Now It Can Be Told

Posted on by accordingtohoyt

Around the end of 2020, I got an email. Believe it or not these emails aren’t unusual. They also usually come to nothing. It goes something like We’d like to buy x rights to your short story/novel/series and/or we’d like you write for our awesome comic/movie/game.

Usually these are students, or young people, and they are trying to start something on shoestring, are not prepared to pay, and I’m not prepared to either give them a property I then have tied up (I might be willing to give short stories, limited rights, but so far it’s either never happened or I didn’t understand what they wanted) forever, or do work for no pay. (The money flows to the writer, d*mn it.)

So, I got this email saying, “Hey, would you write a script for our comic?” and I pretty much ignored it. I paid a little more attention when I got the email that said, “Hey, we’re willing to pay!” but — I don’t remember why — I was in the middle of personal drama, so I didn’t answer.

Next day I got an amusingly sullen “Okay, we’re not the biggest company but…”

At which point I looked at who the email was from and started paying attention.

Would I have chosen Barbarella as a place to make my debut in comics? What, the woman who doesn’t even have her characters kiss, because she forgets?

BUT– But of its kind, Barbarella is great fun, it being a space ranger/ambassador, and I could put my own imprint on it. Besides, in the climate we’re living in, writing a sexy girl comic is something a bit revolutionary and daring.

Doing the actual comic was more fun than I ever thought. For one, the editors are much nicer — or at least mine was — than any traditional book editor and far more respectful of the author’s opinions and time. Second, my particular editor was awesome and taught me so much about how to do comics. And just thinking in a different/visual way was fun, and a new thing.

Still, you guys know me, right? I’m really skittish. I’ve been burned. So I wasn’t going to announce ANY of this ever until it was set in stone.

They announced it, so I guess it’s safe. It comes out in July.

Barbarella Finds Love & Mystery in New Spacefaring Adventures


April 23, Mt. Laurel, NJ: Barbarella, the sensual siren of space returns for a series of all-new adventures by a dynamic new creative team!
Dynamite is proud to welcome writer Sarah Hoyt for her big debut in comic books with the new series starting in July. The longtime author has written over 34 novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery and more, including her fan-favorite Darkship Thieves, and garnering Prometheus and Dragon Awards. For this space-faring journey, she’s joined by rising star artist Madibek Musabekov (Vampirella vs Purgatori). Colorist Ivan Nunes and letterer Carlos Mangual round out the crew at the controls.

In this exciting new series, Barbarella sets out on a mission filled with danger, duplicity, and a dose of romance as she travels through multiple inventive sci-fi locales. Fans of the character and genre can expect deep dives on questions of class, romance, sexuality, and more in the classic Barbarella style.

“Writing the Barbarella stories was more fun than is probably legal in most states,” said writer Sarah Hoyt. “The work of learning a new format was overshadowed by the fun of being able to think big and play with someone else’s no-holds-barred character. I’ve also loved the art I’ve seen so far from Madibek!”    
Traveling from planet to planet, the tale starts in Camelot, home to the rich and powerful class seeking escape from a crowded and decaying galactic empire. Intercepting desperate transmissions from the underclass, Barbarella sets off to investigate, unravelling a string of secrets. Along the way she will visit the underwater world of Encantado, the carnival-like Rio, and even more. All painstakingly designed by Musabekov.

On her escapade, Barbarella is joined by two fun new characters that readers will love to meet. Her shiny new ship comes packed with an advanced A.I. named Taln, and their relationship may be more complicated than it seems… While Vyx is her new fennec fox-like talking pet. Who may have a few twists of her own…

Not only is Hoyt making her Dynamite debut, so is legendary artist Brian Bolland! The Batman: The Killing Joke and Wonder Woman master is a long overdue perfect match for this iconic character. For such a beloved and beautiful character, a diverse range of talented cover artists is needed. Bolland and Musabekov are joined by Lucio Parrillo, Derrick Chew, Dani, and cosplayer Rachel Hollon.      
BARBARELLA #1 is solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ May 2021 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in July 2021. Comic book fans are encouraged to preorder copies of the issue with their local comic book retailers. It will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Kindle, iBooks, Google Play, Dynamite Digital, ComicsPlus, and more!
### About Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including The Boys, The Shadow, Red Sonja, Warlord of Mars, Bionic Man, A Game of Thrones, and more. Dynamite owns and controls an extensive library with over 3,000 characters (which includes the Harris Comics and Chaos Comics properties), such as Vampirella, Pantha, Evil Ernie, Smiley the Psychotic Button, Chastity, and Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt. In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and bestselling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high-profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Gail Simone, Christopher Priest, Leah Moore, Kevin Smith, David Walker, Vita Ayala, Danny Lore, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Mark Russell, Brandon Thomas, Amy Chu, Reginald Hudlin, Nancy Collins, David Walker, Steve Orlando, Greg Pak, Jenny Frison, Matt Wagner, and a host of up-and-coming new talent. Dynamite is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their titles – including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger’s Project Superpowers – have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005, Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%) and again in 2011. The company has also been nominated for and won several industry awards, including the prestigious Harvey and Eisner Awards.

