Amber Love 31-AUG-2012 It’s been a long road to make this short comic. Being in an anthology is challenging. I wrote all about that months ago. I’ve had good experiences and bad experiences. Red Stylo Media’s SHAKESPEARE SHAKEN was a good experience.

The easiest place to download the digital version is at DriveThru Comics.
You can contact Comic Fusion or your local comic shop about getting printed versions from Red Stylo Media, soon to be up on Amazon & BN.com.

First, I got to work with one of my best friends, Kristen McHugh. Second, it didn’t even dawn on me that our comic was an all-female creative team. Kristen and I wrote it; Jhazmine Ruiz did the artwork; Rica Jang published it. Why is it a good thing I didn’t realize this? Because it shouldn’t matter.

I’m an unpopular feminist when it comes to that dreaded platform in comic industry politics. I do not care about the gender of the creators. All I want is a great story. If DC Comics isn’t hiring women, oh well, their loss. If they harass their editorial assistants, maybe someone should stop them. I don’t work there. Some of my all-time favorite books have been MADAME XANADU, SANDMAN, GREEN HORNET, LONE RANGER, I KILL GIANTS and ATHENA VOLTAIRE. All written by men. Some at times had female artists; Amy Reeder being one on MADAME XANADU and in my opinion, she was the best artist on that book. But I don’t care that she’s a woman. I care that she’s got more talent in her hands that I have in my entire body.

So when I realized only two days before release, that NO. 130, FOR LOVE was an all-female team, I paused. “Would’ya look at that?” I said to myself. I wonder if anyone else noticed.

I have no idea if our plot would have come out any different if the outlines were handed off to men. Jhazmine Ruiz created those glorious and skimpy costumes for our female antagonist. I doubt a man would object. I doubt a man would object to the love triangle/square Kristen and I created among the main characters. Men write drama too.

Now you can download it or wait patiently for the printed copy of the entire collection which is sure to have something for everyone. Cliché but true. All the stories vary in tone and “rating.” As a whole, it’s a mature book and thus should be approached as such. It is also NOT adaptations. You can’t read this comic and turn in your exam on Hamlet. To learn more about what to expect, listen to the episode of VODKA O’CLOCK with Rica.

TRIVIA:

The very unusual character in the story that presides over the Judiciary Council is The Ophanim. This is part of angel mythology. They are believed to have eyes and they move around with the Cherubim to protect the Throne of God. Depending on the religion’s beliefs, Ophanim/Wheels are different than Angelic Thrones. I sent some notes about this entity with all the other script details. Jhazmine nailed the entire steampunk vibe we were going for. She used a lot of wheels in The Ophanim’s design and gave it a rather creepy torso with a speaker system for the vocal capabilities in its mouth.

Goddess Herja goes through three costume changes. All of them are gorgeous and screaming to be cosplayed. Of course I already researched some of this. I found a wig at Gothic Lolita Wigs that’s pretty close to one of the styles but the pink isn’t as vibrant as Jhazmine made it in the book. I would still say it works because it’s pretty and a commissioned wig would run at least $200.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.