Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Amanda Wolfe, Cody Walker, Comics, entertainment, kickstarter, Noir City

Dr. Fridgelove Or How I Became More Socially Conscious

Published Sat, 22 Mar 2014 19:00:07 -0500

Cody Walker writes for Bleeding Cool:

After the first issue of NoirCity was released, I realized that Amanda Wolfe had been what people in the comic world call "fridged." It's a term from Gail Simone's "Women in Refrigerators" for when a woman is killed to inspire the male character to action. We had killed this woman in order to inspire Glen to become the hero the Jacket and to battle the mob.

What's worse is that our previous artist snuck in a line of dialogue in the first issue that WE DIDN'T WRITE where Amanda says something about "not wearing any panties." While she was certainly supposed to be flirty after taking Glen home, she was never supposed to be quite that forward.

I've become more conscious of the women after a discussion I had with Gail on my website a few years ago and after talking with Sue from DC Women Kicking Ass and so Amanda's death bothered me greatly. I didn't want her to just be this dead woman to piss off the hero. I wanted her to be of importance.

So, Rich and I talked it out, revised the second issue, and have found a new role and new territory for Amanda Wolfe. Her story is FAR from over and I hope you like where we take her. Dead or not, Amanda is more than just a woman in a refrigerator.

For now, here is the back cover to issue #2. I wanted to do a "Previously in NoirCity" page, but I didn't just want to summarize what happened in the previous issue. So, I wrote an obituary for Amanda and I'm really proud of it.

First, I love the idea of the NoirCity newspaper being called "the Noir City Gallows." No Bugles or Planets around here. The perfect name for a NoirCity newspaper.

Second, I wanted to pack in lots of back story into her obituary so that the reader gets a better sense of who she is. I wanted to reward people for reading a back cover (a nonpage that most people seem to ignore). As I wrote her obituary, I started imagining all of the stories beneath the stories. What was it like for her growing up with her brother Randolph? In the first issue, Amanda seemed to have a strained relationship with her father, so what was he like? How did he come across this mystical jacket that makes its wearer strong and invulnerable?

Finally, I packed it full of name puns and at least one fantastic noir reference. Bonus points to anyone who catches them all.

Anyway, hope you like the back cover.

Weekend Goal: If we can reach $2,000 by the end of the weekend, Nathan will draw a group shot of the golden age Noir City superhero team, the Forces of Valor. Then, we will put it up as a reward on the Kickstarter.