Sam Shapiro Q+A

This week I’ve got a Q+A with Sam Shapiro, one of the main characters of Fly By Night and a real-life high school athlete. There’s a little more but I’m saving it until after Part Two is done so we don’t ruin anything.

What do you think about comics in general and how does this compare to things you've read? When you first told me about the whole comic thing I really had no idea what to expect. Comic for me just means superheroes. I really didn’t know that comics were made about normal things. I think it’s a cool way to tie together reporting and an artistic medium.

So, what does it feel like to be in a comic? It’s really flattering being one of the main characters of the comic. It’s really cool seeing myself on the pages, and just remembering things from the season. As I read the comic I really began reminiscing about the season. It all went by so quickly, I hadn’t really taken the time to stop and think about it all until I read the comic.

Does any of the stuff I included surprise you? There were a lot of comments that were included that I remember saying but didn’t think were important… shows that everything counts I guess?

Do you have anything you'd like to say about my portrayal of you or your teammates? I think that the drawings are amazingly accurate. You really managed to capture the main features of everyone to the point where it’s easy to distinguishable between members of the team.

How does the comic differ from how you remember the season? This is easily the most interesting part of the comic for me. My sophomore season I put a lot of pressure to succeed on myself and it ended up being a downward spiral from there. This season on the other hand I decided to just take things as they came and accept things as they were so all my second place finishes I really didn’t think anything of them. In the comic however it seems like I am disappointed with my losses to Chris. If I was disappointed it wasn’t because I lost, but instead because I knew I didn’t jump as well as I knew i could. This season I wasn’t competing with anyone else, more myself.

Part Two, which I'm starting to draw this weekend, focuses mostly on the last week of the season. Anything you're looking forward to seeing? Well I’m definitely looking forward to seeing myself [sorry, deleted due to spoilers –the editor] haha. Also it will be interesting to see how you depict the states meet. Thanks for taking the time, Sam.