233 thoughts on “Now It Can Be Told”

          1. And at least one aardvark.

            I must observe that the penguins are generally observed by their effects.

            Also that the flamingos are plastic ones that came to life and flew off, so actual sightings are intermittent.

  4. Yeah!

    I’ll admit that comics are not my preferred medium; I suspect that my experience reading a “visual novel” like that is somewhat akin to to what a dyslexic feels trying to read a regular novel. However, in this case, I may have to consider making an exception.

    1. “…somewhat akin to to what a dyslexic feels trying to read a regular novel…”

      Not a comics person either, and that’s it, exactly. Just does not fit in my brain. Regardless…

      WOO-GRATS!!

      And it sure is nice to see art by folks who clearly love the character.

    1. While people don’t generally talk about Killing Joke because of its artist, it’s safe to say that he wouldn’t have drawn it if he weren’t good. Working with him is a very nice boost, and suggests that Dynamite has confidence in what they asked our hostess to write.

      1. I always associate Bolland with his work on Judge Dredd, but he do nice cover art, too.

        How many books will the story arc run and when does the graphic novel collected edition arrive?

        ~

        1. Plenty of people dislike the Story told in “The Killing Joke” (concerning DC’s The Joker character) and the dislike may splash over onto the artist.

    2. I’d always imagine Barbarella wielding a pair of karambits for up close personal work. And the blood would just wash off the vinyl or pleather outfit.

    1. The third cover is reminiscent of Boris Vallejo’s style. Very nice.

      I’m going to have to have my son reserve copies of this for me. 🙂 He’s a manager in a comics and games shop in Manchester, NH. They usually do a big deal when new releases come out. (I wonder if he’s got a cosplay contest set up for that?) I know there’s a Barbarella card game, but it’s too much like your standard 52 card deck games; and scores basically like an abbreviated poker game. Can’t find a Barbarella roleplaying game out there; but it can probably be adapted to GURPS.

      My biggest peeve about Barbarella is the character in the movie was played by Traitor Jane Fonda.

      1. Ah, but I’m sure she finds that movie mortally embarrassing, so there can be some satisfaction there. I’ve got ‘Barbarella’ on one of those old 12-inch Laser Disks. I keep it right next to ‘Flesh Gordon’.

        1. A cup..?

          A *CUP*?!?!!?

          Magic comes in Klein Bottles. It is the only material that doesn’t fall out of the bottle, what with being magic and all.

            2. Orvan, only 2 years of German here, but I agree with Mike. Your comment was music to my ears. 😉

  11. Congratulations! Successful work in a new medium is a great thing!

    I’m also curious how intense the attacks on Dynamite for hiring you will be. Hopefully they’re muted.

      1. Maybe. On the other hand, one of the properties listed under the “Who we are” section of the Dynamite blurb – The Boys – is currently a series on Amazon Prime. They’ve got at least a small amount of recognition out there.

    3. It’s a sad comment on the current moment that we even have to worry about such things.

    4. I doubt it.

      Comics Twitter us a cesspool that makes Puppy Kickers look like angels.

      They have killed comics to the point there may be no new Marvel books in a year. They are a huge part of why I left that hobby.

      1. Part of that is the influence that they have with the corporate structure (both management, and the writers) of those specific companies – to the point where people at Marvel think that making new heroes called “Snowflake” and “Safespace” is a good idea (not a joke, btw, for those of you who are curious – Ace has mentioned them at least twice so far).

  12. I rarely read comics anymore but there are occassional exceptions. However, I will probably wait until the separate issues are combined into a single volume so, in the interim, I wish you good luck.

  13. I haven’t bought a comic book since I was 12 years old (my priority for my spending money swung to books my parents wouldn’t buy for me). I guess I’m going to start in July. Congratulations, Sarah. The Reader is looking forward to it.

    1. Find a comic shop and ask if they can get it?

      That’s my plan, assuming the shop in Sioux Falls that I liked once upon a time is still a going concern – should be since they were at least half gaming store as well.

  19. Hmmm. Written by an author who is a known quantity. Using a character that inherently causes cranial detonation. *And* officially PG13 limited?

    I might have to buy this just to push up the sales numbers. Might even read it!

