Melissa MendesMelissa Mendes grew up in rural Western Massachusetts, where she currently lives and works. She started making comics in 2002 at Hampshire College and got her MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2010. Melissa was the recipient of the 200 Xeric comics self-publishing grant for her book Freddy Stories. In 2014 she began creating and self-publishing the Ignatz-nominated comic The Weight, now a graphic novel, inspired by her late grandfather's life. Read More Read Less