SR 1 PAGE THIRTY-ONE

Well, there she is, everybody: Our first real look at Sera’s rockstar fairy godmother, Vicious Whisper. 

Pretty sure Vicious fits at least one of the internet’s 10,000 definitions of “Mary Sue,” but that’s sort of the point. For Sera, Vicious is the Platonic ideal of a witch, the perfect version of herself, a distant goal to strive toward. By book three, Sera has noticed some of her hero’s blind spots, but for now, Vicious is just this heartbreakingly unattainable vision of everything a witch can be.

Vicious is another character originally doodled out in my CalArts days, probably around 1999 or 2000. She isn’t based on anyone in particular (not a lot of goth/industrial singers are known for their bubbly personalities), but there’s definitely some Siouxsie in there, along with Shirley Manson, Debbie Harry, Bjork, Switchblade Symphony’s Tina Root, and KMFDM’s Lucia Cifarelli. By the time I was drawing this issue I think I’d discovered The Birthday Massacre, so there’s probably some Chibi in Vicious, too. (More about those guys later!)

Lots of snarling about capitalism on this page! GOOD. I’ve chilled out about the “sexies and druggies” over the years, but hell yeah, “Napalm On Wall Street.” Now more than ever! At the time I had just read Naomi Klein’s critique of rapacious corporate practices, No Logo, so maquiladoras were right at the front of my brain.

I was also, for reasons that to this day still baffle me, watching Bill O’Reilly’s show every day while I worked. For those blessed not to know, Bill O’Reilly is a right-wing bozo who would pretend to be a “no spin” realist on his Fox News show for many years until he was fired for abusive perversions. (You know, one of those guys.) Why did I watch that show?? I’m not the kind of person who enjoys being angry! Maybe he said juuuuust enough negative stuff about conservatives that I thought I was getting a more thoughtful view of “the other side” than I’d get from, like, Rush Limbaugh. Sure, bud.

Anyway, the interviewer here, Chuck St. Hardwell, is basically Bill O’Reilly. Do you think Chuck turned out to be a sex pest, too?

SR 1 PAGE THIRTY-TWO

This page was a lot of fun to write, but I wonder how many people skipped it? It’s just a bunch of text! Who wants a page of text in their comic book? One little scribble of a Dracula monkey doesn’t cut it!

Have you ever looked at the old Tales From the Crypt comics from the 50’s? Flip through one of the reprints sometime, and you’ll see all this awesome horror artwork occasionally interrupted by a full page of text. Typically some flimsy five-paragraph story about a guy who, like, sees a mummy or whatever. 

I guess those were in there because comics needed at least a couple text features to qualify for discounted magazine postal rates. I bet kids basically never read that stuff. 

If I’d been one of the harried editors forced to fart out these filler stories I would’ve gone SUPER-weird:

“One day Santa Claus started dancing and dancing and could not stop. Just kicking his little Santa legs in a frenzy like a real screwball, dancing and dancing and screaming and screaming, crushing toys, breaking down walls, and churning the snow into slops slops slops. The elves were SO scared. Santa danced and danced right over the scared elves, popping their stupid heads like dumb little sugarplums. Santa kept dancing and dancing AND DANCING AND DANCING until he wore his legs down into a bloody pulp, disintegrated his own pelvis, and spread his guts all over the sloppy slush. He’s still thrashing now, even though he’s dead. That’s why you’re not getting a Davy Crockett cap this year, Billy. (Have I filled out this page yet?)”

The point is, this issue of Serenity Rose would qualify for discounted U.S. postal rates in 1952.

BACK TO THE PRESENT!

This week I submitted a new draft of SHOCK CITY book two, looked over the printer’s proofs for book one, and watched John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars for the first time in over 20 years. Not sure why I did that last one? It wasn’t as terrible as I remembered, though. Even John Carpenter’s lesser movies have a certain ZEST to them most filmmakers can’t match. Very freaky seeing Jason Statham with hair.

NEXT WEEK: THE WITCHES’ BREW.