  21. “she’s joined by rising star artist Madibek Musabekov (Vampirella vs Purgatori)”

    For a second I read that as Vampirella vs Penguins and my brain started producing some very strange images.

    2. Don’t let the fancy dress fool you – penguins are stone cold killers. They dress all nice and pretty but when the shooting starts they’re deadly. Kind of like John Wick with webbed feet.
      ~

        1. Yeah – but Santa knows who’s been naughty and understands the importance of close supervision.
          ~

        1. Okay, I confess to having been wholly unaware of that ad campaign. Probably because I have long deemed Budweiser’s beers to differ from horse piss only by the fact the latter des not come in cans, bottles or kegs.

          Or rather, didn’t come in those until Anheuser-Busch took up its distribution.
          ~

          1. As a teetotaler I have no opinion on the quality of the beer, but I can still appreciate the commercials.

            Personally, I’m convinced those penguins are still out there. They went underground until they could find other channels to work their evil through. I’ve never trusted that Linux mascot…

            1. Sleep irregularities have rendered me teetotaled, too. A tendency to nod off halfway through a beer has dropped me from their target market and rendered me able to offer unbiased verdict on what I acknowledge a very strong commercial campaign.

              Dooby-dooby-do.
              ~

              1. Exactly. Be it the Penguins, Clydesdale, or dogs trained to open refrigerators to retrieve beer … then pop the top and drink it, “you’d better be drinking your water!” (Heck I don’t even remember the brand of the beer for the commercial 🙂 …). Most commercials, most the time, well we record things to watch for a reason, even if we are home to watch it on time. But Super Bowl commercials, especially watching for the animal ones, well that is different … until the last few years. Now I just catch them online after the game.

                Can’t say I drink beer, cause I don’t. I, at most, can have one “light” drink (Mike’s Hard Lemon Aid is about what I can tolerate before it is nap time) . Even then within an hour, I’m taking a note.

                1. >> “Be it the Penguins, Clydesdale, or dogs trained to open refrigerators to retrieve beer”

                  Ma’am, you don’t train the penguins to fetch beer. You run for your life and hope the penguins are more interested in the beer than in you.

                  1. Too true.

                    So. Where did my punctuation go wrong to give the impression that Penguins or the Clydesdales were going to be trained fetch the beer (instead of just dogs)? Clydesdales pull the beer. Penguins are “just there”, probably to steal the beer, but really, since the appropriate response is “run, run, away”, who knows?

                    🙂

                    Note, response not needed. Funny regardless.

                    4. Whenever I have something I can’t get out of my head I find that (carefully) flushing repeatedly will help.
                      ~

    1. “…like a graphic version of e.e. doc smith.”

      Now that you mention it, in the right hands that one could be truly, incredibly neat. Especially, say, the “Lensman” series; can you imagine the cover scene featuring VanBuskirk merrily wielding his space axe, or the one “Introducing the Red Lensman”..? (I sure can, though as an artist I’m a good copy editor.)

      The “Skylark” series might take a bit more re-writing, especially as presented for more-modern (and not-SJW) sensibilites and storytelling conventions; but more than a bit of promise there too.

      One of these days, one of these decades, someone is gonna win big that way.

      2. I recall some attempt at importing a Lensman comic from Japan, circa 1990.

        I’ve no idea how close to the source the material was. Wikipedia (and other sources) indicate that it was based on a 25-part anime series produced in 1984.

        Also, per Wiki:

        In 2008, Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures began negotiations with the author’s estate for rights to film the Lensman series. The negotiations were for an 18-month renewable option. At the WonderCon convention in San Francisco in February 2008, J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, confirmed that Howard had acquired the rights and also hinted that he was involved in the project. On 17 June 2008, Straczynski wrote that he had begun work on the project. On 2 April 2014, Straczynski wrote that Universal had scrapped the project, citing excessive cost, and that the rights had reverted to the estate.

        Yeah, J. Michael Straczynski was involved! Given the advances in CGI and puppetry I think the budget could now be reasonable (for certain values of reasonable.)

        The debates over casting choices would have been epic, although I fear they’d have gone with Kimball Kinnison played by Brad Pitt.
        ~

        1. Just incase you fear you’re missing something cool …

          Youtube has the (pieced together?) movie version of this, running about 1’42” but it is probably only for the masochistic (N.B> the film was apparently run on the SciFi channel back in the 90s.)

  24. I’m actually pretty happy to hear that you got this comic. I don’t think anyone without the European background and knowledge you have could really do the comic right. Barbarella was always just that little bit different then what I would have expected because of the continental influences on the author.
    But I don’t think any one who actually lives in Europe these days could even possibly do it justice anymore. They’d be too afraid to.

