The following is an interview with award-winning creator Joana Mosi regarding the upcoming release of the graphic novel, The Mongoose, through Pow Pow Publishing. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Mosi about her creative process in bringing the story to life on the page, what readers may take away from the story’s themes, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the upcoming release of your graphic novel, The Mongoose, through Pow Pow Press! For those who may be unfamiliar, how would you describe the story’s premise?
Joana Mosi: The story follows Júlia, a woman in her mid-40s, who wakes up one day to find her home garden completely wrecked. She believes that the culprit is a mongoose, a creature that no one seems to believe exists, despite its abundance in the area. Her obsession with the mongoose gradually alienates her from her life, her friends, family, and everything that once mattered. You’ll soon understand the mongoose is a bigger problem than it seems, but might not be the real culprit after all…
BD: What can you tell us about your creative process in bringing this story and characters to life on the page, as well as your incredibly refreshing approach to utilizing the form of sequential art to relay the narrative?
JM: It took around three or four years between the beginning and the conclusion of the project. Of course, there were big, long periods of not working on it or even thinking about it during those years. Every time I would pick it up, I would rewrite it, redraw it, and even rethink the whole thing altogether. Only in 2021 did I get the chance to sit down and focus solely on The Mongoose and complete it. There were many versions of the plot before the one that made it into the book; the only thing that never changed was the ending.
BD: What makes Pow Pow Press the perfect publishing partner for this story?
JM: Since the very beginning in 2023, when we started working on the first edition in French, I’ve felt incredibly supported by the whole Pow Pow team. Alexandre and François worked very closely with me to make both the translations the most truthful and reliable as possible to my original idea and intention. Pow Pow has brought this story to new readerships by publishing it in two main languages in the comics market, English and French. I’m Portuguese, and this was my first graphic novel published abroad, so it felt very big (and it still does!). We’re already working together on another title, which we’re very excited to share with the readers.
BD: Graphic Medicine is an emerging genre that combines the field of medicine with the medium of comics. How do you feel that Graphic Medicine stories like this one can help to better depict the stages of grief and the healing journey that follows?
JM: Comics are a popular, widespread medium, which makes them a good vessel to share important messages and meaningful stories with big audiences, just like it happens with film or music. I didn’t write this book to depict grief or healing. Those are concepts, but not universal experiences of feelings. In my case, I didn’t know how to process the abstraction that encompasses grief, and writing and drawing are my attempts to understand the world. From what I’ve experienced, grief is a very individual, personal journey, and it’s distinct for everyone. I tried to expand that through having a different set of characters that have all lost something important to them, yet they can’t relate to each other because they all seem to deal with their losses differently. Whether you lost a loved one, your long-term relationship, or your bread-winning job, people struggle to find different ways to cope. It takes time to open up and accept love. I learned that a lot of pain and suffering come from the loneliness and misunderstanding of undergoing that journey alone, which may even overlay the pain of loss itself.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums. How do you feel that this story may connect with and impact readers?
JM: I can only hope someone might relate and reflect on their own experience after reading these or other books, whether they’re explicitly on this matter or not. I found a lot of comfort in music, films, and books, even when they’re talking about things that I don’t experience first-hand. I feel connected to art, to humanity, when something moves me. I think that’s the purpose of art, if there’s one, to expand, deconstruct human experience and, hopefully, generate empathy, reflection, and self and community conscience afterwards. I don’t know what happens with my work after it’s out and about. I can only count on my intentions and hope my work makes someone less lonely along the way.
BD: Are there any upcoming projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
JM: My most recent graphic novel, Physical Education, is being translated into French and English, also by Pow Pow. The French edition will hit the bookstores later this fall, and the English one is planned for Spring 2025. It’s the graphic novel that I’ve worked on right after The Mongoose, so it still deals with some of the same themes… but in a different angle, I hope.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about The Mongoose?
JM: You can follow me on Substack (https://joanamosi.substack.com). You can also follow Pow Pow on Instagram or subscribe to their newsletter.
