Elaine Lee: Starstruck
Tags: Comic, graphic novel, starstuck, elaine lee
Fans have been yearning for years for a hardcover volume of Starstruck. However their long wait is over, since an IDW published collection will hit stores in April. Writer Elaine Lee has lived with these characters for longer than anyone though, and she isn’t finished with them. Starstruck debuted as a play, and was then published as a comic in the early 1980s. The science fiction story is told in a nonlinear fashion, with a vast cast of characters including multiple female heroines. Starstruck was ahead of its time when it first came out, so reading the book today, it feels very contemporary.
In comics, Starstruck remains Lee’s best known creation, but it’s far from her only one. She collaborated with her Starstruck artist, the great Michael William Kaluta, on short stories for The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine. There was Vamps - a mini-series she did for Vertigo about a group of female vampires who take to the road on motorcycles after killing their male master - which spawned two sequels, Vamps: Hollywood & Vein and Vamps: Pumpkin Time. There was Saint Sinner, a book she collaborated on with Clive Barker for Marvel, BrainBanx, a great mini-series from DC’s short-lived science fiction imprint Helix, and Steeltown Rockers, a rare slice of life mini-series from Marvel comics about a group of teenagers forming a band. And the aforementioned are just a few of her many post-Starstruck projects.
It’s been far too long since there was a brand new Elaine Lee-written comic book on the stands, but in addition to the hardcover collection of Starstruck, there’s also a new Honey West comic, which Lee is writing for Moonstone Press. She took time out to talk with us over e-mail.
ALEX DUEBEN: Now Starstruck has a somewhat complicated publishing history, to say the least. But it started out as a play. What we’re you trying to do originally? What was this odd science fiction play you wanted to make?
ELAINE LEE: I was in my mid-twenties, living in New York, and acting in a soap opera called The Doctors, which paid well, but was not very challenging work. While this was going on, I was also in an acting class with a bunch of really terrific young actors and we all became very close. About 2/3rds of these actors were women and, at the time, there weren't a lot of great parts for women. In TV and film, they were casting at least 11 roles for men for every role for a woman. We started talking about forming our own theatre company and writing our own material. Around the same time, I discovered Heavy Metal Magazine, which featured the work of some incredible European comic artists. My Dad had been a big science fiction fan and, when I was a kid, he had taken me to sci-fi and horror movies and had bought me comics, but I gradually lost interest in comics during the teen years. The stuff in Heavy Metal completely blew me away and I wanted to do a play that was something like the stories they published.
So... my friends and I formed Wild Hair Productions and produced three plays. Starstruck was the third of these plays and it was written for the actors in that company. The idea was to do something really wild, so that we could all show off and do parts we would normally never be cast for. I was five feet tall and weighed about 90 pounds soaking wet, but I wanted to be an amazon starship captain, so Galatia 9 was the part I came up with for myself. Being completely flat-chested, it was easy for me to build a fake breast into one side of my costume and look like I only had one. Some of the other characters were a telepathic space nun who got knocked around by psychic vibrations, a sexy pleasure droid reprogrammed to be a brainy science officer, a vain villain with a split personality, and an evil seductress traveling in a ship made of the living flesh of millions of Galactic Girl Guides. The play was really a humorous take on all the sci-fi movies and TV shows I saw as a kid, with a generous helping of Heavy Metal thrown into the mix. Boy, was it fun to do!
So... my friends and I formed Wild Hair Productions and produced three plays. Starstruck was the third of these plays and it was written for the actors in that company. The idea was to do something really wild, so that we could all show off and do parts we would normally never be cast for. I was five feet tall and weighed about 90 pounds soaking wet, but I wanted to be an amazon starship captain, so Galatia 9 was the part I came up with for myself. Being completely flat-chested, it was easy for me to build a fake breast into one side of my costume and look like I only had one. Some of the other characters were a telepathic space nun who got knocked around by psychic vibrations, a sexy pleasure droid reprogrammed to be a brainy science officer, a vain villain with a split personality, and an evil seductress traveling in a ship made of the living flesh of millions of Galactic Girl Guides. The play was really a humorous take on all the sci-fi movies and TV shows I saw as a kid, with a generous helping of Heavy Metal thrown into the mix. Boy, was it fun to do!
AD:
How did it end up as a comic?
