There’s no review today (I’ll have a new review for Review Day Tuesday next week).
Instead, I wanted to give you an update on my Superhero Ladies series of sketches.
I already wrote post after post about them, even one featuring Malarkey Maddie, a superheroine sketched for the series.
Well the good news is, there are now 31 sketches done, which is more than enough for the eBook!
I still have to spot check quite a few of them, but I can show you some of the finished ladies in the series.
And here are some snapshots from my camera of some of the looser, sketchier ones.
This one was actually named by one of my Twitter peeps. Thanks, @JN_Monk!
That last one is a trans girl because I realized towards the tail end of this project, “Crap! I could have incorporated more trans girls in this line up!” I’ll see if I can muster up at least one or two more, because I want this collection of characters to be diverse and inclusive, just like ladies IRL.
Although that reminds me of how I was going to add at least a few magical girls in this line up, as well, but in the end I really only got one. Oops.
The next step with this series is to make a sketch or two more, touch them all up, and then format them into an eBook so y’all can get a copy of this awesome collection for yourself!
As I wrote before, for the month of January, I’m drawing one new superhero lady every day. Once the month is up, I’ll be compiling the sketches into an eBook.
Today I want to show you one of my favorite ones I’ve done so far.
Her name is Malarkey Maddie.
Malarkey Maddie!
I loosely based her on a fan I met at Phoenix Comicon, who wore a shirt saying something like “Crush the Patriarchy!” My response was, “Down with the Patriarchy! Up with the Malarkey!”
Malarkey stayed floating around in my head for a while until this sketch series happened. Then I thought back on that fan and that phrase, and went, “What if a superhero lady incorporated that into their superhero name?”
And Malarkey Maddie became a superhero.
She may not fight against the Patriarchy, since it’s an abstract concept and not a person. So she has yet to get an arch nemesis.
She IS, however, super strong and has the ability to fly.
She doesn’t have a story yet, but she’ll be mentioned in other stories I’m working on. Maybe she’s the favorite superhero of Charlie from Charlie & Clow? Or Tracy’s favorite comic book hero?
Who knows what the future will hold for Malarkey Maddie?
If you have any ideas, I would love to read them in comments.
A while back I wrote a post about how I wanted to do a series of illustrations showing Superhero Ladies, dressed and posed like human beings, not like…whatever comic books thinks is sexy.
While there are ladies in comic books and graphic novels that are in charge of their sexuality, and there are superhero ladies who are clothed, they seem to be the exception, rather than the rule.
Thus, I came up with the idea of the art series Superhero Ladies: a series of illustrations showing superhero ladies dressed and posed like…actual people.
Number 1 in the series.
I put it on the back-burner, though, because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to exactly tackle this series.
But then I wrote about my Goals for 2015. And one of my goals is to make more eBooks full of sketches.
So I had the idea, “How about I make my first eBook of sketches be the Superhero Ladies series?!”
So that’s exactly what I’m doing.
This actually ties in well with another one of my goals, which is to draw two sketchbook pages a day. So I’ve been drawing quite a few superhero ladies this week already.
Here’s a peek at just one of the new ones:
Mary Wildfox (Click to enlarge).
I forgot to mention that the Superhero Ladies series will feature entirely original characters.
So, no, I’m not going to be doing re-designs of famous superheroines like Spider Woman, Power Girl, Captain Marvel, or anything like that. That can be addressed in a different series of sketches altogether.
Nope. This series will feature only original characters, costumes, and (hopefully) powers.
I’ll post more sketches occasionally. I don’t want to post them all online because I don’t want to spoil any surprises I have in mind for the eBook.
Speaking of books, though, Johnson & Sir have a book on pre-order. I talked about that in this post.
I’m working hard to make sure there’s new prints, books, and more for you. If you have any suggestions or ideas of what you would like to see more of, leave a comment below!
The second video, which will upload soon, will be a video Kia and I recorded for our KickStarter. OR WILL IT?
Speaking of the KickStarter…
It’s Katy and Adam! The stars of “Seeing Him”! (Click to enlarge)
There are less than 6 days left and we need your help.
The KickStarter is to help fund the first 42 pages of our new webcomic, Seeing Him. It’s a romantic comedy starring a trans man named Adam and a nerdy lady named Kate.
If you back the project, you can get cool rewards, like an ebook of behind-the-scenes sketches (and an extended version of this interview), being drawn into the comic, and more!
The following is an interview I had with the cast of Seeing Him, which is currently on KickStarter raising funds to launch it online. There’s also an extended interview, but you can only read it by claiming it (and other swag) as a reward on KickStarter.
Interviewees: (From Left to Right in the image below) Kate, Adam, Julianne, and Greg.
Click to enlarge.
KELCI: So what’s your day job?
Kate: I am a small business owner.
Adam: I’m a doctor. Specifically an OB/GYN.
Julianne: I’m a personal assistant to Ms. Betsy Brookes. You might have seen her face on benches around town. She runs the number one realty agency in Nagadan.
Greg: I teach high school Spanish at Charles Strite High. Go Hawks!
