Lady Robotika

Jane and Bill have some personal appearances coming up to promote The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Comic.

- Friday the 28th – Brave New World, Valencia – 7-10 pm

- Saturday the 29th – Long Beach Comic-Con – 1- 3 pm (with a panel at 11am)

- Sunday the 30th – Metro Entertainment, Santa Barbara – 11 am – 2 pm

New interview with Bill over at The Morton Report.

Read the full interview HERE.

Fun interview with Jane and Bill and Rock Book Show

Jane will be at San Francisco Star Trek Con on March 11th-13th.

More details HERE.

Hi Cyberfriends!
Wait, it’s 2011? How did that happen?
2010 was a year of moving, movie-making, new frontiers, disaster, recovery and introspection for me. Below, a recap:

Travis and I made the move from Madison, Wisconsin to San Francisco, CA. SF has always been my favorite city in the US, so it is thrilling to be living here. My big sister Meg, who was previously living outside of Portland, Oregon, joined us and lives in the middle floor of the house. Trav and I are on the top floor, and our recording studio is on the bottom floor. Between us we have SIX DOGS, which is smelly and noisy, but FUN!

I worked on three fantastic independent films in 2010, directed by three wonderful people…

The first, Doggie Boogie, was a blast. It is a family comedy about competitive dog-dancing. It was shot in San Francisco, and was written and directed by my neighbor (and now friend) Romanus Wolter. This is his very first experience as a screenwriter/director, and I am so proud to be part of it. The film is funny, sweet and visually stunning. In the film I play the bossy-but-kind Dottie, who runs the ShanGrrrLa Dog Spa.

Happily, in addition to acting, I got to contribute the THEME SONG to the movie! I am so proud of it. If you’re curious, you can purchase it on Itunes.

The second film I did is called The Casserole Club, written and directed by Steve Balderson. You may know that I have been in several of Steve’s film (I’m part of his “stable”!). This one is based on real-life events. A group of neighbors form a weekly dinner club where everyone brings a dish. The club ends up morphing into a swinger’s party, with long-reaching (and sometimes tragic) consequences for all involved. In this film I play Marjorie Lavon, a churchlady-type that ends up at one of the parties, and is appalled to discover what’s going on.

We were having so much fun on set daily, that the cast (with me and a few others leading the way) ended up filming a very funny series of fake commercials each night after we wrapped. Because the movie was very casserole-centric, we started making faux-ads about PYREX dishes (you know, the baking pans made of special glass that can go in the oven and the freezer). No, it doesn’t make sense, it was just a whim that turned into an obsession!

The commercials came out so well that we are now shooting some additional footage to link them all together. The finished short film, tentatively entitled THE PYREX TALES, will be my directorial debut!

The final movie of 2010 I acted in was Billy Clift’s “I WANT TO GET MARRIED!”. Billy’s previous film, BABY JANE, was fantastic, and I am a big fan of his work, so I was immensely flattered to be asked to be a part of IWTGM, which is about a shy, adorable, successful gay man that wants to get married! It is set in California during the days of Prop 8, and is touching, thoughtful and funny. I play Tess, the lead character’s invaluable secretary.

Besides all these films, I also had my THEATRICAL DEBUT in the Golden Girls Christmas Episodes, which ran (live) in San Francisco the month of December. The Girls were played (hilariously) by drag queens. I was so nervous about this (afraid I’d forget my lines) but it ended up going great, and the experience really helped me understand acting more.

After three years of threatening to do so, we finally got my Lady Robotika comic book series out there. This comic is a collaboration between me and my dear friend Bill Morrison. We’ve been working on it FOREVER, so it was especially thrilling to see it become a reality. Making comics is a lot tougher than it looks. One of the biggest problems we faced was trying to get the artwork done. To do it quickly, you need lots of artists. We did that for the first two issues and ended up spending over $5.00 per copy getting the books out. Since comic books wholesale for just over $1.00, this ended up being crazy-people math! I am hopeless at artwork, so now Bill has taken over the art 100%. That means we have a new problem: because Bill has a REAL job (working for The Simpsons/Futurama) his time is extremely limited, and production of Lady Robotika has ground to a screeching halt. We are determined to press forward, even if we get out just one episode a year! I love our story of the sci-fi heroine Lady R (based on moi, of course!) so much, that I wrote a musical about it. Some day, Dog willing, that musical will get made. Meanwhile, my job is to nag Bill to DRAW FASTER!

The Go-Go’s had been slated to do our Farewell Tour in July when Fate interceded. As I’m sure you know, on May 21, the night after my birthday, I fell off a cliff while hiking at midnight. We were having a light saber battle (I know, I’m so mature) and on the way back down the very hilly park, I plunged to meet my destiny: a ruptured ACL (knee tendon). I also rolled through Poison Oak during my descent, which made the ordeal much much worse!

So in June I had a ACL transplant surgery, and have been recovering ever since. It is a long process, and I am happy to report that I now get around pretty well, though my knee never has felt “right” again and I often limp. While this is not ideal, it is much better than what the alternative could easily have been: death, becoming paralyzed, etc.