EL:
Though I created the Starstruck world, characters and plot, my sister Susan Norfleet and husband (now Ex) Dale Place wrote some of the original play's dialogue with me. Susan and I were sitting in an Upper West Side restaurant called The Library, talking about costumes and props for the play. We had a stack of science fiction magazines on the table. So, this big, bearded guy is sitting at the bar and he walks over to us and says, "Hi! You girls science fiction fans?" He told us he was an artist and I wrote down his name and number on an index card, along with the note "might be of help with the next play." A week or so later, I walked into West Side Comics and saw a poster for a book called The Studio. On the poster was a painting I had seen and loved on the back cover of Heavy Metal and it was by Michael Kaluta... the guy we'd met in the restaurant! I called and told him I was leaving him comp tickets for our currant play at the box office. He came to see it, loved it, and was gradually sucked into doing the Starstruck poster, then the costumes, then the sets.
After the run of the play, the option was picked up by a producer, but it quickly became clear that he wasn't going to do anything with it. Because it would be a year before the option was up, Michael and I secretly began work on a Starstruck comic during this time. Michael drew the characters in Starstruck to look like the actors in the original production.
After the run of the play, the option was picked up by a producer, but it quickly became clear that he wasn't going to do anything with it. Because it would be a year before the option was up, Michael and I secretly began work on a Starstruck comic during this time. Michael drew the characters in Starstruck to look like the actors in the original production.
AD:
Comics was a new form for you. Even after writing plays, was it intimidating to craft a story in this new medium?
EL:
Not intimidating, but challenging. Whether you are writing a play, a screenplay, of a comic script, you are writing dialogue and describing visuals, so the forms have much in common. One big difference is the amount of dialogue in a comic versus a play. Plays are all about the talk and a character might have a monologue that's a page and a half long. You can't have that with a comic, though we did include one scene in the graphic novel where Brucilla's dialogue balloons begin to crowd Galatia off the page, in order to show that the character was a loudmouth.
Other differences? During the early days, in a moment of frustration, I remember yelling, "I can't think in little boxes!" That stopped being a problem pretty quickly. I had to learn to see long shots, after being used to seeing characters relating to each other from only a few feet away. You can show amazing things in a comic that you could never do on stage. You don't want to fill up lots of pages with talking heads.
Other differences? During the early days, in a moment of frustration, I remember yelling, "I can't think in little boxes!" That stopped being a problem pretty quickly. I had to learn to see long shots, after being used to seeing characters relating to each other from only a few feet away. You can show amazing things in a comic that you could never do on stage. You don't want to fill up lots of pages with talking heads.
AD:
What was the process of putting the comic together with Kaluta like?
EL:
The process changed over the years. At first, we would work in the same room together. I would be scribbling script on a yellow legal pad (no computers in those days), while Michael sat doing layouts at his drawing table. I would often stand behind his shoulder, as he did layouts, cutting out some of the excess dialogue on the spot, as I saw what he was drawing. By the time we got to Brucilla's story, the third section in the original graphic novel, we changed things up. We knew the story would revolve around a space battle, so I asked Michael, "What would you really like to draw?" He said things like, "I'd like to have the hull blown off the ship, so I could draw the characters piloting the ship's skeleton, protected only by its force shield." So I took three or four things he wanted to draw, and shaped the story around those things.
By the time we started working on Starstruck: The Expanding Universe for Dark Horse, I was writing at home and sending him scripts. I had a small child at the time, so it had to happen that way. And we both knew the universe so well by then that we didn't need to be in the room together.
By the time we started working on Starstruck: The Expanding Universe for Dark Horse, I was writing at home and sending him scripts. I had a small child at the time, so it had to happen that way. And we both knew the universe so well by then that we didn't need to be in the room together.
AD:
Now again there is a crazy publishing history with multiple companies behind the book but what we’re now seeing from IDW is the definitive version. This is the whole enchilada?
EL:
Nope. Not the whole enchilada, but enough to satisfy your enchilada craving! This 360 page book is about a third of what we have planned. We are already planning for the next installment. But Starstruck Deluxe Edition is the definitive version, insofar as it is the version of these stories that we're completely satisfied with. Lee Moyer's painted color is wonderful!