    1. Yes. The dialogue pushed me to the place I got to in musketeers, where I write with a faint French flavor, like translated. The character required it.

      1. And that would be why, reading the description and even looking at the artwork samples, I kept on being reminded of “Valerian and Laureline” (which I’d discovered via the movie, then found the original to be better). Suddenly I wonder, was there any specific “borrowing” from that series in the art, or maybe just the whole “French comic book” context..? (Surely from the earlier version/s of the same work, of course; but beyond that?)

        (And obviously it’s not just me on the V+L similarity, see comment earlier but down-column…)

        Congratulations, and many happy returns. If this one turns out as well as the “Monster Hunter: Guardian” collaboration did… wow!.

    1. Would depend on the material… we have already had materials breakthroughs that deal with the problems. Presumably the far future would have more of them.

      It used to be a part of the ISO Tut-Tutting Standard to mock catsuits and other form fitting pulp clothing as being all about titillation for teen boys and no real woman would ever wear such a thing, especially in everyday life.

      Which is why yoga pants are impossible to sell.

      Weird that.

      1. Light-weight, form-fitting pads build into the suit. So perfect, you’ll never even notice they’re there; even while doing splits, deep knee bends, and high-kicking alien ass! Impervious to physical impacts and radiation of all kinds to keep your fun stuff feeling fun.

        Warnings: Machine washable only. Do not dry clean. May cause catastrophic failure in certain types of molecular cleaners.

      2. Thanks to highly refined foods the human body is far more efficiently able to process out the nutrient elements of those foods and, in the future in which this book occurs, has thus evolved to have smaller, more efficient digestive organs as well as smaller organs for refining out toxic wastes from food that is no longer tainted.

        You aren’t against evolution, are you?

        Alternatively: you are assuming her to be human and imposing your human standards on her. Think shame on yourself, h8er, h8er, body-shamer!
        ~

  27. Awesome!

    Maybe you can have an SJW antagonist named “Dane Rhonda” that gets squished by a non-binary brontosaurus with a AAA emplacement on it’s back. Or something.

    😛

    Apologies:

    I’m recovering from a night with dreams that blended John Varley, John C. Wright, John Barnes novels and debugging Haskell code on Linux while saving the multiverse into one sweaty leg kicking, moaning mish-mash. And this morning, my brisket was talking to me before I had some caffeine in my system. It was happy to be rubbed before I put it on the smoker. 😮

    No more illucid dreaming for me. Falling asleep to Madis – Sea of Tranquility (Ambient Edit) in the middle of thunderstorms made me think of “Steel Beach”, then it was a crazy cascade from there…

    1. Eh, the brontosaurus is an all-female species that reproduces parthnogenically. Like the New Mexico whiptail

        1. Don’t remind the aardvark. All those specially reinforced basement floors for their sewing circle to meet. . . .

        2. “It’s eggs-rated, when brontosaurs fall in love.”

          Start at 10:05 if it doesn’t do that automatically.

  28. Told our son about this and mentioned Bolland. His response was, “Oooh.”
    He already reads “The Boys,” so he knows the company.

  31. You know, I finally gave up on comics last year and ended my pull list when The Silencer was cancelled, Legion wasn’t coming back, and Wonder Woman got an SJW writer.

    Now you’re going to get me sucked back in.

      1. My BiL is an artist. I am tempted to learn to write comics and ask him to do a book.

        I even have an idea for my own superhero who would get accused of all sorts of things.

        1. well, i was going to do 3d rendered art and my own scripting, with some post-processing

    2. Legion’s gone again?
      Not that I was reading the latest iteration. I got disgusted when they made Sun Boy a traitor and decided Saturn Girl had been married all this time to Proty.
      My last serious involvement was in the 80s.

      1. Yup. They were doing so many things. . . they even married off Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl WITHOUT the story of how they came to be dating.

  32. Haven’t read comics since I discovered Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke at the local library fifty-five plus years ago. I think the last comic I bought was the first issue of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. I am told the Sgt. Fury character is still around in slightly changed form. Looks like I may have to buy a comic again.

  33. Yah know, a lot of the comics on that list have significant media tie-ins.
    When they start talking movie rights don’t forget to slip them a copy of Deep Pink.
    Or shop the Dark Ship or Shifter series to HBO, hey it worked quite well for Charlaine Harris didn’t it?

      1. For Deep Pink, urban fantasy, think on the order of Constantine.
        Shifters, same thing, something in the nature of True Blood.
        Dark Ship, mil SF, anything from Firefly to Battlestar Galactica.

  34. Congratulations! I am looking forward to your take on this! It’s going to be fun!

  36. I’ve enjoyed many of Dynamite’s other offerings, so looking forward to this (although I had no idea Barbarella was actually a French comic book character!)