In September I informed the girls and management that I was recovered enough to reschedule the Farewell Tour, if everyone wanted to do so. We are now talking about doing our final tour this Summer (2011).

I would just like to state for the record, that my choice would be to tour constantly, and to never retire from being a Go-Go. Please understand that this is a band with five members, and decisions are reached with everyone’s input and wishes. I remain hopeful that the band is “The Beast That Wouldn’t Die”, and that there are further adventures in store for the five of us in the future!

Having spent many months in bed last year, I had a lot of time to think and reflect on life and what it means, what I’m doing here, etc. I am newly determined to continue my course of bringing fun to the world through my performances and writing, of striving to be a kind thoughtful person, of trying to make a difference through my work with various charitable organizations, and of working being a good friend and family member.

This seems like a pretty solid plan to me!
Happy New Year Everyone,
Jane

During Comic-Con International in San Diego, rock star, comics fan and now comics creator Jane Wiedlin (The Gogo’s) and comics creator Bill Morrison board the CBR Yacht to talk about their new Image Comics space dominatrix series “Lady Robotika” and to enjoy a drink or two.

Jane & Bill are at the West Hollywood Book Fair TODAY Sunday Sept 26th.

They will be located in the Comics Pavillion selling/signing Lady Robotika comics from 10am-6pm. More info available HERE.

Jane & Bill will be at the West Hollywood Book Fair on Sunday Sept 26th.

They will be located in the Comics Pavillion selling/signing Lady Robotika comics from 10am-6pm. More info available HERE.

Thanks to Chris Sims at Comics Alliance for the love!

Q: What are the best comics (ostensibly) “created” by people who are “celebrities” but not professional writers? — goodthingsulike

A: There’s been a bunch of books over the past few years where a celebrity has attached his or her name to a comic, with people country music star Trace Adkins (“Luke McBain”), actress Rashida Jones (“Frenemy of the State”), and Seth Green (“Freshmen”) attempting to use their star power to lure a crossover market into comic shops. And while I generally skip out on that sort of thing, the cream of the crop is pretty easy to pick out: Jane Wiedlin’s “Lady Robotika.”

And I’m not just saying that because I have a total crush on Jane Wiedlin, the cutest Go-Go, either, although I can definitely assure you that that is in fact the case. More than anything else, what makes me like it is that together with co-writer/artist Bill Morrison — the long-time writer and artist on “Simpsons Comics” whose involvement was a big part of getting me interested — Wiedlin has addressed the major problem with Celebrity Comics, which is that the celebrities in question aren’t actually in them.

Rather than just being a comic with her name above the title, “Lady Robotika” is actually about Jane Wiedlin. Specifically, it’s about her being kidnapped by aliens and going to space to battle an evil space emperor, a space dominatrix and her sexy space-soldiers, which are referred to as “Iron Maidens.” And that is awesome.

It’s also really funny. It’s a little heavy on the pop culture references, even for a book revolving around an alien society that’s built entirely around interpreting TV and radio transmissions from Earth, but when they hit, they’re pretty darn sharp:

Also, there’s the whole thing where Jane Wiedlin fights a space dominatrix. I cannot emphasize that point enough.

Great review for Issue #2 – “Of G-Strings and Galaxies” at Comics Bulletin:

Abducted by aliens loyal to a familiar looking reptilian dictator–no, not Cheney–Jane Wiedlin awakens on an extraterrestrial examination table and discovers a metallic shell grows over her left limb. Can things possibly get worse? You betcha.

Wiedlin and Morrison combine forces for a kitschy cool scifi pulp filled with sex, nanites and rock and roll. Again, I don’t know where the writers begin and end. I don’t know who wrote what, but I’m guessing Wiedlin had to at least sign off on the things that happen to her comic book avatar.

After an altercation in a forced concert, Jane ends up in the dungeon, and the singer/songwriter doesn’t skimp on abusing her character. Bettie Page lookalikes bring out the whips and a weird looking robot enters the abbatoir to induce even more pain.

Let me just point out that you’re not supposed to be taking this seriously. That’s why Jeff Moy is a perfect fit for the book. The Legion of Super-Heroes artist is known for his light, humorous touch. So although on the surface, there’s a ball-gag in Jane’s mouth, the Bettie Page Twins are serious about their work, the after effects of Jane’s torture amount to old-fashioned cross-hatchery on strategic exposures of her skin. Really. Don’t take this too seriously. Lady Robotika is meant to be a outrageous-anything-goes-science-fiction, and it succeeds beautifully.

Even the scene in which one of Jane’s band trades sexual favors with the dictator for her life should be enjoyed. Her name is T’antra. Come on. She had to end up in somebody’s bed. What’s surprising is that the creative team don’t simply use her as a throwaway gag. Instead, they make her an important figure in the story by having her lead the reader to a most awesome cliffhanger sporting a beloved sci-fi trope.

Issue #2 of Lady Robotika available at Tfaw.com