Lady Robotika

Photos from Whatever event!

Thanks to EVERYONE who come out to see us at the Whatever Comics book signing.

Thank you to Desmond Miller for taking photos!
For more photos from the event go HERE.

Few more pics

A few more photos from the book signing at Atlantis Fantasyworld!

Thanks for all the fun!

Philly.com

Nice review for Lady Robotika over at Philly.com

Former Go-Go Jane Wiedlin takes punk attitude to comics

By JEROME MAIDA
Philadelphia Daily News

ALTHOUGH “Jane Wiedlin’s Lady Robotika” is perfect reading for your summer “Vacation,” and Wiedlin and co-writer Bill Morrison seem to be screaming “We Got the Beat” with a story that flows surprisingly well, so far they are telling Comics Guy “Our Lips Are Sealed” regarding the future for the character and concept.

OK, that might not have been the wittiest line ever written, but it gets its point across, and you can tell I was at least trying to be witty about this book starring Wiedlin, former Go-Go’s guitarist. The same thing can be said about “Lady Robotika,” Wiedlin and Morrison’s initial effort.

This is not a book that will ever win any Eisners (the comic industry’s Oscar). But it is wildly imaginative, and Wiedlin and Morrison have a true love for the material and are doing the best they can with it. This isn’t a celebrity vanity project in which they’re just trying to throw something together and hope it eventually becomes a movie or TV show.

In fact, Wiedlin, who has been a regular at comic conventions for years, seems to have learned a bit about the craft along the way. The book is fun and solidly scripted.

One of the best ideas was for Wiedlin to be the star of the book, both as herself and as Lady Robotika. She comes across as extremely self-deprecating. There are many Go-Go’s inside jokes for die-hard fans, and even a scene in which Wiedlin, after being captured by aliens and stripped naked, makes a reference to her reputation for selling revealing photos of herself at conventions by saying, “What happened to my clothes? I know I have a reputation for being kinky, but this is ridiculous.” In another, where she has cried so much her mascara smears, she jokes that it could help her in the next phase of her career, since she’s “never tried shock rock. Could work.”

One of the linchpins of the story is the mystery as to whether the Lady Robotika scenes – in which Wiedlin portrays Robotika – are simply Wiedlin’s dreams or actually happening. We get a definitive answer by the end of issue #1 (by which time you can cut the tension with a knife), which ends with a surprising twist.

Again, this is pretty standard sci-fi stuff. Wiedlin’s obvious enthusiasm for the character and ability to make us laugh by laughing at herself sets it apart and has Comics Guy hoping we see much more of this character and concept in the future, maybe even on the big screen starring Wiedlin.

Comics Guy would go “Head Over Heels” for that one.

The Infinite Bookshelf

Lady Robotika gets some love over at The Infinite Bookshelf blog.

First of all, I didn’t get to Whatever… until Saturday. My tardiness wasn’t because I was slacking, it was because I was saving myself… for Jane Wiedlin!!! Yes, Jane Wiedlin from the Go-Go’s has a brand new comic book out and stopped in at Whatever… to sign copies of Lady Robotika #1. Her co-creator, Bill Morrison, was also signing, but I was so excited about seeing one of my former music idols that I barely said anything to him at all. (Sorry for being so rude, Mr. Morrison!) The fellows at the store took a picture of me with them, I hope it turned out okay. Maybe they will post it on Facebook or on their website. Speaking of their website, they just alerted me to the fact that I’ve also won a signed poster! Now you know why I love that store so much!!

Okay, so Lady Robotika is a lot of fun. The premise is, Jane Wiedlin is abducted by aliens and forced to perform for the alien emperor. By the end of the first book, however, she discovers that the aliens have also replaced her left arm with an entirely robotic one! I should note that this story is in flashback since the opening panels show Jane as “Lady Robotika” rushing in to save her human male (love?) interest. It’s a lot of fun and full of little pop and obscure references (like a Ziggy Stardust one on the cover and a reference to Trannyshack somewhere inside… I don’t know enough about Trannyshack to actually find it.) Along with the fun story, the art is really nice. Go on, Lady R!!