    1. I think I vaguely remember that, probably as part of the publicity for the Hanoi Jane movie. And now, I’ve got the “Barbarella” movie theme song as an earworm.

      Haven’t bought a paper comic (still read a few web comics, including Freefall and Sluggy Freelance) since an issue of Heavy Metal (IIRC, Asterix was in there, but I wasn’t into it enough to keep buying) somewhere in the ’80s.

      Congratulations on the deal, Oh Beautiful but Evil Space Princess!

    2. All the comics I’ve bought in the last several years have been digital. I’m quite a fan, as the storing of my physical collection (which is actually fairly small, compared to, say, my books) was problematic. (I think I finally settled on very large binders. Which are a pain to move.) Not to mention, it is a LOT easier to get hold of “old” issues digitally 😀

  38. The folks who commented on this post should be looking up that group on YouTube (COMICSGATE). These folks are at the center of the culture war (Ya Boi Zack and EVS survived an SJW cancel campaign). Listen to Friday Night Tights on YouTube and you won’t be disappointed.

  40. That’s exciting! I haven’t read a comic in 45 years (if I don’t count the retro-Spiderman reprints offered through my newspaper a decade ago that my son loved), but from what I glean about this character, I’ll love her. Looking forward to something new to add to my obsessions.

    1. Fantastic! I loved Marvel in the late 1960’s, buying piles of them at a neighborhood pharmacy. School, girls (ahem…) and work chewed up the next 45 years, but comics also seemed not as compelling. Your Barbarella puts compulsion back in comics. Your excitement is contagious and a comics store is lined up. A fennec fox moment cannot arrive soon enough.

  42. I cut my reading teeth on comics, and I still love the older ones. (It says something that they keep redoing the story arcs from the old days over and over and over again, that I wasn’t crazy being caught up in them.)

    I’m looking forward to this. Comics are a fun art form, and I’m glad you are enjoying the creative art form. Though, seriously, I would have thought “Valerian and Laureline” would have been right up your ally. =) (Don’t judge by that movie….don’t!!!)

    One of the treats of visiting France was going into a bookstore with the second level completely devoted to French comics. Americans usually don’t really have a clue.

  43. Congratulations!

    For you comics readers, would these be appropriate for a gift to sons?

      1. Maybe a better choice for my husband, then.

        I know some of the older boys don’t mind sex in stuff but they are kind of prudish about what Ma gives them. What they think they sneaked, though, that’s a totally different story. Sigh.

        You’d think with six of them they’d come around to accepting that maybe, just maybe, their parents are at least familiar with, possibly even passingly fond of, adult activities. Especially since they’re home schooled, and I covered sex-ed. They can’t seriously believe I’m totally innocent!

        2. I think it’s gotta be the “squick” effect of associating anything sexual with one’s parents that causes that disconnect.

        3. *laughs* As I’ve told folks– I can figure out what happened. I just don’t want to think about it if I don’t have to!

  44. Sounds like a hoot!
    I’m in.

    (Is it bad that I’m now wondering what Alma would do with the Chastity character/franchise?)

    I stopped reading comics about the time DC decided to shoot the New 52 in the head. (There were so many great storylines, the artwork was beautiful, the new villains were compelling… Then *snap*, and it was gone. And now doing a quick search, most of the writers and artists I enjoyed haven’t worked in the industry since.)

  45. Super excited about this! And Lar is right–Deep Pink seems like it’d suit comics well…

      1. That Guy doesn’t care who drew the art. And it is well done art.

        But the Laws of the Interwebz must be followed. And one of those laws is that every picture of an attractive woman with a gun must be checked for trigger discipline and noted accordingly.

          1. Renegades doesn’t violate: they are clearly drawing on something.

            Theives…. actually looks like she is holding the trigger all the way back after having fired.

            *sigh* now after picking nits I’m gonna have to go buy and read aren’t i?

        3. Law section A, even in pictures that are quite literally “that split second before you are dead because she is in the act of firing.”

          Law section B, yes, even when its based entirely on assuming that a vaguely gun shaped scifi or magic item works the same as a normal gun.

          1. How should “It is a barcode scanner, and she is checking inventory overhead” be classified?

            2. I’d be willing to bet that people who shoot a lot don’t put their finger on the barcode scanner trigger until it is pointed at the item. I could be wrong. 🙂

              Then, of course, there’s always the guy response “there was a gun in the picture?”

              1. I’d be willing to bet that people who shoot a lot don’t put their finger on the barcode scanner trigger until it is pointed at the item. I could be wrong. 🙂

                Can’t say about others, but of course not; it’s about muscle memory. (Also I internalized the rules long before ever picking up a gun, so I had to drill in the habits somehow)

                Then, of course, there’s always the guy response “there was a gun in the picture?”

