COMICS
NADINE PROMES GARCÍA
STORY ARTIST
18- Calorcito
Facts:
Comic:
Ylla is an emotional rollercoaster, and sometimes she can't control it, however she slowly learns to manage it. She uses her Fénix journal/diary to calm her uncontrolled rage. Something she learned to do to prevent herself from getting into trouble. She hates getting scolded, as we all do.
She loves adventures and tries to never let anyone ruin her fun - although getting out of hurt feelings and a bad mood is not always easy. However, when Jaser is around, not even a bad mood can mess with her fun!
She loves music and dancing of (almost) all sorts. Local music such as 'Gaita Zuliana' has a special place in her heart. She learns from amazing beings around her how to portray native art with her abilities.
Real Life:
Everything that Ylla wears is something I own or have owned in the past, including one of my favorite bathing suits, the head band, the skirt (which is brown in real life) and the Goajiro knitted bag, which my grandma gave me and I absolutely love.
Of course my emotions when I was young work just as Ylla's do at this moment. She is about 14-years-old in this improv-comic, and my challenge is to remember how I used to think and feel about things as a 14-year-old. Since that literally was 14 years ago for me, it is a challenge since I've changed a lot. A FUN challenge nonetheless.
SLANG:
Sapo (slang translation): Tattletale
Sapo (literal translation): Toad
THE SETTING:
Although I'm basing the story's setting mostly in my natal-city of Maracaibo, it is very well mixed with Aruba, a caribbean island I lived in as a child. I also want to separate it as much from reality as I can but still basing it off of real stuff. So they live in a city called El Milagro that is located within a state called Catatumbo. In real life, El Milagro is a sector in Maracaibo city and Catatumbo is the name of a river and world-wide known meteorological phenomenon in my state called "El Relampago del Catatumbo" (The Catatumbo Lightning).
CULTURA & TRADITIONS:
Miss Venezuela
What Ylla mentions of "Miss El Milgro" is related to the beauty queen culture which is extremely strong in Venezuela as many of the Miss Venezuela contestants have always had a strong standing in the Miss Universe beauty pageant. This is the reason why they say that Venezuela has the most beautiful women. Many people (including my family) would tune in to see the pageant every year. It definitely affects the progressive 'body positivity' movement happening in developing countries. The pressure of being 'beautiful' like a beauty queen affects the mental health of many women in Venezuela, including my own - however, many don't realize it ever as it's how we are raised.
Music
Also, I've also always loved music and dance. I would blast my room's stereo with music and make my little siblings dance along with me, it was super fun and a great workout!
The song she's singing is 'Venite pa' Maracaibo' by a Marabine group called Guaco, their music is amazing and super fun to dance. Guaco actually gained international recognition for their music, which makes any Marabine person proud.
Art
When Ylla is dancing I demonstrate again her practicing the Goajiro designs she was playing with in page #2 of this comic.
Memories
When my family lived in Aruba, we lived close to the beach. I remember that in order to walk to the beach it could take about 30-mins or so across sandy roads, a bunch of wild bushes, busy streets and touristic areas. I always felt like it was an adventure and would pick cool looking shells and dried corals while at it. All the while trying not to get poked by cacti!
I remember how I used to sneak in and out of our Aruban house by climbing up and down from the 2nd-floor terrace and garage wall. I don't remember ever being caught now that I think of it, but I'm sure I would have gotten scolded.
So many memories. <3