Today I would like to bring you an exclusive interview with the creator of the ‘Female Force’ comic book series
Darren G. Davis of Bluewater Productions.
I would like to thank Darren for taking some time to answer some questions on the Princess Diana comic book that is due for release on July 29th.
Patricia : What was the inspiration behind the Female Force series of strong women ?
Darren : The series started off because we were tired of people getting their information from just the headlines. We started with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin comics. People either really like them or totally dislike them. Most of the time when you ask why, it is because they are making judgments based on titbits heard in the media. Both of these women have done pretty amazing things to get to the places where they are at today. Then we added Michelle Obama and Caroline Kennedy, both are strong women who have made a difference in society. These comics have taken a life of their own and now about female empowerment. They show girls that they can become President of the United States one day. We have published comic books like "10th Muse" and "Legend of Isis," both are titles that are about strong women who make a difference, so doing these comics about real women seemed organic for us.
Patricia : What inspired you to include Princess Diana in the Female Force series ?
Darren : Just because he life was a living comic book, we really want to touch on the human nature of Diana. She was an amazing humanitarian, who did things outside the box. I admire her courage in her role after she was separated from the monarchy. She continues to inspire, empower and help people even after her early death.
Patricia : Have you always admired Princess Diana and her work for Charities ?
Darren : Like most people I have admired Diana for the work she has done in the world. Not only for her work with the landmines but her work with HIV/AIDS. She did a lot with her time. She really brought awareness to everything she did even after she left the monarchy.
Patricia : How long did the planning on Diana’s comic take to put together ?
Darren : Each comic book takes roughly about 30 days to do. The "Female Force" titles take a little longer due to the facet we want to make sure they are 100% accurate. They are a little harder as well, because we are condensing these women’s lives into 22 pages of a comic book. This book is scheduled in July and people can order it at any comic book store in the UK and US. It will also be available on Amazon.com (in both the UK and US). To find a comic book store near you call 1-888-COMIC-BOOK. We are about to get the script this week from the writer Chris Arrant, then we will pass it onto the interior artist Andrew Yerrakadu and colorist Kirsty Swan. It is a whole process!
Patricia : Could you tell us a little bit about the people who worked on Diana’s comic ?
Darren : Chris Arrant is the writer of the book who is not only a comic book writer but a journalist. This was import to us, because we need these comics to have a lot of attention to realism. Who else is better than a journalist, who has to make sure all the facts are correct. Andrew Yerrakadu is the penciller. Andrew’s take on Diana is amazing. Not only is he a talented comic book artist, but can do likenesses. We also have Kirsty Swan who has colored a bunch of books at Bluewater, including the "Female Force: Sarah Palin" comic book. Topped off by another amazing cover by Vinnie Tartamella. ( seen below)
Patricia : Was attention to detail important when the comic was being created ?
Darren : The cover artist’s name is Vinnie Tartamella, who lives in Florida in the USA. He started off working for us back when we were doing a series with film legend Ray Harryhausen. We asked him to do the Michelle Obama cover and that image has taken off. He also has respect for the princess which is another reason we asked him to be part of the "Female Force: Princess Diana" one shot. He took extra time with this one, knowing Diana still has a huge following. He did the extra bits of details in the crown as well as using the light blue (a color she really liked wearing). We always make sure that we add as much detail to the comics as we can. We have only 22 pages for the comics, so we have to make sure that we add enough without crowing the story.
Patricia : The artist has done a great job re – creating Diana in comic form.
Do you have an exclusive from inside the comic that I can share with my website’s visitors ?
Darren : We will be touching more about her life after the monarchy. We will have a bunch of pages about the marriage to Prince Charles and we will have an amazing Splash page of the wedding itself! We really wanted to focus on a lot of what she accomplished later in her life.
Patricia : Do you think it is important for Diana’s memory to be preserved for future generations ?
Darren : I think it is telling her story to a different demographic. Comic books are a great tool for people. I had a hard time reading as a kid and comic books really helped me to read so much better. We want these books available not only to kids but the adults that love and cherish her. Tribute sounds so final, this woman still to this day makes a difference in our lives.
Patricia : Where do you think the comic will be most popular USA or UK ?
Darren : I think the Princess Diana book will do really well in the UK. We are pushing it really hard over there just as hard as we are pushing it in the US. We have set up with both Amazon.com and Amazon.UK to sell the books. We are also getting a lot of press right now in the UK press world. So we will have to wait and see where the most sales are going to be.
Patricia : Thank you Darren for taking time of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us, and thank you also for the exclusive preview of some of the artist’s artwork of Diana from inside the comic.
*Please do not use the above picture on any other websites*
*It was sent to my website specifically for use with this interview*
