This is not my *SHAME* face
So, when I was sixteen years old, I lived in Anchorage, Alaska, and had a job at Burger King. I totally did the “walking through four feet of snow at 5am to get to work” thing (and I plan to tell my grandkids that it was uphill both ways, but it really was just uphill one way, and the other way was me slipping-sliding-falling-on-my-ass.) Theoretically, I was saving money for college — and that was partially true. But I can tell you exactly where most of that money went: the local comic book shop, Bosco’s.
And I didn’t have just my habit to support. Oh, no. My younger sister Echo — who was too young to work — also loved the comics madly, so much so that we began collecting all kinds of stuff related to them: the t-shirts, the action figures (heh, you’ve seen those already) … and the trading cards.
These trading cards where just like baseball trading cards. They had the character on one side, and her history/stats on the other. When we first began collecting them, we were primarily interested in the X-Men characters — and of those, the X-Men women. And it’s not an exaggeration to say that most of the time, we were disappointed. We had this image of the X-Men women in our heads, and the “portraits” in the trading cards never lived up to them — and sometimes, they were just plain ugly.
(c) Julie Bell
Until Julie Bell, illustrator. In one of the series, she did two different paintings that knocked our socks off — one was of Storm, pictured here, and another of Lilandra. I’m kind of surprised that we didn’t rub the ink off those cards looking at them (this was a little bit before we heard of acid-free paper) because Bell captured EXACTLY what we wanted these heroines to be: Sexy, yes — but strong, strong, strong mostly. And in the Storm painting, especially — there was an action hero in action. And my god, it’s hard to explain the effect that had on me, but it was all good.
And suddenly, it wasn’t just comic book cards that we were looking for — we wanted Julie Bell’s, too. (We got her set … we won’t talk about the price, because I lied to my mother when she asked us how much we spent on it. It was my BK money, dammit!) Those were lovely, but they weren’t the characters that we knew. But then, wonder of wonders, we heard that Julie and her husband, Boris Vallejo (you’ve seen a gazillion of his paintings on SF/F covers) were going to do the entire trading card set.
I’m not going to describe this part in detail, but I will make an outline for you: When you buy the packs of cards, you can’t see which ones are inside. So you buy them at $2, and hope that of the six cards, you get at least a couple of new ones. So let me just sum up by saying: Money was spent.
But it was also totally worth it. Because once again, we got these amazing, gorgeous images of strong women in action, women who weren’t just T&A (although the T&A they had was fabulous), all rendered in these incredibly realistic paintings. The Rogue! My god, the Rogue! *weeps*
Psylocke (c) Julie Bell
Jean Grey (c) Boris Vallejo
Rogue (c) Boris Vallejo
Okay, okay, and you’re probably thinking: Um, Meljean, wasn’t this post supposed to be Part II of the covers you love series? And the answer is: Yes. Yes, it is. It’s actually about two covers that I’m madly in love with, that I saw for the first time this year, and totally hit me in the same way: This was what I’ve been waiting for. Because this spring, I got this in my inbox:
And I put it up on my blog, called my sister Echo, and said: Go look at my blog and then call me back. About two seconds later she did, all: OMG IT’S LIKE A JULIE BELL COVER!!!
And I think I cried all over the e-mail I sent to my editor about how much I loved it. Because I’ve loved all of my covers, don’t get me wrong — but I’ll be the first to admit that we were searching, searching for exactly the right look for this series. And maybe marketing will eventually come back and say, “Dude, this cover tanked this book for you, so you don’t get another one.” But right now, all that I can think is, “Yes. Yes. This is it. So perfect.” Not just gorgeous, but exactly what I want the cover to convey about the woman on the pages.
But it’s not just my cover. I said TWO, but this is not the unveiling of the next cover in the series. It’s Nalini’s, and since I’m filling in for her today, it’s completely right to post this:
Now, look:
Archangel (c) Boris Vallejo
Storm (c) Boris Vallejo
I’m telling you, there’s no way these two couldn’t be my favorite covers ever.
Those are definitely beautiful covers so congratulations to both of you! I’m waiting for your book to show up at the local bookstore, it should be any day now.
Thank you! Technically, it releases tomorrow, but you never know. Sometimes it’s early, sometimes late. As long as it’s not “never”, it’s all good
Oh, this post is pretty and shiny and I do love it!
I also love your cover, by the way. Nalini’s too.
Ha! I love the shiny. I’m shallow that way.
I love mine, but MY GOD Nalini’s gave me a huge dose of cover envy. That’s just gorgeous.
ooooo okay the cover just rocks!
lol, yes. I think so, too
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Comicbook.com and Mireyah Wolfe. Mireyah Wolfe said: Can I just say I ADORE your book cover? xD So bad-ass! RT @meljean: My Odd Shots post FINALLY up http://tinyurl.com/y9vm7qg [...]