AD:
Now Starstruck is a pretty nonlinear project, which I love, and I have to say that the structure and the feeling, the complexity, how it moves around, it really feels contemporary
EL:
We've been told "Starstruck was ahead of its time," which usually just means "no money for creators!" There were actually some comics fans who were furious that we had a non-linear story, as no one in American comics was doing that at the time. And we had an "ensemble cast" of characters, many of them female, rather than one main guy. These days, with popular TV shows like Lost and Heroes, people are used to non-linear stories.
Remember, when Starstruck first came out, there was no Buffy the Vampire Slayer, no Xena Warrior Princess, no Power Puff Girls. Few fantasy/sci-fi/horror movies with strong female leads, like Underworld or the Resident Evil series. People thought we had some political agenda, because we had a lot of female characters. Now it's not unusual.
Remember, when Starstruck first came out, there was no Buffy the Vampire Slayer, no Xena Warrior Princess, no Power Puff Girls. Few fantasy/sci-fi/horror movies with strong female leads, like Underworld or the Resident Evil series. People thought we had some political agenda, because we had a lot of female characters. Now it's not unusual.
AD:
It’s been about thirty years that you’ve worked on this, mostly off, but you keep coming back to it. Do you ever get tired of it?
EL:
Because we have so many characters, it's easy to switch between them and feel like you're working on a new project. For example, after doing the play and the Marvel graphic novel, we started doing a series of Epic comics. I was sort of getting tired of the girls, so we took a background character, Harry Palmer, brought him front and center, and did a couple of books that told his story. Harry may be my favorite character in the whole series. We're hoping to do the "definitive version" of his story next.
AD:
I’m sure you have a very different perspective than you did back then. Is there anything you’re conscious of or discovered about the book recently preparing this new edition?
EL:
A completely different perspective! I was 25 when I wrote the first little scene that eventually grew into the Starstruck play. Now I have three adult sons. Some of it I can tell a much younger woman wrote; those first stories of Galatia and Brucilla, and of Kalif and his sister Ronnie. Then the material written during the Dark Horse years, most it centered on Mary Meda (AKA Glorianna) and her family, was written when I was the mother of a very young child. If I were just beginning to write Starstruck now, it would be a very different story. I don't have any problem putting myself back in the space to continue writing new material, though I did change a few tiny things for this last version.
I've discovered new things all along that I hadn't quite realized we'd put in Starstruck. A fan once approached me at a convention and said, "Why do all of your female characters have daddy problems?" I said, "Oh my god, they do!" I hadn't realized it. It was unplanned, completely unconscious. My own father died when I was 13, so that probably has something to do with it.
Going back to work on it after quite a few years, I think it holds up amazingly well, probably because it had a retro feel in the first place. It's space opera, not hard science fiction, which also helps. Assuming we'll get to finish everything we have planned, there are some things I had hoped to go into that we probably won't. Things I became obsessed with at an earlier age that don't seem so interesting now.
I've discovered new things all along that I hadn't quite realized we'd put in Starstruck. A fan once approached me at a convention and said, "Why do all of your female characters have daddy problems?" I said, "Oh my god, they do!" I hadn't realized it. It was unplanned, completely unconscious. My own father died when I was 13, so that probably has something to do with it.
Going back to work on it after quite a few years, I think it holds up amazingly well, probably because it had a retro feel in the first place. It's space opera, not hard science fiction, which also helps. Assuming we'll get to finish everything we have planned, there are some things I had hoped to go into that we probably won't. Things I became obsessed with at an earlier age that don't seem so interesting now.
AD:
Recently you also did an audio version of the play. How did that end up happening and what was it like revisiting the play?
EL:
Weirdly, Michael and I received phone calls from IDW and the AudioComics Company within two weeks of each other. Something must've been in the air. It was just time to do Starstruck again. While we worked on the new comics for IDW, I wrote an updated version of the play that reflected details of the universe we had created for the comics - Earth becomes Amercadia, that sort of thing - then took that and made changes for the audio version. The play was very visual and physical, lots of slapstick humor. It all had to be verbal for the audio version. Dwight Dixon, our composer for the original production of the play, updated his incredible music for the audio play. The comic series started its run in August 2009, on the same day we performed a staged reading as a benefit in Big Sur.
The most difficult thing about the audio production was getting used to new actors in roles that had been written for old friends, as remarkable as these talented people were! Because Michael had drawn the characters to look like these friends, that's just who they were. Once I met and got to know them, the problem evaporated.
