SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Nov. 25 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Tenerife cartoonist Patricia Martín Rodríguez has just published ‘Courage’, one of the few manga comics by a Canary Islander that has seen the light thanks to the support of the Madrid publishing house Drakul. Next Tuesday the author will present the album at the Lemus Bookstore in La Laguna, where she will also sign copies and answer questions from those present.
‘Courage’ is the first work by this artist in which her passion for manga is clear. The story revolves around a young man named Jonay, 29 years old, with anger control problems, so he goes to therapy. There he meets Airam and Cho, two guys “with dubious morals” whose friendship in the end will not turn out to be the most appropriate to avoid the recurring thought that he is a bad person.
The story has been written in black and white and is full of Canarian words, such as ‘guachinche’, in addition to the names of the three protagonists. Patricia Martín is also the author of the script and she assures that she has enjoyed complete freedom, to the point of having done what she “really wanted” and this has been respected by the publisher.
“I like emotionally intense stories, with the focus on the psychology of the characters,” says the author, born in Tenerife in 1994. Regarding next Tuesday’s appointment, she points out that she is “super excited” and will take advantage of the trip from Barcelona – where she works as a nuclear engineer – to meet her lifelong friends and family.
Patricia Martín has always been passionate about comics but she had put this hobby aside for work reasons and studies, but she resumed it during the pandemic and from then on she has continued to maintain the routine of drawing three hours a day after leaving work and even ten on the weekends: “I’m very organized, that’s why I can combine the two things perfectly. When I finished ‘Courage’, I sent it to several publishers and my surprise was that, in a short time, Drakul called me and told me that they were interested in publishing both this volume and the second one that will be released in March 2024.” The result is that, for two weeks now, ‘Courage’ can be purchased in any bookstore in the country or ordered through the publisher’s website.
Patricia Martín studied Industrial Sciences in Madrid and specialized in Energy and Nuclear Engineering and assures that she likes both things, both art and science. “At the time I chose the latter and left the comic aside for obvious reasons.” She confesses that she feels like “on a cloud” and so far the reviews and opinions about her work “are super good, both in articles and videos. Everyone seems to be enjoying it almost as much as I am.”
In principle, he rules out leaving his current job to dedicate himself fully to drawing given the precariousness of this sector. Furthermore, she would make it a condition that she be responsible for the drawings and the script, as happens in ‘Courage’, “something that is not on the table for now,” she indicates.
