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Would Willow Smith Join #TeamMotorCrush? Fletcher, Stewart And Tarr Talk At Dragon*Con

Published Mon, 05 Sep 2016 14:00:24 -0500

Last updated Wed, 07 Sep 2016 17:41:43 -0500

Jonathan Rich writes for BleedingCool.com …

With the cover image of their as yet to be published first issue on the convention badges of everyone in attendance, Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr made quite the impression on all in attendance at Dragon Con this weekend. "I just like drawing bad bitches on motorbikes and Motor Crush is basically bad bitches on bikes," said Tarr, the celebrated artist who with the help of Fletcher and Stewart breathed new life into a revision of Batgirl in issue #35 of that title before the character underwent a 'rebirth' with the rest of the DC universe under a new creative team earlier this year.

Those lucky enough to attend Saturday's Dragon Con "From Batgirl to Motor Crush" panel not only heard more details about female protagonist Domino Swift from the character's creative team, but they also received free copies of the Motor Crush #0 ashcan preview which was provided to industry insiders at the Diamond Retailer Summit event this week. The announcement 'Team Batgirl' was reuniting for a creator-owned project at Image Comics after their risky but near-instant success at DC was made at Image Expo earlier this year, but Dragon Con was where fans were able to get their first tangible pages of the story focusing on a female motorcycle racer who rides for reasons larger than the adrenaline rush.

These initial pages portend this fast ride may also take the creative team on a wilder journey than ever before as well. "Brenden's original pitch (for Motor Crush) was written for animation; almost like a Saturday morning cartoon," said Stewart, " but since then almost all of it has changed and become something completely different."

"The action and the violence is a little more in your face," explained Fletcher. "My 10-year old Niece, who is into Gotham Academy, will probably be ready for it in a couple years."

Team Motor Crush has their initial story arc ready to rev up December 7 and have already discussed plans for a total of three story arcs in their creator-owned universe. Until then Tarr will continue to share select Motor Crush images through social media to whet an appetite for more.

"It's not even that deep," she said of the reasoning behind her frequent #MotorCrushMonday online posts. "I just think this is so cool and want to give folks a sneak peek … I like Willow Smith a lot. She's my muse and I hope is the star of the movie when we make it," Tarr playfully projected. "She embodies the attitude we wanted and looks like the coolest person on the planet."

Big-screen #squad goals aside, the Motor Crush team has a lot planned when they get off to the races in a few months.

"We have the freedom to make a cool t-shirt if we want to because it is our thing we created," Stewart explained. "This is why we went to Image. We didn't burn any bridges with DC, but we wanted to have more freedom to tell the story we wanted to tell and have it look the way we wanted it to look."

"Now we hope you can get excited about it too," added Fletcher.

Motor Crush #1 from Image Comics will be published Dec. 7, 2016. Jonathan Rich is a freelance journalist, high school educator, and self-professed comic book nerd working in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. He writes about entertainment and pop culture for various print and web publications, including bleedingcool.com.