DC’s quickly growing kids line is about to get quite a power-up with the release of Dustin Hansen’s My Video Game Ate My Homework, the whimsical new graphic novel featuring a lost science project, a dyslexic hero and thrilling all-ages action set in a video game world. It’s completely unlike anything you’ve seen before, and to celebrate its release, Hansen took part in a Twitter Q&A yesterday with writer Michael Northrop (Dear Justice League). The two creators discussed what it was like working on DC’s newest line of books, the important role video games and RPGs play in their lives and what it’s like living and working with dyslexia.
It was a lively, entertaining chat, and you can read the entire thing below. Enjoy!
Hey, hey! It's time to chat with my friend @mdnorthrop ! We're going to talk about working with #dccomics #Dyslexia and more good stuff. What better to do on #WorldBookDay? Oh, and we'll talk about #MyVideoGameAteMyHomework too, but y'all probably knew that already :)
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
So...@mdnorthrop how ya doing? Staying safe? Washing your hands?
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Nice to talk to you, Dustin! First off, I loved your book. So much fun—and just nerdy in all the best ways. Where did you come up with such an original idea?
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
Thanks, Mate! Coming from you that means A LOT! You know, sometimes as a creative you are a bit fuzzy about when and idea comes to you. It can kind of be a blur, ya know? But this book came to me in a FLASH! A single moment that I'll remember for...well, forever, I guess.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
I was actually doing a presentation to a 3rd grade class in Manti, Utah, and we were talking about combining two old ideas to come up with one new one. It's a fun way to brainstorm. You know, like...Honey I Shrunk the Kids, meets Jurassic Park. Stuff like that.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
And I had this crazy idea of the oldest excuse int he book "My dog ate my homework." And then I thought it needed an updates and BLAMO - My Video Game Ate My Homework pooped in my brainbox and it took off from there.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
funny how that happens sometimes.
After that I started drawing characters, and before long...I had the beginnings of the book.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Wanna see my first lineup sketch? It's kind of fun to see how far it migrated from the orginal.
I love that! And you KNOW I want to see that sketch!
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
Oh boy. This is really old. HAHA. Here is the first image I made. It was kind of pieced and parted from a few older ideas.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
The book turned out very different, but there is still some of that same spirit in the book. pic.twitter.com/QAuVb4aFjd
but this is the first one that I feel like was the jump off point for my characters. At one point they had a pet bear, but that kind of got merged into Ferg's character.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Crazy to see how much it changed, but how some made its way through to the book. pic.twitter.com/a4gTm4D8Fq
AMAZING! Love that bear! It kind of reminds me of the art in Dungeons & Dragons books. And one of the things I loved about your book was just how gamer-y it is. Was D&D part of the inspiration? What else?
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
Oh my gosh - YES! So much so. I grew up playing D&D. In fact, I even made early character sheets for all the players in the book. Like this... pic.twitter.com/AD06yDtJze
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
I love the idea of math and stats behind character development. It's just so clear when a character in D&D or in a game 'level up'. It's not always so clear in a book for me, but there is something so rewarding and visual in games and gaming. Ya know?
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
I'm a VERY visual thinker. I think most people are, actually, but for me, seeing things mapped out really helps. It's part of what I love about comics/graphic novels.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
So cool! You need better dice, though: those ability scores are rough! I was a huge D&D player too. And you're still a gamer, right? The book really has bits from everything from old dice games to virtual reality. Was that just you "writing what you know"?
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
HA HA! Yeah, Ferg started out pretty rough :). Poor Ferg.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Yeah, I'm still a gamer. Always will be.
Part of it was writing what I know, for sure. Part of it was also recognizing that this type of language has become universal. Especially with today's young readers.
I'm pretty sure that the bulk of my readers know how video game progression works. They might not see it as character arc, or character development, but that is what it is. So, working that into the book visually really is a nod to those readers as well. :)
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Yeah, that is one of my favorite things about your book: how reader-friendly it is. It's just very welcoming to readers of all different types and levels. It actually reminds me a little of D&D that way. The D&D rulebooks were one of the first things I read voluntarily bc I
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
Wow - that is so nice to hear. And yeah, I can totally see that. I had a similar experience with the D&D manuals. Part of why I read those was also because I wasn't supposed to. They were contraband in my house back then. HAHA.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
But, that inviting in slowly is something I was 100% working towards.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
I was a slow reader as a kid. Still am, actually. I didn't know it in the 70's, when I went to school, but I have a reading disability. I'm yslexic and have something called SSS Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome
And for me, comics were exactly that. They slowly pulled me with images and visual cues, and before I knew it I was reading.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Knowing that worked for you, and that you recognized that makes my day. I hope some reluctant readers will share this experience. :)
That's awesome, and as you know, I am also dyslexic. I repeated a grade, spent time in special ed, and am still a very slow and deliberate reader. And comics were the same thing for me. Reading seemed intimidating and kind of "not for" me, but comics were accessible and fun. They
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
were that first rung on the ladder. They were also the first time I could read something socially. The day after the new issue came out, I could discuss it, and that def. didn't happen with books. But D&D and comics were how I learned to enjoy stories and that led me to books &
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
now I consider myself a slow and deliberate reader but still an avid one. Which definitely isn't the image for dyslexics. Did you make your MC, Dewey, dyslexic so you could explore that territory: misconceptions, etc?
