With Kate, the main character of My Brain Hurts, was there anyone in particular you were drawing on, as far as inspiration for her story, coming out, dealing with the high school drama?
Well, the character of Kate is mostly based on me at that age. Specifically because when I started doing it I consciously made her look like me when I was 16, so that's pretty much exactly what I looked like when I was that age. And I had a lot of experiences where I had these friends and they were doing really dumb stuff, and I had a lot of moments where I had to make decisions, like, “Do I really want to do this, or do I want to be more intelligent?”

 
So for someone who hasn't read any of your comics, how would you describe your work?
Well, My Brain Hurts specifically, the way I always describe it is...if the person is familiar with the Canadian series Degrassi Junior High or Degrassi High, or Degrassi: The Next Generation. Any of those. I would describe it as a gay, teen, punk Degrassi in New York. It's like a teen drama, but they're like a little bit gayer and a little bit punker, and a little bit more New York-y.