                You’d be surprised. Even in places where that *is* the normal response to anything that isn’t a gun (like Imgur, before it died of covid) the trigger still gets checked by everybody. Jokes aside this does show how well the safety rules have spread.

          2. Law section B, yes, even when its based entirely on assuming that a vaguely gun shaped scifi or magic item works the same as a normal gun.

            Law Section B2: If you make a weapon look like a gun expect people to project gun like traits onto its use. See: ConservationOfDetail, CallARabbitASmeerp.

            1. Oh, the “a graham cracker was a gun” defense…..

              Also seen in the many continuity error sites that listed the “error” of Legolas walking on top of the snow in Lord of the Rings.

              1. You’re overgeneralizing.

                If I see an object clearly treated as a weapon that has a gun-like-pattern I will assume that it probably involves projecting some sort of destruction at a distance (method to be determined), and probably is activated from a trigger of some sort.

                The writer is free to specify something different — maybe the “trigger” is a neural link, or a magic weapon that auto-attacks evil — but you always start by drawing from what you know. See also: cliche, value of. See also: why every book doesn’t have to start with an explanation that there is this thing called gravity that keeps people glued to the ground and keeps an atmosphere where they can breathe it.

                  1. …………

                    The entire post you are responding to is about that there could be additional information.

                    That doesn’t mean there always is. How much to expect depends on what you know of the writer: I don’t expect additional physics information if it is a Micheal Bay movie. Instead I expect it to be some combination of “don’t care” and “explosions are cool”.

                    1. That doesn’t mean there always is.

                      It does, however, mean that 1) assuming there is not, and 2) publicly correcting based on that assumption, is at best presumptuous and at worst is actively harmful to the theoretical goal of promoting trigger awareness. When you reduce something to totemic motions, it will lose a lot.

                    2. For the record, I once got HORRIBLY dressed down by someone for using “burner” for a gun.
                      He didn’t get it wasn’t today’s gun.
                      And same shape is not the same as same way of firing. Guns have retained the same shape, while well… We don’t fire muzzle loaders.

                    3. He didn’t get it wasn’t today’s gun.

                      *facepalm*

                      We don’t fire muzzle loaders.

                      Weeeelllllllll……

                      Except for the very earliest versions muzzleloaders mostly fire the same way as modern guns: point magic boom stick, pull trigger.

                    4. Personally, I think it’s possible we’ll keep calling handheld weapons “guns” even if they bear only the most passing resemblance to modern projectile weapons. But a case could be made either way. Language is weird and takes odd turns. Call it whatever you want. Nobody can say you’re wrong.

                    5. Laser rifles! ’cause you gotta put that spin on the photons or they won’t fly straight!

                    6. So you think we’ll stick to our guns?

                      I suspect there will be subcategories characterized as Blasters vs Burners.
                      ~

            1. It really has gotten beyond the point of folks correcting clip and magazine, or ship vs boat, and well into correcting “can” for “may” in casual conversation.

                1. *vicious smile* Right up until they get someone who knows the actual rules, and starts demanding that they address her formally if they are going to demand high formal requests of permission.

                  Especially when she can bring in support, including now over a century of people clarifying that “may” is appropriate for things like speaking to the judge at your trial, while “can” is suited to informal situations such as where someone addresses you by your given name.

                  Views are split on if “Miss FirstName” is formal or not.

                  1. *vicious smile* Right up until they get someone who knows the actual rules, and starts demanding that they address her formally if they are going to demand high formal requests of permission.

                    But that then runs into the actual actual rules, which are something like “shush and do as I say inferior person”.

                    1. But that then runs into the actual actual rules, which are something like “shush and do as I say inferior person”.

                      Ran into that.

                      Once.

                      (Was a teacher that decided I would answer to a nickname I had never heard of, and still do not care for, since it’s faintly similar to my name but from an entirely different name.)

                      Amazing how well it doesn’t work when one has parents that can and will parent.

                      Give it as much respect as I give the science teacher who tried to punish my brother for disagreeing with him on if snakes are invertebrates.
                      Which wasn’t so bad, until my brother when and read the definition aloud from the page they were on.

                    2. The lurking question in all such incidents is always “why are you so threatened by a child?”.

                      Though, in all of this it should be said that a certain degree of assholishness will always exist even under perfect conditions, as seen from the perspective of the child. Because so much of teaching / raising a child requires driving home boring knowledge and/or un-fun wisdom.

                    3. The lurking question in all such incidents is always “why are you so threatened by a child?”.

                      Oh, I know that one– it’s a matter of maintaining group discipline.