Nothing is better than strong, sexy women. Does it sound weird to say that will have me picking up a book and reading the back quicker than just about anything else? Also, for the record, I can’t bring myself to pick up books that look too romancey in the book store, but I seem to have no trouble whatsoever buying them on my kindle! I’m a closet romance reader. My mom would be so proud!
If it’s weird to say, then I’m guilty of weirdness, too.
But I don’t think it is weird. I’m a completely heroine-centric reader, and so if there’s a strong, kickass heroine on the cover, I’m much more likely to pick it up. And if she’s also hot enough that I want to make out with her? Even better. My husband might not understand, but I totally do *g*
I love the covers! The comic cards look also great.
There were so many gorgeous cards to choose from, but in the end, I just chose some of my favorites — which also happened to be my favorite characters. I don’t think they have the Marvel Fleer sets anymore. It’s too bad — they had some really gorgeous ones for a while.
Great covers! The X-men cards look awesome too.
I fell in love with those cards all over again making up this post. *happy sigh*
The artistry that goes into those covers absolutely take my breath away. Those are gorgeous!!!
The artistry that goes into those covers absolutely take my breath away. Those are gorgeous!!! I’m in awe of the ability of the people that draw them, and the people that create those stories that go inside them.
I am so, so envious of anyone with artistic talent like that. I tried to get into drawing after I began reading comics, but … yeah, it wasn’t good. I’ll definitely stick to writing.
I was actually looking at your new cover the other day and I think it is amazing. And after the first part of this blog, I thought wow theres a cover of a strong kick-ass heroine. (Didnt say that to you on the other blog didnt want you to think I was chatting s*%£ to you lol) but i’m glad you put it up there because I think it is a bold cover. She looks amazing.
Julie Bells pics are great. I love comic books. They never stop amazing me. I love Rogue dear god… I love her so much. I use to watch the cartoon when I was younger *blushes* lol
Nalinis cover is beautifully strong as well. If it was possible to buy both your covers as just pics… I would and frame them and hang them in my office.
Oh, god — don’t be embarrassed about the cartoon. Echo and I used to take our dad’s camcorder and sit in front of the TV recording the shows. THAT’s red-face-worthy, lol.
But it was an awesome show, anyway! That opening music and sequence is STILL one of the best, IMO.
Wow that brings back memories! Such a cool cartoon.
Is it possible to buy the cartoon on dvd lmao *giggles and hides*
Yes. Yes, you can *g*
I can’t believe i forgot that cartoon….
Yep, I still love Storm (the comic one) I remember waiting for the X-Men movie and when I saw Storm in that movie i wanted to smash something… (yep I am ranting) They had a strong, powerful woman that could fly and control the weather and what did they create in the film? I can’t find the words to describe it but really it was a dissapointment to me….
Thanks for the intro there… It sure brought back some memories…
love those covers…. as much as the books they cover i think…. sometimes it’s the cover that draws me but i need to read something on the back of the book to decide to buy and read it…. or as lately happens I get ideas from forum members….
Yep, Valejo’s (spel) work is great but more than a few times I find it more suited for my brother’s late-teens room… myself I am more on the Victoria Frances field.
PS STorm and Rogue in those cards are priceless…. love the toughness and hardness and the action of them…. (also love Wolverine…. but tha’s another topic alltogether)
They are both gorgeous covers….
Yours from Berkley haven’t been so bad either, woman! lol — I totally sent Cindy the cover for Hunting the Hunter when we were trying to come up with a new “look” for the series.
Heh, I’ve been drooling over the hotness of both covers since I first saw them. Got ‘em both on pre-order, too. *rubs hands in anticipation* I love good sf/fantasy art. Wish I could draw like that…
Me, too. Sigh. Me, too.
So true. Bell and Vallejo always does awesome work! And yep, much love for Demon Forged and Archangel’s Kiss’ covers!
Love the covers! I had binders full of X-Men cards and tins full of the duplicates. My little was worse than me. She still has them and Rogue was always my fave.
lol, the duplicates! So, so many. We actually didn’t end up getting the Rogue or the Storm chase cards from the Bell/Vallejo series until we hit a convention … and then paid out the nose for them. But, really really worth it.
Of all superheroines, Wonder Woman is my favorite. But from Marvel? It’s easily Rogue.
I don’t always love Vallejo’s work, but a lot of that is more about genre expectations (the woman at the man’s knees, for example) than his technical skill. Because he’s AMAZING, even when I don’t necessarily love the image itself, the work he’s done is always gorgeous.
Heh, ya, I did mean that whatever they do, it’s oh so well done. I’m with you on the subject matter not always necessarily being my cup of tea.
Okay, I want those trading cards now, dangit!
Haha! I was just thinking that I’d love to see new ones. I love these, but there’s nothing quite like coming across an image of a character that you love that just knocks your socks off.
