Before the Eisner Nomination: Rediscovering Michael's First Interview
I found a forgotten interview from 2016. Looking back nearly ten years later, it's amazing to see what has changed—and what never did.
While organizing some old files recently, I stumbled across something I had completely forgotten about—one of Michael’s very first published interviews.
It was from 2016, shortly after the first issue (chapter 1) of The Mannamong was released.
Reading it nearly ten years later was a strange experience.
Some things have changed dramatically. The series has grown, Michael has spent thousands more hours refining the story, and The Mannamong would eventually earn an Eisner Award nomination.
But what surprised me most wasn’t what had changed.
It was what hadn’t.
Even back then, Michael wasn’t talking about sales or becoming famous. He was talking about creating a world that children could grow up with. A world built on mystery, imagination, and hope.
As his mom, I’ve watched him spend more than half his life working toward that vision.
Here are a few moments from that interview that still resonate today.
“I wanted to create my own fictional universe.”
One of the questions asked where the inspiration for The Mannamong came from.
Michael answered:
“I just wanted to create my own fictional universe... I always believed that creating a world for the setting other than this one is the most engaging because you have to explore it. So I thought about bringing the best of both worlds by having a contemporary world being governed by an unseen world.”
Reading that today makes me smile.
At the time, readers had only seen the first steps into the world of The Mannamong.
Today, that world has grown. Readers have learned more about xemn, met Paniña, uncovered more of Tontorus’s story, and begun to understand that the bedtime story Vianne tells Kali hints at something much larger beneath the surface.
Back then, all of those ideas were still living inside Michael’s notebooks.
Kali Was There From The Beginning
One answer especially caught my attention.
When asked about Kali, Michael said:
“She was the very first character I created... I conceptualized her when I started middle school at twelve years old... She was pretty much the catalyst of how The Mannamong came to be.”
Imagine carrying a character with you for over twenty years.
Most stories begin as ideas.
Kali became something much more.
She grew alongside Michael.
As he matured as an artist and writer, she matured as a character.
Why Comics Instead of Video Games?
I had forgotten this answer completely.
Michael admitted that he originally wanted to create video games.
Then he realized something.
“All I really wanted was to focus on the story anyway.”
That simple sentence explains so much.
Every decision he’s made since then has been driven by storytelling first.
The artwork, the worldbuilding, the characters—they all exist to serve the story.
The Goal Was Never Just Adventure
One answer still describes The Mannamong better than anything we’ve written since.
Michael described it as:
“...a story about growth that I feel kids and adults can come to appreciate and learn from.”
If you’ve been reading our recent posts, you’ll know we’ve often said that The Mannamong is ultimately about hope.
That wasn’t as clearly defined back in 2016, but looking back, you can already see those ideas taking shape.
Growth.
Facing the unknown.
Learning from difficult experiences.
Those themes have always been there.
Looking Back
Reading this interview now feels a little like opening a time capsule.
The website that published it has long since disappeared.
Some of the information is outdated.
Back then there was only one issue (chapter 1).
There were Kindle promotions.
There wasn’t an Eisner nomination.
Volume 3 was still years away from being completed, and many parts of the story were still being refined.
Yet the heart of the project is exactly the same.
Michael is still trying to tell the kind of story he wanted to tell as a twelve-year-old kid—a story that encourages curiosity, imagination, and hope.
That consistency is something I admire.
Not because the journey has been easy.
But because, despite all the years, revisions, setbacks, and victories, he never lost sight of why he started.
And I think that’s why The Mannamong still feels genuine today.
Have you been following The Mannamong since the early days, or did you discover it more recently? I’d love to hear how you first found the series.
If this is your first time discovering The Mannamong, there’s never been a better time to begin.
Read Chapter 1 free and step into the world alongside Kali as she discovers that nature holds mysteries far beyond what anyone can see.