Here is the interview to Jenika by Richard Bruton from the Forbidden Planet International blog (www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk):

"Following on from yesterday’s review of Jenika Ioffreda’s great comic
Vampire Free Style I thought it would be nice to drop her an email and ask a
couple of questions:

Richard: First up, a little bit of your background. Where did you grow up
and what brought you to comics in the first place?

Jenika: I grew up in Italy and I moved to London in 2003. I have been
drawing comics since I was a child... I loved reading comics and I always
made short comics for fun. Putting my feelings or the stories I had in mind
in the shape of comics had been always something natural for me... so
slowly I began to realize that instead of just dreaming about publishing
comic books it was time to start to do it for real. I choose the way of self
publishing as I like very much the idea of being total responsible for what I
publish... total freedom, total art. I like that.

R: I can see a couple of influences in your work in Vampire Free Style. With
my interest and preferences in comics I immediately thought of Gaiman’s
Death character. But there’s obviously a lot of Manga in there as well, of
which I’m rather less knowledgeable on. Which writers and artists inform
your work?

J: I love many artist (I like very much Neil Gaiman’s Death) but I never
think about one artist or writer in particular when I draw. Yes, there are
some manga influences in Vampire Free Style and in my drawings in general
as I grow up reading a lots of Japanese comics and watching a lots of
Japanese animation movies but I don’t like to follow a style, neither can I
put myself in one. I just draw what my hand decides and what my heart
feels on the moment.

R: In Vampire Free Style you’re trying to write in several different styles, all
contributing to the unusual feel of the book. There’s a playfulness in earlier
chapters but at the same time the characters are obviously suffering great
loss. Was this mixing and matching of moods a deliberate thing or did the
book simply write itself in that way?

J: Both of them. The story of VFS is based on the loss of something /
someone and the quest to have it back... but as one of the message of the
comics is that no matter what, having a smile on your face is one of the best
things that can happen, I tried to have some happiness and light. And also
Vampire Free Style takes inspiration from real episodes of my life and real
people I met... and they gave me both happiness and sadness... But anyway
I still feel sometimes the comic book is writing itself alone... sometimes I
start to draw with an idea in mind and while I draw I change it completely
and I wonder “Where come from this idea? Are the characters taking life
and making their own story by themselves and I am just helping them to come out?”
That’s creepy sometimes.

R: And what are the plans for future issues? Will you be taking the story
into a darker direction or will you be keeping some of the lightness and fun?

J: The series will be 6 issues, where we will discover the secret behind the
main character of the story, the cat Micia, and her relation with vampires and
the other story characters... maybe there will be a bit of darkness but the fun
will not disappear at all... I always thought about Micia as a fun character...
so wherever she will be around there will be her softness and fun.

R: Being very techy and dull here, is there any particular reason the books
are printed in Slovakia? The production values are excellent. And what do
you use to make VFS? Pen and ink? Computer?

J: I met in London a nice guy who runs a printer in Slovakia and he gave me
a good price estimate for nice quality comic books so... there I started to
print in Slovakia. I have never been there, though. I pencil and ink the single
pages by hand and after I scan them and I put the blacks and grays with the
computer (I use Adobe Photoshop 7 for this) and I add any texture or effect
as well on computer (for example sometimes I pasted photos of real bricks
for colouring the walls or the streets...). After that I use software to put all
the pages together (Adobe Indesign 2) in one single file to send to print and
the comic book is ready.

R: How do you find the current small press scene? As an ex retailer I’m
always interested in where you find your sales coming from. I know you
work a lot of the comics and sci-fi shows, but is this the main source of
sales? Do you manage to get any retailers on board, or do you find them to
be resistant to British black and whites?

J: The main sales come from the comic shows but I saw good interest from
retailers as well... I don’t think they are resistant about British black and
whites... I am actually watching a slowly growing interest in the small
press... I arrived in the UK almost 5 years ago and I’ve slowly seen the
small press scene changing... for example I think there are more comic book
shows around (or shows which start to have interest in comics as well)
which give more space and importance to the small press than when I
arrived here. I lived this change and I am happy to have been in there.

R: Louise picked it up when it was on the coffee table and read all three. She
commented on how bright and appealing the covers were and how nice the
size and style of the comic was. High praise indeed from someone who reads
very few comics, despite a continual stream of comics being thrust in her
direction by me. She compared it favourably in tone to Strangers In Paradise.
Even higher praise, she wanted to get hold of #4 and was disappointed to
find out it wasn’t published yet!

J: I am so very glad about this! Thank you. I feel happy any time I find
somebody who enjoyed Vampire Free Style...

R: What are your future plans regarding comics & when can we expect to
see issue 4 of VFS?

J: My plans are making more comics (I have actually couple of ideas for a
new comic book), making an animation movie and drawing, drawing,
drawing. I am working on it and if everything will be ok it will be available
by end of May - June 2008. I am so happy you and your wife Louise
enjoyed Vampire Free Style! Thank you for your questions.

R: We’ll both be looking forward to that. Thanks very much Jenika."