I discovered Meljean’s work because of this blog. I have a habit of running across authors online and thinking “this person is hilarious! I should read their books.” and then being shocked at the depth of plotting in their books when I was expecting light and funny. Same thing happened with Barry Eisler.
But if Meljean (I feel weird saying “you” because this is a group blog) cut her comic geek teeth on Chris Clairmont’s stint on the X-Men like I did, that explains some of the layered storytelling in the Guardians series. Some of it, because clearly the author’s innate awesomeness is as much to blame as anything else.
(You know what I loved from that era? The Hellfire Club. And how you never really knew what was going on with them except that they were a great backdrop for Emma Frost, who was clearly the best villan ever. I’ve picked up a few recent issues of the X-Men and seriously hate what they’ve done with her. Her going good? Okay. Shacking up with Cycolps and becoming a cheap knock-off Jean Grey? HULK SMASH!)
Emma Frost ARAUGAOHEAKCHVIAO;;!!!
I totally agree. I love a few things about her character — that they’ve made her this strong, tough-ass leader, and that her relationship with Scott is far more complicated and mature than his relationship with Jean ever was (and I like how they’ve forced him to mature, too). But then every single time I think “I could like this new Emma Frost” they do something to derail it! And the spectre of Jean is ALWAYS hanging over her head. *headddddddddddddesk*
Um, so yes.
And I just have to laugh about the rest — when I published my first book, I’d been blogging in the community for a while…and I realized that I had to write disclaimers all over my site so that people didn’t get the wrong idea about my work. I’m like a schizophrenic writer — blogging is all about being a geeky dork and having a great time with it, and writing is all about being an angsty dork and having a great time with it.
But, seriously. I have several e-mails that were: “Oh, whoa. I thought you wrote chick lit!” And I was like, “Oops, sorry. No, it’s all about death and pain. Whoops.”
It’s total false advertising, designed to suck all the unsuspecting readers out there into my clutches. Bwhwhahahah!…uh, I didn’t just say that.
Hah-hah! You thought your disclaiming days were over!
I like the angsty dorkishness much more than chick-lit anyway. And you manage to have some extremely funny moments in your books, and they’re even funnier because of the contrast with the OMGWorldIsEnding.
(I’m reading Demon Bound right now, and hope to pick up “Forged” this weekend. Borders didn’t have it yet last Saturday. I think Jake might be my favorite, his “throw worms at the pretty girl” style of courtship reminds me of my husband).
Ha! I am also a fan of the parentheticals (though I’m trying to break myself of the habit.)
On the funny next to the angsty: I remember a quote from Joss Whedon that went something like, “Make them scream, make them cry … but then, for god’s sake, give them a laugh.” And I think it’s true. One, it releases tension and gives the readers (and the characters) a breather. And unrelenting darkness just doesn’t appeal to me anymore than it does to most readers, I think.
But more than that, I think it’s hard to show how dark their world is if EVERYTHING is dark — and how valuable those light moments are if there aren’t any. The characters have to have something to fight for, but if the world is all just depressing and yuck, what’s the point? So we make them laugh and we make them love, and that is the reason they fight through all of the bad stuff.
(That, and writing characters who don’t have senses of humor would make me go slit my wrists.)
“The characters have to have something to fight for, but if the world is all just depressing and yuck, what’s the point? So we make them laugh and we make them love, and that is the reason they fight through all of the bad stuff.”
Wow, love that! Excellent justification for HEA endings.
I have major cover envy for you and Nalini!
Question: Since you love them so much, are you ever going to write a comic book?
Hmm, I’m not sure. One problem is that I’m very romance oriented, which always heads into the HEA, and then I start on the new characters … which just doesn’t translate well to comic books, which go on and on and on with the same character. And I think I’m wired to work in that romance mode.
But also, I’m very, very, very, very VERY wordy. With comics, you have to be sparse with dialogue, and let the artist tell a LOT of the story. I’m not sure I could make a story translate well.
Yeah, the romance angle would put a damper on the whole comic book arc.
And she’d make them get together for a happily ever after, which we KNOW never happens in comics. Not really.
Someone always turns out to be a skrull. Not that i’m bitter or anything.
Ha! You bitter hag.
Wow, that cover for Demon Forged is awesome. That definitely makes me want to run out and buy it right now.
I started buying Nalini’s books because of this website, when Ilona (I think) posted her cover up. That’s when I looked up Nalini’s website, read the book excepts and put in my orders for her books there and then.
And now I want all of Meljean’s books.
You are now my hero. I thought my sister and I were the only ones who went cuckoo over Rogue and Gambit and X-men and all its awesomeness. I played the PS2 X-Men game and one part that I love is that they let you unlock all the different outfits that for the characters over the years.
I also totally agree with you about the two book covers. The main reason I’ve been waiting for Demon Forged and Archangel’s Kiss is because were so amazing. There’s so much fire and awesome about them.