Comic-book writer and artist is still drawn to Seattle

Megan Kelso grew up in Seattle and carved her own niche within the sprawling alternative-comic constellation during the '90s when the city's role in the art form was especially vibrant. Six years ago, she was beamed to another alternate reality called New York City, where she now lives.

Her latest work, "Watergate Sue," is nearing the end of a long run in The New York Times Sunday magazine, but she is probably best known among aficionados for her self-published "Girlhero" series. She will be returning to Seattle to join Bumbershoot's literary-arts program on Sept. 2.

How did you end up in Brooklyn?

During the Internet boom of 1999-2000, the company my husband worked for got bought. On the day we got home from our honeymoon in December of 2000 we found out that his job was being transferred to New York City and we had two months to move.

Describe "Watergate Sue."

Kind of hard to explain. The story is about a housewife who becomes obsessed with watching the Watergate scandal unfold on TV in the early '70s. She has a 3-year-old daughter and some of the story is about what Watergate seems like to a little kid.

What other projects are on your plate?

I'm close to finishing a graphic novel called "Artichoke Tales" that will be published by (Seattle-based) Fantagraphics Books in the next couple years.

"Watergate Sue" will eventually be a book.

So New York has been good for your career?

Yes! It turns out that even for cartoonists, it helps to live in the media capital of the world. No matter where you go in New York, you meet people who are publishers, editors, publicists, curators, journalists and agents.

On the flip side, it's sometimes harder to get work done here because there are so many things going on that compete for your time and attention.

But I hear you may be moving back home?

I had lived in the Northwest my whole life before coming to New York, so it was pretty exciting to get away, but I must confess I've been homesick the entire six years we have lived here ... especially in the summer. The summers in New York are smelly, sticky and horrible, and the summers in Seattle are, well ... perfect.

Richard Seven: 206-464-2241 or rseven@seattletimes.com