                      It’s actually a valid psychological step– it even works for dealing with animals. Set point of superiority, and defend it, kinda.

                      The teacher made a bad choice in taking a stand on something where they should have tried something like “and why do you say that?” or have an existing rule of “do not question unless you have evidence ready to show that demonstrates your correction.” (which dodges a lot of deliberate time wasters at the price of the highest quality education…..)

                      That takes it from Stupid Pissing Match into Do The Research and Support Your Assertions, which are both very good standards.

                      I actually foudn this out because my mom was having fits– she was a teacher– about my “classroom discipline.” Which got us talking on what she was picturing, and I figured out she had a huge blind-spot from being a natural teacher who would never think to stop someone who had evidence.

                      Most teachers educators are not natural teachers.

                      So the use bad tactics.

                    4. The thing that the tactic is short-circuiting is basically the monkey dance.

                      Folks have to get folks whipped up to get them to do something Really Stupid.

                    5. There IS a greater sin than to be right when those in power are wrong — proving it.

                  2. As a child, I was under the impression that all teachers loved to be corrected, instantly, because obviously it would be horrible to accidentally teach error, or to leave spelling mistakes in place.

                    Most of my teachers were actually pretty understanding of this. There were exceptions, and they were all bad teachers.

                    Of course, most of my teachers were also happy to let me sit and read books under my desk, so maybe it was a little more relaxing for them when I wasn’t paying attention.

                    You know what’s fun now, though? Livestreaming sessions. With live chat. Where I can INFORM PEOPLE of things they don’t know, or CORRECT ERRORS.

                    Possibly I am a very annoying sort of nerd….

                    1. Oh, I know I am. People really like the power of Knowing More, even when they don’t, and even if the person “challenging” them is just really happy to be able to share Neat Thing with someone who obviously cares, or why would they be talking about it?

                      Which is part of why I noticed the power dynamic is folks who chose the “I have authority” over “I am here to get the class through the stuff we need to cover– figure out a useful way to correct random oopses without disrupting stuff.”

                      One teacher, looking back, I’m pretty sure kept a text book that had a really stupid typo, like on par with “snakes are invertebrates” in it. I don’t even remember what the error WAS, but she used it to get us to THINK and remember the information was all from humans, even if we did need good sources to challenge stuff.

                  3. This overlooks the simplest workaround that avoids the entire quandary: don’t ask permission, ask forgiveness.
                    ~

                    1. That may take a slightly different attitude than I have. Most of my snarliness is only when I figure out– generally much later– that I had been dealing in good faith with those who had no interest in returning the gesture.

                2. >> “If the views of teachers are anything to go by “can” vs “may” is the most important thing in the universe.”

              2. Well, I grew up hearing my School-Teacher mother explaining the difference between “can” and “may”. 😆

                On the other hand, I kidded Mom about telling me that I can/may set the table when she meant “Paul, set the table”. 😈

                On the gripping hand, I kidded Mom about that while I was getting ready to Set The Table. 😆

        4. Did you notice the pistol is also firing?
          Since it’s going straight up in the air, I’m assuming the firing is deliberate. No trigger discipline required. As it’s a energy projection weapon, no need to worry about rounds falling back to earth.
          Now I’m sure that some SJW will still complain that the beam is going to cause global warming, or cook some unidentified bird flying overhead, or blind some migrating space chicken out beyond the Moon’s orbit. There’s just no pleasing some folks.

          1. Did you notice the pistol is also firing?

            No. Can’t see the end of the barrel or any other cue that it is firing, and straight up isn’t a typical firing position so I wouldn’t have thought of it otherwise.

          3. All right, but that just exchanges one unforgivable sin for a different one — she’s not paying any attention to where her beam is going. Great way to miss the target and zap something she didn’t want zapped.
            ———————————
            “They were the bad guys, as you say, we were the good guys, and they made a very satisfying THUMP when they hit the floor!”

              1. That’s why you get a smartgun with aiming assistance, as well as a nice VR projection into the corner of your eye, so you can see what you want to hit without actually looking at it visually.

                2. Tedious speculation about how annoying the design and reliability of such a scheme might be compared to the existing method…

                  Hmm…

                  In theory, you could have a lot of fun going wild with putting much larger weapons systems, that might realistically not scale, into hand guns. Surveillance and tracking radars, guided munitions, nukes…

                  Bedtime!

                  1. First the agent’s head is shaved, enabling wrapping with fine metal mesh which serves as basis for 360 degree radar surveillance, then Quikgro restores the hair and a lens implant provides heads-up display of targeting reticule. For a small extra charge the gun can be enabled to fire itself.

