“What makes your women stand out?”
So I applied to join the Rubifruit banner exchange yesterday as, having read their rules, I felt that Twilight Lady would fit in well.
Today I got an e-mail asking me to explain why my comic belongs in the exchange.
Thing is, with matters like these, I usually prefer to let others be the judge. All I can say for myself is that I always set out to write characters that are interesting and compelling, whatever gender or race they happen to be.
The two questions I was asked were:
“What makes your women stand out?”
“What makes your work belong in this exchange?”
So over to you, dear reader. I plan to direct the folks at Rubifruit to this thread, so remember… the fate of the universe is at stake.
Well, I cannot speak to the exchange. But the reason I find the Lady so compelling is her duality. Mortal/immortal. Omniscient/ignorant. Material/physical. Almost desperately lonely/craves nothing more than solitude. And the fact that I can’t tell if she’s an unreliable narrator or telling the perfect truth at all times. What she represents is simultaneously repelling and intriguing at the same time. The juxtaposition heightens the tension to a razor’s edge.
The lady is a very exclusive as in her traits as a character which makes her a very interesting character
she seems to have knowledge above any other and she wishes not to abuse her power
her being a women shows against all stereotypes set out on women
showing a more realistic view of how both genders are as equal
Well the main characters in your comic are all strong independent and intelligent women. Rona in particular impresses me, because she is the ‘mundane’ in all this, yet very much the explorer. What makes the women of this comic stand out is that their being women is not a Point. They just happen to be women, and they act and react to the situations according to a whole package of emotions, world views and the likes, not any stereotype or how it ‘ought to be’ or whatever.
(I am leaving out the Lady out of this, as I feel she is more the object of the mystery than the subject. Plus my favourite is Rona!)
As for why it belongs in the exchange? It is a good comic, and despite my dislike of Poser-rendered comics aesthetically, the post-processing of the images more than makes up for the shortcomings of the medium, adding atmosphere. The choice of framing in every panel is excellent in my opinion, picking the most interesting angle.
As for the writing, it just keeps me coming back for more, and wait impatiently for the next installment, it doesn’t fall into clichés, rather sidesteps and deals with issues in a roundabout way, instead of using stereotypes or doing the exact opposite. It builds a whole universe with consistent (if sometimes confusing) rules.
Quality comic + quality women = ?? 😀
The characters, male and female, are fully established in the dialogue. I have to admit that there are times when a character is first introduced that I am not sure what gender they are. The Frenchman Patrice, for example, I thought was a woman. And not just because of his name. I was uncertain about the three characters who were hunting Fang for a long time, until the story fully developed and it became clear.
I do not think that this is a negative. I’m not trying to say the characters are androgonous, completely the oposite. I’m trying to say that they do not always follow traditional roles. The females hunting Fang are a good example. Normally I would not expect to see women in a lynch party. I think I commented before how refreshing it was to see women acting as stupidly as men can. But when I first saw the characters brandishing weapons I just assumed that they were men. This is my problem. I think that it is great that Blake can show realistic characters acting in a nontraditional way. He is challenging his audience.
My advice to Rubifruit is to only select “The Twilight Lady” to allow to run on their system if they are sure that they want a thoughtfull, well written and drawn comic which challenges their readers to think as well as enjoy their comics.
Good luck Blake!
If twighlight lady was made into a movie who would play her? I cant think of anyone other than Angelina Jolie or …well…Angelina Jolie. Sexy creepy kinda thing. But she is a well written ORIGINAL character. and I like rona as well, i love her ability to have an open mind and yet remain grounded.
I honestly am a newer reader, I just started reading not even two weeks ago, however, after reading through the archives, I have found an intense respect for the story line. The characters, the women included, are not separate from each other or the plot, the story is the main character of this, not Rona, not the Lady. It’s important to recall, that a strong character is nothing without a strong plot behind her, both of which are well captured here. None of the characters are there to be eye candy, they look and act like people, including the new, whinier blonde girl Whisper. Rona’s character is particularly interesting, through her journey, she’s falling into a spiral, where she finds this amazing, and wants to share this with everyone around her, almost forcing these new sights on them and pushing them to see things, that most would be content not seeing, possibly creating more conflict. She’s not a hero, none of them are. She’s a living creature with thoughts desires and ideas. ***This comic shows the blur between the concept of good, evil, living and dead, as neither Rona nor the Lady are particularly good or evil.*** However beyond this point, I feel that there is pages more to say, but that the others have already said a good deal of this. This is an original idea that isn’t just your run of the mill fantasy or sci-fi, or manga for that matter. It’s a whole new genre of modern fantasy that deserves to be shared.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful, intelligent responses, everyone. Here’s a happy ending to the story… I just got an e-mail from Rachel Nabors at Rubifruit saying I’ve been approved. And she mentioned having read this thread, so I owe ya all one.
Oh btw, Nichola… yes I agree, Jolie would be perfect. Even that weird accent she puts on for certain roles would be somewhat appropriate for the Lady (though not that appropriate for some of those other roles!).
Other possible choices? Cate Blanchett, perhaps. She certainly has the chops. And here’s a not-so-obvious one which for some reason I quite like – Gillian Anderson. I’m not sure why, but I saw the new X-Files movie recently and couldn’t help thinking the older she gets, the more she appears to resemble the Lady!
I’ll probably change my mind later but how about Jennifer Connelly?
Or maybe Penélope Cruz? She was good in Volver.
I can see this is going to merit a thread of its own. 🙂
You’re probably right there. 🙂
I found it somewhat strange that I was never approached and asked why my story was approprate for Rubifruit. Maybe I present myself as a more girly creator? I know I elected to use my female characters in the banners for that site… and more pink… just to suit the overall theme of the site and the banners that went through it. But my story, the original characters introduced are male. The first woman you meet is undercover as a guy. Effectively too, I had most of my readers fooled… I’m writing action fantasy, not a romance… of my female characters, most of them suffer quite a bit in the beginning, though there are several of them, and several of them are strong female characters.
Since most of the Rubifruit stuff is romance… and I’m not… I quite expected to be asked those questions, too.
And I could have. I don’t write outstanding women. I write a wide specrum of them. I have warrior women who don’t wear chainmail bikinis, magicians and just… girls. Likewise, I write a variety of men. I felt that I could fit into the exchange because I wrote something that wasn’t just THERE IS ROMANTIC TENSION… to appeal to the women who want action, drama, excitement that isn’t demeaning to them.
It looks to me like you’re doing something similar: presenting women as real people inside of a fantasy universe. You’re building strong characters. And that’s why I’d feel you fit into the exchange. Maybe we’re not doing romance and hearts and flowers, maybe you’re doing something dark. (I’ve read only some of the beginning, I’m afraid.) But it doesn’t mean dark can’t stand out to women. In fact, I kind of roll my eyes at all the girly romance manga that comes through. I’m a woman and what I want to read is dark fantasy that portrays women in a non sex-idol light.
I’ll be glad to see you showing up on the randomized banners, something a little more gritty, and a little more down to earth fantasy. Feels like urban fantasy, anyway.
I enjoy reading it.
Still, sometimes I wonder–maybe someday someone should make an exchange. “Stories that are made to appeal to women who want to read kick-ass action, drama, excitement and don’t want the mush and romance but don’t want the dollification of female characters in most stories done by men…” Shame it’d be too long of a title.
Anyway, I’ll be glad to see you around, it’ll be a reminder that not all good things for women have to be mushy and bright and shiny. 🙂 I’ve enjoyed what I read so far and I’ll probably be back when I have more time for reading comics and shouldn’t be procrastinating on my own. >.>