We’re excited to welcome Rosebuds to the GoComics family this week! Created by Deon “Supr Dee” Parson—a 25-year-old cartoonist from Anderson, Indiana—Rosebuds tells the story of three spirited sisters, Rosa, Maria, and Maricela Gonzalez. Like siblings often do, the trio bicker and annoy, but their unconditional love for one another keeps their bond strong. 

Parson developed the series last year, in July 2019, but these three characters were born a decade prior when he began making comics and animations in high school. Since then, Parson’s been mentored by Jim Davis (Garfield), Brian Crane (Pickles), and Ray Billingsley (Curtis). Here, a short chat with the creator on his characters, what he learned from Davis, and the comics he’s sure to read every day. 

What was your creative inspiration behind this particular family, and telling their stories? Are there real-life inspirations behind Marciela, Maria, and Rosa?

Prior to Rosebuds, I created two other comic series: Life With Kurami and Pen & Ink. Life With Kurami was a syndicated newspaper comic strip about a single mother named Ana who was raising her infant daughter named Kurami and overcoming her own self-doubts and anxieties. Pen & Ink is a published comic book series about two sisters named Penny and Inkara Ewart (aka "Pen" and "Ink") making autobiography comics about their lives together. The relationships the characters have with each other in both of those comic series are very unconditional, so with Rosebuds, I wanted to take a bolder approach with their sibling dynamics and show that while they do love each other, they do get on each other's nerves and probably wouldn't be opposed to selling each other on the black market. Inspiration of the characters are all over the place and can't be pinpointed in one particular area (real world or otherwise) especially since a lot of who they are now are lifted straight from their characters from 2009. However, Rosa, Maria, and Maricela were all named after friends I had in high school.

I can imagine that the relationship between three sisters is a very particular experience that only those with sisters truly understand. Your observations are really nuanced. Tell us how you tap into that.

I actually come from a Rosebuds-like family myself. I'm the middle child of 3, with an older sister (31) and a younger sister (19), and raised by a single mom, making me the only guy in the family. So I've had a lot of first-hand experiences on how siblings act toward each other: lots of butting heads, but a lot of love and laughs.

How does the sisters’ age range play into their sibling dynamics?

Each of the sisters deal with a different stage of life: Maricela (8) is in childhood, Maria (16) is in adolescence, and Rosa (25) is in adulthood. Having them in different life stages allows for them to have their own individualized lives and personalities separate from each other—like Maricela being the brains of the family, Rosa being the strength of the family, and Maria being the heart of the family. Maria in particular gets to be in high school, have an academic one-sided rivalry with her little sister Maricela (who is also in high school), and make hilarious life choices with Rosa that reveal how unprepared she is for the real world.

Tell us about your mentorship with Jim Davis. Do any specific tips or lessons from him influence your work today?

In December 2014, David Reddick, who was a Paws cartoonist for Jim Davis at the time, knew how big of a Garfield fan I am and how long I've admired Jim Davis. David introduced us with a special meeting at Paws, Inc. Jim Davis has been nothing but a warm and supportive person with a critical eye for cartooning. He has helped improve my own writing habits for characters and relationships. He was the one who helped Life With Kurami get into newsprint in 2015, helped give guidance for Pen & Ink when I was doing the first comic book in 2017, and was happy to hear Rosebuds was launching on GoComics. One lesson I've learned from him that has stuck with me since is, "Love what you do, and others will love to support it."

What comics do you read every day? 

There's several: Wallace the Brave, Rose is Rose, Cul de Sac, Pearls Before Swine, Intelligent Life, and How to Cat. And I could never forget Garfield, the one that started it all for me in grade school.

Be sure to follow Rosebuds on GoComics where it will be updated Mondays and Wednesdays.