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
All of this! For sure. I'm slow, always will be, but I'm also an avid reader.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
And yeah, Dewey is in there for a couple of reasons. The first is pretty selfish, if I'm being honest. I had a lot of thoughts about disabilities I wanted to explore internally, and writing
or creating art (music, dance, film making, ect...) is a great way to go through those thoughts. With Dewey I was able to vocalize something that I've always wanted to say. That basically, his disability is just simply who he is. He doesn't think of it as a shortcoming...
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
it is just something that is part of him. The whole part of him. And that is an issue between him and his sister (Bee), that he has to discuss. It's something I've always wanted to say to my own family, and putting it down in a book really helped.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
and 2) - you're rigtht on about the misconception thing. There are a lot of misconceptions about dyslexia for sure. Chief among them is that dyslexics don't like books. HAHA. Sure, maybe it is harder to get through for us, but that drive to tell and read/hear stories...
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
is still there. In fact, it's super strong generally. Check out the #dyslexiaawareness thread sometime. You'll see this is a common theme.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
And like you and I, there are a LOAD of dyslexic writers and creators. LOADS AND LOADS! :)
Yeah, definitely! I agree with all of this so much. A book that really helped me with this was My Dyslexia by Philip Schultz. He's a Pulitzer Prize winner now but really struggled as a kid. It just let me know that everyone experiences dyslexia differently, but what so much of us
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
have in common is this urge to communicate, to tell our stories, whether that's in prose or or art or poetry or graphic novels. SPEAKING OF WHICH, now we are both writing graphic novels for DC! What a world! Did you ever see this coming?
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
I love Philip Schultz's book! Everyone should read this.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
And ummmm, honestly. I didn't think I'd ever be writing for DC. It's kind of shocking, right? ...
I mean, I've devoured the work of Gail Simone, @neilhimself, @BRIANMBENDIS, @TomKingTK , Jeff Lemire...just to name a few. And now I'm going to take a stab at it for DC? Impossible - and no pressure, right? HAH!
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
And it didn't' help that I read Dear Justice League before I submitted my final script. I ADORE your book. You are a brilliant writer and you captured every character perfectly. :)
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Thanks so much! I had so much fun writing that book, and so did the amazing artist @_gustavoduarte, and I think a lot of that fun just snuck though to the finished product! But this was your first graphic novel, right? What was the experience like? Smooth or chunky?
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
Oh, @_gustavoduarte is ... ah-MAY-ZING!
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Well, chunky is an understatement. HA HA. I false started so many times, it wasn't funny. I kept getting lost in the 'should I write first, or draw' thing.
Luckily, DC surrounded me with a fantastic (and patient) team. Chief among then @jimchadwick1217, my editor. He nudged me in the right direction so many times. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The team at @DCComicsKids is nothing short of amazing. :)
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Between you and me and the twitterverse, I drew the entire book 7 times. Don't tell. :)
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Holy Guacamole! At least it's a lucky number. You're right, though: The DC team is incredible. it definitely made my first graphic novel easier. So did reading thousands of comics over my lifetime. I was surprised how much of that had sunk in, re: panels & pacing, etc.
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
Plus I had Gustavo to make even the wonkiest panel descriptions look like I meant it all along! Now we are working on Dear Super-Villains where we can break even more rules! What are you working on next?
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
Well, it's a bit of a secret, but I am doing another project with DC that I'm SUPER excited about. It's very different, but I'm once again surrounded by great help so I'm thrilled to be working on it with DC.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
And did I say very different? cuz yeah - it is :)
Oooh ooh ooh! I will not pry (on Twitter) but I cannot wait to hear more about this one! OK, how about we list our 3 Favorite DC characters & then wrap this up? For me, #1 is & always will be Superman—and in my mind that's always Christopher Reeves, as opposed to some of the
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
darker takes. #2 Green Lantern, because I feel like what he does, turning his thoughts to reality, is so much like what I do as a writer. Just wish I could fly. And #3: Wonder Woman. What can I say, I like the classics! (But my fav. villain is Gorilla Grodd!)
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
OOOh, I am trying not to steal this, but yeah, the classic Reeves era version of Superman is my favorite as well. He's just so...everything, ya know what I mean. So yeah, #1 is Superman.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
And that is such a great take on Green Lantern, but I'm going to go with Sinestro as my #2. I guess being that he was part of Green Lantern Corp, there is a nice tie in as well. So yeah, #2 is Sinestro cuz he's just so darned villainous.
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
And #3...so hard. I have a lot of favorites :). Okay, I'm going Cyborg. I love his origin story, his brilliant yet confused parents, his love/hate with Poison Ivy, and who doesn't think a guy looks great in chrome? I mean, what's not to love? :)
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about My Video Game Ate My Homework—what's not to love! Congrats again on an amazing book. It's been awesome chatting. See you around the Hall of Justice!
— Michael Northrop (@mdnorthrop) April 23, 2020
HA! Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to chat, Michael. I had a BLAST! See you in the Hall :).
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
Also, if anyone else is wondering, you can find My Video Game Ate My Homework here ===> https://t.co/9SMej69oof
Stay safe!
Already on it. pic.twitter.com/CrbnSmAgbu
— Tom King (@TomKingTK) April 23, 2020
WHAT? Day made. Seriously. Thank you - and I hope he enjoys the ride :).
— Dustin Hansen is washing his hands. (@DustHansen) April 23, 2020
My Video Game Ate My Homework by Dustin Hansen will be available Tuesday, April 28 in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and as a digital graphic novel.
