Hey, Ladies!



"It's okay, luv; it's 'ow we say 'ello."

 I like to pride myself on being an objective and progressive man, and story teller; whose mind is set to the story, and his craft, and is immune to the blatant fanboy market driven cliches that seem to turn the world of comics, games, and entertainment. I like to think the women of my little universes are diverse, unique, and represent a touch or realism - even for a scifi action comedy.

I like to think I'm above all these things.

Of course, I'm also bombarded by things like this all over the office, every day, all week.

Yeah, Lara Croft is hot. She's rich. She's a bad-ass. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for strong leading women; both on and off the screen, page, monitor.

But, I guess, with so much of this all in my face all the time - and catching my inner fanboy slipping out, some - I got myself to thinking about women in fiction and media; how they are portrayed, what we buy as plausible, and how that can affect women who constantly feel they have to measure up against these completely unreal expectations created by mass media and entertainment.

Perhaps I should first come clean. As a younger man, I was raised by the notion that 99.5% of all things sexual, kinky, etc. came from men. Women were loving, emotional creatures who didn't get stimulated, worked up, or whatever; it was the guy that first engaged all these things. Ladies didn't have sexual thoughts on their own. They weren't evil and corrupt, like men. They didn't, generally, fight, weren't usually into guns, or any of the various things that made up the other .5% that was not men. That .5%? Yeah, well...

Yes, okay, okay; I've learned since then. Girls can be as down right dirty as us; mean, sneaky, and all that. Eventually, yes, you all came down off your pedestals and joined the human race. (Take note; that won't stop me from being a polite gentleman, though.)

At any rate, I've been getting to think on all the women who have been in and out of my life -at all levels of relationships, and what made them each special and unique to me. They've come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, with different temperaments, desires, perversions (That doesn't mean "bad", though.), and ways of thought. They have been smart, dumb, seductive, physical, and just about everything else in between.

So, inspired by these things, I went back and looked, again, at the cast of women in Galactic Gun: The Adventures of Justin Bailey; seeing if there was a way I could flesh them out, break the general stamp and mold comic book ladies are made from, and spice them up with a little more character. So, I give you the following preview of The Ladies of the Galactic Gun...




The Ladies of The Galactic Gun

  We've already met two of this lovely bunch; Mrs. C and Kali. The rest will be coming through the course of the next few stories. Each will play a pivotal role in their respective arcs. And each will have, at least at some level of interesting back story that will lay a more plausible ground to who they are, and why.




Galactic Gun: The Crusaders

  Of special interest are to particular charatcers who are slated for, hopefully, a 2014 release. Titled Galactic Gun: The Crusaders, it sees a misfit pair of young ladies named Angel and Jinn as a team set out to do noble tasks. Well, sort of...

Originally this was my fanboy title. Two young, attractive, strong women who are constantly conflicted with themselves and each other. Guns and swords entangled as they plodded off to danger and adventure while exploring their feelings toward others, as well as each other.

Yeah, this was going to be my fanboy swan song. That is, until one time gaming musical sensation Rebecca Mayes, a reviewer for The Escapist, did a song for her review of Velvet Assassin.

With its lyrics and how they perfectly molded to each character - not to mention the questioning of the image of women in these genres, I was moved to shelve these two; hoping to maybe revitalize the idea down the road, when I felt there was more to give them but a lesbian bent to help sell books.

But they've never really left the ensemble of characters that make up the Galactic Gun. And, so, fueled by the need to challenge the accepted doctrine of both my misconceptions of women, as well as my industry, I've begun retooling them. I want them to butt up against every cliche we tolerate and expect from them. I want them to reinvent the idea of the action heroine.

Lofty goal? I suppose. I expect, along the way, if I can get this to work, I'm going to piss off all my liberal, conservative, straight, and gay readers... and all in one shot, at some point. But then, if I do, that means we're all thinking. And I'd be doing my job...