You first visited Malta, and Valletta, in 2004. What inspired your choice of destination?

My father is a former anthropologist and history buff and visiting Malta was on his list of life goals. When he was diagnosed with lymphoma, the doctor told us that one of the best things we could do was to plan a trip for when he got better so that he would have something to think about and look forward to during the difficult process of healing.

We spent many happy hours planning the trip and when he went into remission, we were overjoyed to be able to finally travel to Malta.

What did you know about Malta before you visited?

Beyond what I learned from my father, as an art student what I knew of Malta came mostly from my art and history courses at university. It was remarkable to see Caravaggio’s The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist and the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum in person after learning about them in class. The projected slides that my professors showed us did them no justice. Some things you just need to see with your own eyes.

What were your first impressions of country and capital?

The day before we flew out from the eastern US, there was a winter storm with a metre of snow and below zero temperatures. Arriving in Valletta felt as though we were entering a much kinder world and that first day was a wonderful blur.

I kept a travel journal and the first day’s entry records that I had stopped at a street vendor and had a delicious bread roll filled with ġbejna and tomato paste, that there were church bells every 15 minutes, and that everything was golden and warm.

What inspired you to write The Lions of Valletta?

While in Valletta I was charmed by the number of stray cats that lounged on the ancient stones like they owned the place. There seemed to be three separate kinds of cats. Some were very interested in people and clearly wanted food and affection. Others ignored humans completely and had their own agendas, slipping through the alleyways like little shadows. The last kind paused upon seeing us, appeared to make a judgement, and then went on their way. I understood the first two types, but the third baffled me. What were they looking for? How did I not measure up? Trying to answer these questions led to The Lions of Valletta.

Your Kickstarter campaign to fund The Lions of Valletta generated a lot of interest. What do you think attracted your backers?

I received many notes from people who love cats and others from frequent visitors to Malta and Valletta. Some of my favourite letters were from people who supported the pro-ject because they love cats and, after reading my book, are now starting to plan their own trips to Malta and Valletta. I’m also especially proud to have so many Maltese backers.

According to one of your cat protagonists, Betto, “Outside is as good a place as any and better than most”. What inspired you most about the streets of Valletta?

Everything interesting happens in the streets, especially in Valletta. As an author you can sit at a street side cafe for an afternoon and have enough stories to keep you busy for years. Bakeries are open to the air, parades go through in the afternoons, and there’s always something happening, couples laughing, children arguing. I was, of course, delighted by the exquisite and handsomely-named Saint Ursula Street and sharp-eyedlocals will see a few panels set there.

What illustration techniques did you use for The Lions of Valletta and what style did you aim for?

As a comic artist, I always try to match the way that I draw to the story that I’m telling. The Lions of Valletta is a sort of modern fable, so I used traditional pen drawing and simple colours to try to capture both the expressiveness of my cat characters and the beauty of Malta.

How did your love of cats translate into your graphic novel?

Our family has always had cats and I have always loved them and wondered what they were thinking, even though I suspect that they’re often just tolerating our company for the tuna and ear rubs. As author Terry Pratchett says: “In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.”

Do you plan to visit Malta again any time soon?

I would love to return to Malta and hope to do so soon. My job is teaching as a professor of comics and sequential art at the University of Wisconsin, Stout and I love teaching and talking about comics. I’m very open to giving lectures and leading comic-making workshops in Valletta in conjunction with the 2018 Valletta European Capital of Culture celebrations.

A note on the author

Ursula Murray Husted is a professor of comics at the University of Wisconsin, Stout, US. She has an MFAin comics from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a PhD in the visual ethnography of internet memes from the University of Minnesota. She has published various graphic novels, including Looking Up, Girls Making Comics: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Lions of Valletta.