Check it out the rest of the blog HERE.

Comic-Con

Jane & Bill will be at the IMAGE booth at Comic-Con signing copies of Lady Robotika!

July 22 – Comic-Con
3:00-4:00pm: Fractured Fables (Doug TenNapel, Phil Hester, Bill Morrison, Derek McCulloch, Anthony Peruzzo, Ben Templesmith, Ted McKeever, Camilla D’Errico)
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July 23 – Comic-Con
- 11:00-12:00pm: Jane Wiedlin, Bill Morrison, Jim Silke
- 4:00-5:00pm: Jane Wiedlin, Bill Morrison, Jim Silke
- Eisner Awards – Bill Morrison (host)
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July 24 – Comic-Con
3:00-4:00pm: Jane Wiedlin, Bill Morrison, Jim Silke

iFanboy Reviews Lady Robotika

This comic is not to be taken too seriously, which is a good thing. Reading this first issue reminded me that some comic books are just meant to be goofy, ridiculous fun and that’s exactly what this is. Full of references to pop culture and Miss Wiedlin herself, Lady Robotika #1 follows the former Go-Go as she is abducted after a concert by aliens who are big fans of hers and Earth pop-culture in general. That’s about the extent of the premise here. It’s refreshing to see a comic that is shallow simply because it wants to be and doesn’t require a whole lot of background or depth to weigh it down.

There is a funny appearance by a fat man with a five o’clock shadow running out of a bar named Joe’s who wonders if Jane and her companion are glowing (during their abduction by tractor beam) because they work at the nuclear plant too. Wonder who that could be? I’ll most likely be picking up the second issue, because we need more comics that don’t take themselves seriously and are there to entertain us with fantasy.

Tfaw reviews Lady Robotika

Review for Lady Robotika

Comics Bulletin reviews Lady Robotika:

Vanity projects tend to suck, even when essentially ghost-written by the actor or singer’s co-author. Lady Robotika is a fun traipse through ’50s “Watch the Skies” science fiction.

I don’t exactly know how much Jane Wiedlin wrote, but she is a songwriter, and there are some scenes that would have had to be approved by the subject. The character Jane Wiedlin gets probed and naked a lot in this book, and that’s the kind of thing you would expect the star to have a say in. I can envision Wiedlin enthusiastically agreeing to all these indignities, simply because they are a staple of pop UFO culture. Also, Jane’s dialogue sounds fairly authentic. I’m a huge Go-Gos fan. So, I watch their interviews and I’ve attended several of their concerts when they played Pittsburgh.

So let’s say that Bill Morrison and Jane Wiedlin probably got together, found a mutual appreciation for kitschy sci-fi and produced a little number in which Go-Go Jane Wiedlin is abducted by classic aliens, probed and given an ultimatum: sing or die.

That doesn’t explain how Jane became the swashbuckling sci-fi, whip-wielding heroine of the title, but they’re getting there. Until then, Morrison and Wiedlin give readers a taste of Lady Robotika in action. She infiltrates the sadomasochistic cover queen’s lair and rescues her would-be beau Jasper, who in the opener looks and sounds a lot like the tenth Doctor. This is especially true when he’s strapped to a table and about to be tortured. I’d be surprised if that wasn’t pure homage.

Though three artists and a unifying colorist detail the Lady Robotika premiere, the art melds fairly well, and it’s all professionally rendered. The entire team illustrate a sharp likeness of our Go-Go-To-Gal. Furthermore, Bill Morrison, Tone Rodriquez, Dan Davis and Rachelle Rosenberg all have an excellent handle on the visual qualities of sci-fi pulps and the movies inspired by them.

It turns out that Lady Robotika is actually better written and illustrated than some of the so-called serious books that I’ve read. Jane Wiedlin’s personality is all over the writing, and I don’t believe Go-Gos fans or science fiction fans will come away from the book disappointed.