What are your hobbies outside of work?
K: I like to hang out with my friends. Play video games sometimes. Plus, in the winter I like to crochet and sew things.
A: Every other Wednesday we have league bowling. Greg and I are on the same team. I also go to the gym a good bit. Sometimes I go out to the movies.
Juli: Outside of work I like to do puzzles and books of brainteasers. I also like to watch horrible TV movies sometimes.
Greg: Well I do a few after-school groups as the faculty leader. I teach sign language and I manage the sci-fi club. Completely non work related I go bowling, I hit the gym, and I like to cook. Particularly baking.
Have you always lived in Nagadan?
Kate: I grew up here, but I went away for college.
Adam: My mother and I moved here when I was 2. Since then the only time I’ve lived anywhere else was when I was in med school.
Juli: Born and raised here, but then I went away to school. That’s where I met Kate. We were roommates freshman year.
Greg: I moved here after college. I grew up in a little town in the south end of the state. You’ve probably never heard of it. I always wanted to live in the big city though, so when I got the chance, I moved.
Favorite animal?
Kate: Ocelots. They are just too cute.
Adam: Dogs. They aren’t called man’s best friend for nothing.
Juli: Narwhales. The fat unicorns of the sea.
Greg: um. I don’t know. Penguins?
Favorite food?
Kate: Chicken and broccoli. Preferably from Mr. Wong Wong’s in Ostmeadow.
Adam: Mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Julianne: Definitely ham. I love having it for dinner and then getting to have real ham sandwiches all week.
Greg: Butterscotch muffins. Big ones.
How do you feel about musicals?
Kate: I love them but I haven’t taken the time to watch a lot of them. I’d love to see one live one day but right now I just watch my DVDs on repeat.
Adam: Meh. They aren’t the worst thing but I’d rather watch something else.
Juli: Some of them are good. Some of them are godawful. No one is that happy all the time.
Greg: …I’d rather not answer that in an interview. My friends might read this. So, on the record, I’m not a big fan.
Adam responding to Greg: You’re going to stick to that when I know for a fact you own at least 5 original cast CDs?
Adam: My mom. She’s the reason I got into medicine. She’s made me who I am today.
Juli: I don’t have one. I am my role model.
Greg: The teacher from that one movie in the 80’s. You know, the one about the English teacher, they call him captain? That guy. Oh and Professor Y from the Y-Guys comics.
What is the nerdiest thing you have done?
Kate: I went to a comic convention dressed as Madame Majesty once. It was really fun.
Adam: Does being on dean’s list in college a lot count?
Juli: Kate made me dress as Monsieur Majesty at a convention once, but it turned out really fun actually.
Greg: I regularly played Orcs and Oracles with my friends in college. We had a campaign last 3 semesters once.
The following are questions about which of the options you prefer:
Ketchup or mustard?
K: Ketchup.
A: Mustard.
J: Neither. Mayo.
G: Ketchup.
Dandelions or dandy lions?
K: Dandy lions. All day.
A: Dandy lions would be a sight to see.
J: Dandy lions. All day.
G: Dandelions. I don’t want to make someone dress up a lion. Sounds dangerous.
Pancakes or waffles?
K: Why not both?
A: Pancakes.
J: Pancakes.
G: Waffles. Not the frozen ones though, real, homemade waffles.
Cupcakes or muffins?
K: Cupcakes.
A: Cupcakes.
J: Muffins. Cupcakes have too much icing on them.
G: Cupcakes.
Small gatherings with close friends in your living room or big dance parties with lots of people?
K: Small gatherings with friends.
A: Smaller gatherings are more fun.
J: Definitely big dance parties. I can meet new people that way. Plus show off my moves.
G: I like big parties, but house parties rather than dance parties. I like to be able to hear people.
Santa or the Great Pumpkin?
K: Great Pumpkin. Hands down. If I believe, he will appear someday.
A: Santa. I never did understand the great pumpkin idea.
J: Santa. He shows up more consistently.
G: Santa. I like how excited all the little kids at the mall are to tell him what they want for Christmas. If I ever get fat I’m going to be a mall Santa during the holidays.
Dinosaurs or dragons?
K: Dragons. They breathe fire so that makes them cooler.
A: Dinosaurs. The real life dragons. They actually lived so it makes them cooler.
J: Dinosaurs. I was really into them when I was a little kid. I even had a little stuffed T-Rex.
G: Dragons. I wish that scientists would splice them in the lab so that we can have fire breathing air travel. That would be badass.
Nerd or geek?
K: Me? I’m a geek.
A: I was always called a nerd, but I think I’d rather be a geek. They seem to have more fun.
J: Nereek. Everything is better when it’s a hybrid. Cars, dogs, ligers, everything.
G: Jock? But if those are my only options, I think I’d go nerd.
The KickStarter is barely to $300, and we have 10 days to go. If you can contribute, awesome! If you can’t financially donate, donate by using your words and telling everybody about it!
Thanks for reading, (thank you for contributing to the KickStarter), and I’ll see you again on Tuesday.
