Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1493292
12 KEYFRAME "The confluence of storytelling and social justice and representation and all these big conversations that are going on has always been very interesting to me... But the heart of it has always been about telling really fun stories that are exciting and interesting and that pull you in. " WITH LOVE FOR ANIMATION AND GRAPHIC ART, MOLLY KNOX OSTERTAG ENJOYS SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN BOTH FIELDS. DRAWN TO STORIES It's hard enough to excel in one medium, but Molly Knox Ostertag has found success as an animation writer and a graphic novelist. She's worked on shows like Star vs. the Forces of Evil and The Owl House and has gained a following for her young adult webcomics and graphic novels like the bestselling The Girl from the Sea and The Witch Boy trilogy—the latter of which, Netflix is turning into an animated musical. All of this, and she's barely into her 30s. In the beginning, Knox Ostertag felt humbled by her increasing popularity. She put her books out into the world, certain no one was paying attention, "despite evidence to the contrary," she says. "Even though I'd hear from people that they were reading them, I'd just think, that's fake." Now that she has a large enough fanbase that she can no longer deny it exists, she says she appreciates how young kids connect and engage with her comics. "The way that children interact with stories is so pure," she says. "[They] get lost in the world, get obsessed 12 KEYFRAME Courtesy Scholastic Graphix. Pages colored by Maarta Laiho. Photo by ND Stevenson. T H E C L I M B