By the way, next month, on April 16, Michael and I will be at I-Con with the guys from AudioComics to do a live performance of a new Starstruck audio play, directed by Bill Dufris and starring the voice of Aeon Flux, Denise Poirier, as evil seductress Verloona Ti. My son Brennan Lee Mulligan will play the role of Rootersnoos ferret Jimmy the Snout, and the very funny young women from his NYC sketch comedy troupe Pink Axe will play three pleasure droids and three Galactic Girl Guides. We'll be casting some small roles from among the con's attendees. Anyone who wants to submit an audition by MP3 should go to the AudioComics site for details at http://www.audiocomicscompany.com/.
The most difficult thing about the audio production was getting used to new actors in roles that had been written for old friends, as remarkable as these talented people were! Because Michael had drawn the characters to look like these friends, that's just who they were. Once I met and got to know them, the problem evaporated.
By the way, next month, on April 16, Michael and I will be at I-Con with the guys from AudioComics to do a live performance of a new Starstruck audio play, directed by Bill Dufris and starring the voice of Aeon Flux, Denise Poirier, as evil seductress Verloona Ti. My son Brennan Lee Mulligan will play the role of Rootersnoos ferret Jimmy the Snout, and the very funny young women from his NYC sketch comedy troupe Pink Axe will play three pleasure droids and three Galactic Girl Guides. We'll be casting some small roles from among the con's attendees. Anyone who wants to submit an audition by MP3 should go to the AudioComics site for details at http://www.audiocomicscompany.com/.
AD:
You’re also writing Honey West and I was wondering if you wanted to talk a little about that book and who she is and how you got involved?
EL:
I got involved with Honey West when Trina Robbins accidentally CCd me on an email to editor Lori Gentile at Moonstone and I replied, "I want to do Honey West!" (Only a slight exaggeration. Trina had recommended me while accidentally CCing me.)
Honey West was a blond bombshell pulp detective in novels by G.G. Fickling (husband and wife team Gloria and Forest Fickling), published in the 1950s and 60s. A TV series, based on Honey and starring Anne Francis, appeared in the mid sixties. The new comic series from Moonstone is probably based more on the novels than on the TV series. Honey, as she appears in the books, was much sexier and the side characters more interesting, though we did let her keep her pet Ocelot and her convertible from the TV show. My Honey West story is titled Murder on Mars. It sends Honey undercover to solve a murder on the set of a low budget sci-fi film. Ronn Sutton is the artist on the series and the covers are by Lee Moyer, who did the wonderful painted color for Starstruck.
I really loved working on Honey. As a kid, I was very much affected by old sci-fi films like Queen of Outer Space[/] and used that as a template for my story's low budget sci-fi film Amazons of Mars![/] Weirdly, while doing research for Honey, I learned that in order to save the production money, Queen of Outer Space reused costumes and props from Forbidden Planet, a film that starred young Anne Francis. Everything's connected.
I also have a short story “Mischief” coming out any day now in a collection from Moonstone called Chicks in Capes. And I'm working on a web comic with my son Brennan. Also look for a couple of new audio plays, which should come out in the next year.
Honey West was a blond bombshell pulp detective in novels by G.G. Fickling (husband and wife team Gloria and Forest Fickling), published in the 1950s and 60s. A TV series, based on Honey and starring Anne Francis, appeared in the mid sixties. The new comic series from Moonstone is probably based more on the novels than on the TV series. Honey, as she appears in the books, was much sexier and the side characters more interesting, though we did let her keep her pet Ocelot and her convertible from the TV show. My Honey West story is titled Murder on Mars. It sends Honey undercover to solve a murder on the set of a low budget sci-fi film. Ronn Sutton is the artist on the series and the covers are by Lee Moyer, who did the wonderful painted color for Starstruck.
I really loved working on Honey. As a kid, I was very much affected by old sci-fi films like Queen of Outer Space[/] and used that as a template for my story's low budget sci-fi film Amazons of Mars![/] Weirdly, while doing research for Honey, I learned that in order to save the production money, Queen of Outer Space reused costumes and props from Forbidden Planet, a film that starred young Anne Francis. Everything's connected.
I also have a short story “Mischief” coming out any day now in a collection from Moonstone called Chicks in Capes. And I'm working on a web comic with my son Brennan. Also look for a couple of new audio plays, which should come out in the next year.
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