Posted in: Comics | Tagged:

Amy Chu's Writers Commentary on Red Sonja & Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica #4

Published Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:00:58 -0500

Amy Chu has her Writers Commentary on Red Sonja & Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica #4, out now from Dynamite. She writes,

It's back to school time! Not just for my own kids, but also me. So a little bit of news: My former editor on Red Sonja, Anthony Marques, esteemed alumnus of the legendary Kubert School, reached out to me to ask me to teach the Business of Art to all the padawans there. I will be joined by Taylor Esposito, the letterer of this series, who is teaching lettering and production. So it's kind of fun to be running into him in the teacher's lounge. Normally one does meet the other members of the team at all physically. Perhaps I will drag him into the next commentary.

For the record, this particular issue was a blast to write. I think because I've been working on a Netflix show (no, I can't tell you which one yet!) a little bit of TV influence crept in here.

Page 1

Recapping the story can be done a number of ways, through flashback, certainly the news interview is one of them. It's always a good idea, in my opinion.

Page 2

Vampirella behind bars! I know Maria Laura would enjoy drawing this so made it a semi-splash for full effect

Page 3

The four women arguing. It's fun writing a team book like this, but obviously we can't have everyone get along all the time. How boring would that be?

Page 4
With great wealth comes great privileges, like being able to bail out your new pal Vampirella.

Page 5
I liked this old lady so much, she makes another cameo in issue 5.

Oof — I see a coloring mistake. Maybe you can see it too. Let's keep moving…

Page 6
I too would like to live in Lodge manor. Someday….

Page 7

A little lesson on blood types… I had to look this up, but it's a real thing, apparently, predicting personality based on blood type.

Page 8

The A-ha moment!

Page 9

True fact: If you're O negative, not that you are necessarily going to be a victim in the next issue of this series, but blood banks will love you.

Page 10

And it is as you suspected, this is all a setup to essentially get my favorite redhead Sonja into…

Page 11

…a hot car! Remember when Red Sonja was in a Lamborghini during my run? Fun times!

Page 12

A question for my editor, Matt. Does Vampirella know how to drive? I think he actually enjoyed researching this very important question. Fortunately the answer was yes, but it was some time ago so I thought a little Vampirella inside joke for long time fans would be appropriate…

Page 13

The Maclaren is a $200,000 car, by the way…

Page 14

When I was in third grade, I had a Josie & the Pussycats lunch box that I loved. Kind of cool that here I am, as an adult writing an actual Pussycats scene!

Page 15

I hope you're singing along here… Dilton, do you feel the love?

Page 16

I'm a fan of Cheryl Blossom, but I couldn't figure out how to get her into this story until now, so here's at least a cameo.

Page 17

My FAVORITE page in the issue!

Page 18

Funtimes in Riverdale High…

Page 19

Good thing Betty and Veronica took a few lessons in fighting from Sonja…

Not a bad idea for everyone to take self defense lessons, really. Many years ago, my dad forced me and my brothers to take taekwondo. I hated it (the instructor was a bit of a bully) and definitely would have preferred to learn from someone like Sonja.

Page 20

And a little cliffhanger just to keep you reading…

Stuff is really going down in the next issue as you can imagine with Dilton now fully conscious, and we are hard at work on the finale of this arc. Thanks for following along with this journey. It's been mighty fun concocting this adventure.

If you're planning to go to New York Comic Con, be sure to visit Maria Laura Sanapo in Artists Alley there and get her to sign your issues. I, unfortunately will not be there, as I've accepted an invitation to Algiers for their comics festival. But I will be at Baltimore Comic Con. Hope to see you there!