Jan 15, 1997
[For sarah] This interactive interview is a great idea! By the way, Sarah,
any chance of you doing paper dolls on the net? It'd probably be a huge project,
but it'd be just so friggin' cool, don'tcha think? -- Jeff L.,
jlester@earthlink.net
Sarah: Thanks! I'm glad people seem to like it! I am trying to figure out a way to do at least some of the paper dolls online. But I'm not sure if I want to go with the print-and-make thing or try and actually do a KISS-style version. (That's not a band reference, but a Japanese paper doll program that's pretty well-known.) We'll see!!
Jan 28, 1997
[For both] I asked Dan Vado at Slave Labor about the possibility of their
doing Hectic Planet and Action Girl trade paper collections. He said he was
up for it, but I should ask you guys. How about it? -- Wade Rockett,
Quizro@aol.com
Sarah: As far as an AG collection -- it is just too much of a headache for me to think about right now. Do I collect everything? Do I do a "best of"? Do I add new material? Do I collect the superhero stories seperately? Do I want to include the boy material I'm assembling for the special? And -- will all the contributors allow their work to be reprinted? They certainly don't have to. (And, I can't even find a few of them.) I think about it now and then, but I really haven't figured out how to tackle it. I don't plan to do a straight reprint of a set of issues, in any case.
Feb 8, 1997
[For sarah] why is action girl so hard to find in vancouver? -- travis,
russw@direct.ca
Sarah: Well, I don't know specifically why, but generally the reason is that no comic shops there are supporting the book. So really, you'd have to ask your local retailers why it's so hard to find it. Hopefully you have a shop locally that is at least somewhat supportive of small-press books -- they may not be carrying Action Girl well because they aren't aware of it or don't think it will sell. Ask whatever store you shop in to get it for you (that goes for any of our books). They may not want to get back issues directly from Slave Labor, but all new issues and any issues that get relisted are in the same catalog they are ordering everything else from, so there's no reason for them not to get it in. You can also try to get any place you shop that carries zines to carry our books or other comics -- they can get them through zine distributors as well.
Feb 9, 1997
[For sarah] Do you know of many comic/zines in Australia (of course I know
of many but not many "girl friendly" stuff)? It's really difficult to get
in touch with a lot of the information you give in action girl. We are reading
your fabulous comic down in Australia and it would be really great if you
could be a little bit specific to our part of the world. Beware, it's going
to be hard for you to reply to me - that's if you will because I am at school
and I have only guessed the email address. Put lots of pictures on your website.
Good bye! Cat.s@Olms.au.com
Sarah: I really don't know of anything from Australia that is currently coming out -- I haven't seen anything, although that doesn't mean nothing's there. But I can't write about what I haven't seen. I don't set out to only write up stuff from North America, but that's all that I get. As far as getting hold of stuff that I review: I don't know what the best resources for comics in Australia are, but for the mini-comics and self-publishing work, feel free to write them even if you are not in the US -- if you are writing for info, just include an IRC (International Reply Coupon -- available at post offices and redeemable in any country), and if you'd like to order, pay in US$, and include an extra dollar for each item to cover the higher postage rate. Believe me, people are happy to get overseas orders for their work! update: literally the day after I answered this question, I received an Australian mini-comic called Wilnot, by Mandy Ord -- haven't done anything but glance through it yet but it looks great, and she also publishes the work of other Australian women cartoonists! So, there you go. Write for info (if you're not in Australia, send an IRC for info or a few dollars for a sample copy) to: Sticky Comics, POB 194, ANU 2601, ACT Australia.
May 21, 1997
[For sarah] hello! now, this question may be excrusiatingly redundant, but
i'm too darn lazy to browse yr other questions (sowee!). anyway... to get
"down-and-dirty" as we.... uhm, californians say, some o' my friends were
pestering me (and i wanna know too...) to ask you if you are a riot-grrrl.
what with the "action girl" comic series and all... heh. i don't read that
many comics unfortunately, so i am not yet blessed with the knowledge of
what every issue of action girl is packed with... all i know about them is
the info given here("here" as in yr page). *and!* if you are indeed
a grrrl of the riot sense, what sortsa bands you like? ehhhh... i sound like
a dork here, but oh well, no harm done...... but then again, maybe lotsa
harm done and i just don't know it... i'll shut-up now. love kenny-boy chino,
king0frod@hotmail.com
Sarah: Well, that's a pretty complicated question, actually. It's all a matter of semantics. I personally have never considered myself a Riot Grrrl, having never belonged to any organization or group. I agree with a lot of the things I've seen called "Riot Grrrl", but not with all of them -- it's a very diverse group of people and opinions, and they certainly don't all agree. Since Riot Grrrl started shortly after I started the original Action Girl Newsletter, I was very supportive of the movement, but never got involved personally with any RG group. Depending on anyone's personal definition of what RG means, maybe I am, and maybe I'm not. I'm also really not interested in labeling myself. We've talked alot about what music we listen to, but in context I guess you're really wondering what chick-type indie rock bands I like? Well, of course I'm a huge Bunnygrunt fan. Some other bands in a similar vein I'm really digging these days: Gaze, Bis, Kittycraft, Emily's Sassy Lime, and of course everyone knows I'm a Cub fan.
Jul 8, 1997
[For sarah] hi sarah! my hubby went to dragon con and met you at your table.
i don't know if you remember but he was the one that had the big poster board
with happy birthday jessica on it that he had you sign.(he also bought you
a coke)i dont have a specific question, i'm kind of hoping that you'll post
this so everyone will know how sweet you are. oh yeah, maybe i do have a
question:is action girl(i've just started reading it) a direct reflection
of your own personality or a sort of everygirl montage of people you know
and have met. -- jei bear
Sarah: Hi, Jei -- how could I forget someone who took pity on us and brought us icy cold cokes at a convention!!! Your husband was very sweet himself! As for your question (before we get into a niceness competition here) -- Action Girl is more like a facet of my own personality than anything else...I think a lot of people's characters are the same way -- I know Evan's are, you'd have to take a whole bunch of his characters and mush them together to get anything like a real reflection of his personality. I haven't really thought about it too academically, but AG is obviously based on me, although she's different -- it's sort of like I took a part of my 16-year-old self and grew it up a little differently, I guess. It all gets very weird if you go into it too deeply (so I won't), but I mean like, even though she is a part of me, we don't like all the same things. In the same way, Ultra Girl is based on other parts of my personality, although she's a lot further away from me than AG. Well, I think I'll stop there before I start sounding insane, like they're real or something!!
Aug 4, 1997
[For both] Hey Sarah-- great site! I try to visit once in a while and I get
a lot of enjoyment out of reading what you two have to say. Any Action Girl
doo-dads in the works? -- Kenny Neal, kenny.neal@mci.com
Sarah: Thanks, Kenny! As far as "doo-dads" go, I'm always planning them, but never seem to have time to do them. I was going to do 1" buttons for the cons -- didn't get to do it but might go ahead and do them soon instead of waiting a whole year. Anything else will have to wait until next year -- hopefully I'll get to do one or two of them this time around!