward—who also created the Emmy award winning Cartoon Network series (turned comic and graphic novel) Adventure Time—is a fanciful and exciting coming of age story about teens in space dealing with typical teen drama. You know: peer pressure, puberty, popularity, and crushes. Of course, they also have to deal with epic monsters, but don’t all teenagers have that problem?
Kate was awesome enough to indulge me in a few questions about her life, her work and her future plans. Here’s what I learned:
She shares her time between two cities, in two different countries, and started out pursuing a different kind of art.
“I am a comic artist currently living half the time in California, the other half in Nova Scotia. I became involved in comics by working at Strange Adventures in Halifax, NS. I went to school for photography and makeup, strange as that sounds.”

Her personal passions made room for a dream career.
“I did not really decide [to become a writer]—I was offered the job to write a graphic novel (Adventure Time: Seeing Red) and really enjoyed the experience. I kept getting offers for writing jobs and suddenly I was a writer! It was exciting and very scary, but I love it so much. I was always writing stories and comics for myself, but doing it for a living is a dream. I’ve written three Adventure Time graphic novels, one as of yet unpublished. I’ve written miniseries of Fraggle Rock and Edward Scissorhands; the Bravest Warriors isongoing, too. I’m 3 issues into writing my new series, Power Up, and about to start another project that hasn’t yet been announced.”
One day, we may see her name in the credits for the next great cartoon or on the cover of a YA novel.
“I would love to write a cartoon, and also YA novels. Nothing pleases me more than the idea of doing Supernatural Young Adult Fiction or all-ages magical animated stories. I’d get to write songs for them, and that’s something I’d love to do. That’s my end goal. Who knows if it will happen, but I hope!”
She’s a voracious reader.
“I’m a huge Neil Gaiman fan and recently have been powering through all of Shirley Jackson’s books. I love, love, love The Haunting of Hill House. Joe Hill is a favorite as well, especially Heart-Shaped Box. In comics, I love Matt Fraction, Ryan North, Chip Zdarsky, Kelly Sue DeConnick and G. Willow Wilson. They’re all fantastic.”

We both had the same taste in books as young readers. What were some of her faves?
“Oh my gosh. So many…The Harry Potter books, obviously, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. I loved the Circle of Three series, as well as all of Roald Dahl’s books. Matilda and The Witches, particularly. I loved this book, I Capture The Castle. I read that all the time. I love YA books.”
Bravest Warriors fans won’t be disappointed with the newest installment. We can expect to see:
“A lot more Plum! Ian [McGinty] and I both love her, she’s our favorite character. Her and Catbug are the best, together. Danny is kind of the main character in our run, strangely enough. We love putting him through the worst experiences and watching him slowly lose his grip on reality.”
[caption id="attachment_1706" align="alignleft" width="270"] Kate Leth[/caption]
She has been really busy expanding her fan base to include adults.
“Right now, I’m working on Power Up, a long-form story for adults only, a webcomic also for adults only that hasn’t been released yet, a new series and I’m just starting to work on a property that will probably surprise folks. A couple comic covers here and there. I’m always working!”
She has great advice for young, aspiring writers and how to deal with writer’s block.
“Write all the time, and open it to constructive criticism. Writing alone can be like writing in a bubble; you don’t know what you’re doing too often, or not enough, until you show it to someone else. The earlier and more often you do this, the better you’ll get. Also, read more. Read all the time. Take in what you’re reading. Break down the structure, the dialogue, the patterns of speech. What do you like? Why do you like it? Try to do it with your own work.
The truth is [with writer’s block], you can’t wait for inspiration. You have to do the work. I usually get into the flow about an hour into working, and that’s when the ideas come fast and furious. When you write for a living and not for fun, you have to write, block or no. The best way to the goal line is to just punch that wall down.”

The way to success as a writer is to defeat the time sucking internet demons.
“The internet is the worst, it’s a constant distraction. When I get going, though, it’s hard to stop. I love writing. The easiest thing is when I’m on page 4, or page 18 of a script. See, a standard comic script is either 20 or 22 pages. On page 4, you know how you’re getting to the action, and it flows into the page. At page 18, you know how it’s going to end. The bits in the middle? Those are the trickiest to get right!”
She would have some stern advice for her younger self. “
“Finish university, you brat. Stop thinking you know more than everyone else. Don’t get that cupcake tattoo on the back of your neck—the rest of them are good, though.”
At the end of the day, nothing describes her successes better than her favorite quote by Neil Gaiman:
“Make Good Art.”
That she does, and does well.
Have you read the Bravest Warriors series?