A Day with Felicia pt.2

Greetings, hola, konnichiha, privet, ni hao, and bonjour to all of you comic book aficionados out there in cyberspace. It’s Jason and Stacey once again to bring you the conclusion to our two part tag-team interview with the incomparable Felicia Day! So enough with our rambling, let’s get back to it.

Photo By: Angie Riemersma

Q: Will there be another run of the comics? A prequel perhaps?

A: I don’t know yet because I don’t know how this first issue has done. Hopefully people have bought it. I was on the set of “Red” [the made for SyFy movie Felicia just wrapped] when the first issue came out, and nobody on the set really knew about it before, but the make-up and hair ladies got more excited about the comic than if I had done a blockbuster movie. They started calling every comic shop in a two hundred mile radius of our set in Ontario. They would get off the phone saying: ‘You’re sold out! You’re sold out!’ and I was like, ‘Ladies, they might have only ordered one copy.’ And they’d say, ‘That doesn’t matter, you’re sold out!’

Photo By: Angie Riemersma

Q: Based on your experience creating “The Guild” comic, is there any chance you’ll do more in comics beyond “The Guild”?

A: It’s very interesting, I feel like I finally got my training wheels off by the end of book three. I definitely learned how much goes into the process. It took me a very long time to write these, like embarrassingly long. I had to figure out how to tell the story, because how I write is really so opposite of what comic book storytelling is. “The Guild” is a few locations and lots of dialogue, where typical comics are really no dialogue and lots of locations. And then putting humor into a graphic novel format was really hard for me because a lot of it is reaction shots and I never had enough room to really hit a joke the way I wanted to. In retrospect, I thought ‘you have to be ruthless and more concise,’ and that was very difficult because that’s not what “The Guild” is about necessarily. So now that I’ve learned how to do it, I would not be opposed, if people actually buy it, to doing more Guild or other things.

Photo By: Angie Riemersma

I love fantasy novels and I know of some novels that come to mind that I think would be great in graphic novel format. If I get time, I would actually really love to do another graphic novel of a different non-Guild property once I find something I want to tell in this format specifically. Just collaborating with an artist is such a pure expression, even more than a novel because you are connecting with an audience on such a visual level and collaborating with an artist to create a world. Especially if I want to do a sci-fi or fantasy idea, unless I want to go and try to do a big budget movie that will never get made or get made completely different than what I envisioned it, the only way to do it is in comic form.

Q: Did Dark Horse pick it up right away or did you have to meet with a bunch of different publishers?

A: Oh no, Dark Horse picked it up – it was Scott’s [Allie; editor of “The Guild”] idea to do a Guild comic. I just said no for a whole year because I couldn’t figure out how to do it and I didn’t want to do anything that was like half-assed. I haven’t talked to Dark Horse because I’ve been so busy, but I’ll have to check in with them to see if they are interested in doing more. And see how the fans are reacting. I hope they’re enjoying it.

Q: What other comics are you currently reading?

A: I read anything that’s kind of fantasy based. I have a whole stack that I haven’t gotten through yet. I just finished Joss’ [Whedon] run on “The Runaways” and when I was in Canada, I read “Sandman” – I bought all of Neil Gaiman’s work. Why haven’t I read them before? No real reason – guess ‘cause I’m an asshole. I’m reading “Walking Dead” - I love that comic. I’m definitely drawn towards more women stories. To me, I feel with some comics, I’m only there for character. Some comics are a little thin on character and very high on action, and those don’t draw me in as much. I’m sorry, but Spiderman is hot because of him and Mary Jane. I know I’m a stupid girl for saying that, but that’s what attracts me to it. Anything that’s kind of female centric… oh, and I love “Scott Pilgrim,” too! “Love and Rockets” – I read that before I got started which is kind of old school.

Courtesy of: Jedi Chefs

Q: Lastly, what are you favorite characters to play in World of Warcraft, and what other games do you happen to play?

A: In WoW, I play a gnome and a dwarf. I generally like to play the little people. I usually play elves, the tinier races. In “Dragon Age,” I play an elf. “Dragon Age” I’ve been playing obsessively, and “Mass Effect” I’ve been playing obsessively. Any RPG – I like stealing things. Any time I can go into a virtual world and open someone’s chest and steal something from them, I will do it. I really like taking things from people when I play. I also like blowing them up with spells. I never play warriors – I always play a magic user or a thief. My whole life, going all the way back to “Ultimo,” I wanted to take things from you. In “Ultimo,” you can open someone’s dresser draws and just take some bananas. It gives me satisfaction just looting other people’s stuff. God help us if there’s a revolution, you’ll see me at Best Buy.

Unfortunately, this brings us to the end of our interview with the industrious Felicia Day. A true entrepreneur of modern day Hollywood, this town could stand to deal with a few more people who think like Felicia: “Unless you do stuff that scares you, then you’re not pushing your limits and you’re not going to learn how to do new things.” From webseries to graphic novels (don’t forget to pick up the first two issues of “The Guild” on sale now at Meltdown!) to television and movies to who knows what next, Ms. Day is sure to be a permanent fixture in the entertainment landscape for many years to come. Just be sure to watch out where you hide your bananas because we all know “that’s how Felicia operates.”

As we promised last week, we’ll be holding a trivia drawing for a signed copy of “The Guild” #1! Here’s all you have to do to win: this Wednesday 5/12 through Wednesday 5/19 come in to Meltdown and with any purchase receive an entry slip for the contest. On the slip, write your name, email address and the answer to the following question. The winner will be chosen at random and announced here on our blog. So good luck, and we’ll see you all at Meltdown for the Wednesday pulls.