Andrea Grant is, in no particular order, a poet, comic book creator, spoken word practitioner, fashion journalist, magazine publisher and businesswoman. I’ve left a few things out, but you get the idea. She’s possessed of what appears to be a somewhat relentless drive to express herself through art, business and journalism. Plus, she’s not too hard on the eyes. In fact, she’s the kind of girl they should turn into a sexy comic heroine. But you know what? She beat them to the punch and did it herself, and had to scrap it out with industry giant DC Comics to keep her vision of Andrea Grant’s MINX intact.

More dark images of Andrea Grant

A little background: she was raised as a Jehovah´s Witness on Vancouver Island but rejected her upbringing, running headlong into the life of an artist and working in seedy bars to make ends meet. In fact, she was working as a coat check girl one night when gang violence erupted and five people were murdered in the next room – which, not surprisingly, she says had a traumatic effect on her.

Something else: Grant is fascinated by the whole idea of the alter ego. She created Minx, a super sexy heroine and struggling artist in NYC who is viciously attacked, falls into a coma and awakes in Dreamtime (the alternate reality that humans inhabit when they sleep). Got that? And if you consider that part of MINX’s mission is battling a dark power that seeks "to transform nightmares into reality and reality into nightmares" then, perhaps, it´s not too hard to trace that back to the horror that Grant herself felt after that gangland shooting.

Grant is currently planning to relaunch the MINX series in 2010 with Ray Arzeno as the new illustrator, as well as packaging and pitching the series as a feature film. In June 2009, she released The Pin-up Poet, a book that combines stunning photos of her as a vintage pin-up girl with poetry accompanying each image. For instance:

He spoke the lies of religion
& I began to bake - cookies, cakes -
it became a midday crescendo
& I gave it all away to young children
and warned them not to become like me.

Grant unspools a funny, poetic sensibility through her collages, 3-D paintings and multimedia art. Oh, did I mention she´s the managing editor of thefashionspot.com? That’s where it gets confusing, the fine line between life and art. Because, really, how can she pull it off? Unless, of course, she’s able to dash into a phone booth as a fashion journalist and emerge as a comic book impresario, model, actress or poet. It’s the only logical explanation.

Andrea Grant recently met with photographer Darryl Humphrey at Shine Night Club in Vancouver for a exclusive TORO Woman photo shoot and shared with us some insights into her personality with this intriguing Q&A.

Q: What is your present state of mind?
A:Water-calm, with constant deadlines slinking into my thoughts.

Q: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A: I don’t believe in perfect happiness. I believe in striving for balance.

Q: What historical figure do you most identify with?
A: Cleopatra.

Q: Which living person do you most admire?
A: Leonard Cohen.

Q: What is your greatest extravagance?
A:Creams for the skin. A girl can wear rags and make them look stylish, she can paint her face with cosmetics, but if the skin isn’t lovely, nothing really works.

Q: What is your most treasured possession?
A: A ceramic "Silver Anniversary" candy dish from the ´50s that belonged to my grandparents, who are deceased. And a carved Native American wolf mask my father made.

Q: Which talent – other than ones you are blessed with – would you most like to have?
A: I wish I could draw my own comics. Then I would be unstoppable, and I would be able to actually meet my own deadlines.

Q: Other than your present occupation, what occupation would you like to try?
A: I never allowed myself to think about any other options. I am happy to be a fashion editor by day, and write/create art at night. I just want it to keep evolving to the next level.

Q: If you were to die and come back as a person and/or thing, what do you think it would be?
A: I don’t want to do this again, so I hope that when I die I stay dead.

Q: What is your greatest fear?
A: Failure. So I control my mind, twist it inside out, and use it as motivation. I refuse to give failure the time of day.

Q: What trait do you deplore most in others?
A: Pretension.

Q: What trait do you deplore most in yourself?
A: My fatalistic streak.

Q: What is your greatest regret?
A: No regrets, only adventure.

Q: What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
A: Selflessness.

Q: What is the quality you like most in a man?
A: Accountability.

Q: The quality you like most in a woman?
A: Loyalty.

Q: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
A:"Sorry." But I’m not really sorry, I’m just Canadian.

Q: What is your most defining characteristic?
A: Bravado.

Q: What or who is the greatest love of your life?
A: Leonard Cohen.

Q: What is your motto?
A: As Don Draper from Mad Men likes to say, “It never happened.” This is simply another way of saying "create your own reality."

Limited edition MINX comic books are available for purchase at www.copiousamounts.com, along with Dreamtime collage art pieces.

The Pin-Up Poet is available through www.andreagrant.com.

The first of Andrea Grant´s Grimm Recollections art-poetry collaborations with Justin Hampton can be seen at www.justinhampton.com.

William Morassutti is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of TORO. Prior to joining TORO, he worked in Canadian broadcasting as a writer, producer, director, reporter and host.