                    Easy-peasey!
                    ~

            2. Barbarella casually shooting at the sky is a worry… since it’s a laser lightsaber gun or whatever, maybe it’s best to imagine that it has a harmless light beacon mode which we’re seeing. The Barb-Signal.

              The real-life “Lunar Laser Ranging experiment” involves measuring the distance from Earth to the Moon – which you want to keep an eye on – by shooting a laser beam at any of the left over Apollo equipment which is designed to reflect the light back where it came. But when the laser dot hits the Moon, the dot is 4 miles wide. So the Moon is unlikely to be hurt… unless a huge space cat wants to play with the laser dot. “It is easy to be wise after the event” said NASA.

        5. Yes – an experienced adventurer such as her ought be aware of the risks of premature discharge and of the tendency for weapons going off halfcocked.
          ~

  50. Haven’t read a comic since they cost a quarter, but I’ve been thinking about getting into some of the dissident comics material just to send them some support. Now that you’re on the scene, I can’t wait for the link you post on Monday. My card is on standby.

    I’ve never really been into the sexy cover art thing, but now that the pinch-faced lefty scolds are deeming it “problematic”, it triggers my inner contrarian. I guess I’ll just have to tolerate sexy women…for the cause.

    Oh the things we must endure…

    1. Yeah, as I said, I’m not a prude but I normally don’t write “sexy stuff”. OTOH now it’s a revolutionary act of dissent against the self proclaimed elite. So…. You see….

      2. It’s funny/sad how a salaciously hyper-sexualized character is now an example of……. wholesomeness….

        It is also a powerful weapon in the culture war. Because no one sane is actually attracted to the things the lunatics demand they be attracted to.

  51. Very cool. I can see how it would be easy to filter serious offers out along with all the noise. I listen to a podcaster/blogger/author who gets so pissed off when his attempts to pay for advertising on other sites aren’t responded to. It is actually quite amusing listening to him rant along the lines of “what the bleep is wrong with you people, I want to give you bleeping money, how bleeping incompetent are you that you won’t call someone back in order to take free money from them”

    1. From the other side: I get people wanting to write “free articles” for this site, but if htey’re not known to me the answer is no.
      Iget tons of offers for me to work for “exposure.” too.

      2. “You should value your self and your work more highly. If you start out working for other people for free, no one will want to pay you after that.”

      3. The only people making book off exposure are on Onlyfans, working a pole, Paige Spiranac or a Kardashian
        ~

  52. So now I’m on the Dynamite website and the comic will be $5 (no problem) but of course the cover I like best (Musabekov) is limited edition and $50. Gahh! And the only one that Sarah will sign is apparently the Parrillo (another $50). Time to start collecting and returning bottles for the deposit. And maybe get out my little red wagon and start walking the alleys, checking the neighbors’ trash for more bottles.

    😊

      1. Well, we can always see if Sarah will sign them for us at some future LibertyCon, for $5 a signature… Because money flows to the writer…

  53. I’m ready for this. I’m sorry they said the Barbarella comic “failed” last time. Comics series stop, typically because they figure that a different title will sell better, sometimes because just restarting the exact same thing from “#1” again is supposed to attract sales. It doesn’t mean that it failed creatively, but creatives who have regular utility bills to pay can disagree.

    I also would read a sci fi series starring Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek, but I accept that Barbarella has things that he doesn’t.

    1. Heh.
      That might be a good one for Marvel Comics, “What If…” title.

      What If, Barbarella was the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise?

      1. Do they still do those?

        I seriously wish they’d go hard-core into the “What If?” stuff for a while, burn out all the “creative” ideas…and incidentally find out what REALLY got the fans going.

        1. I think the last issue was “What If … Marvel Evidenced Any Respect For Its Fans?” which came triple* bagged with twelve variant covers, with guest cameos by Spiderman, Wolverine, Punisher, Deadpool, Groot ad several more characters whom I’m currently incapable of recalling.

          I heard one person actually broached the seal to discover the interior of the magazine was entirely blank.

          *the middle bag was mylar.
          ~

      2. Chris Nuttall has a fictional movie serial in some of his Military Science fiction books called IIRC The Stellar Starr series.

        It’s basically Porn In Space set in a very fictional Star Navy. (IE Stellar Star is fiction within Chris’s MSF series.)

        Basically Chris’s characters are always commented “if we did that, we’d be in trouble”.

        When you talk about Barbarella as the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, I think of Chris’ Stellar Starr. 👿

        On the other hand, Barbarella may be smarter than Stellar Starr. 😈

        1. “When you talk about Barbarella as the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, I think of Chris’ Stellar Starr.”

          Funny, I think of James T Kirk, although slightly more selective.
          ~

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