Robot 6
Exclusive: Dark Horse to publish Adventures of Superhero Girl
It started with a doodle: One day, Faith Erin Hicks scribbled a silly little cartoon about a superhero girl, and that got her to thinking that maybe a story about a superhero dealing with the hassles of everyday life could be kind of interesting. That morphed into The Adventures of Superhero Girl, which she drew as a comic strip for the weekly paper The Coast in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she lives. Last year, she compiled some of the comics into a print book, Just the Usual Superpowers, which she self-published and sold at the Toronto Comics Art Festival.
And now, Dark Horse is giving Superhero Girl the full treatment, publishing the comics in February as a hardcover volume priced at $16.99. The originals were in black and white, but Cris Peter is adding the extra dimension of color.
Hicks has made a name for herself over the past few years as the creator of Friends With Boys and the illustrator of Brain Camp, both for First Second. At the same time, she has emerged as a clear-headed chronicler of the financial and practical realities of the creator’s life. She has more books in the works, but this clever little comic is a very nice addition to her oeuvre, and it’s nice to see it get the deluxe treatment.
16 Comments
Steve Flack
September 7, 2012 at 1:17 pm
And a cease & desist from Marvel & DC in 3…2…1…
Brigid Alverson
September 7, 2012 at 1:24 pm
That would be bullying.
Jim Deal
September 7, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Steve: Why? They have no case.
Niels van Eekelen
September 7, 2012 at 1:29 pm
They’ve got a shared trademark on “superhero”. Ridiculous but true. They previously forced “Superhero Happy Hour” into “Hero Happy Hour”.
Steve Flack
September 7, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Marvel & DC co-own a trademark on “SuperHero” when it comes to publishing.
Nick Perkins
September 7, 2012 at 1:34 pm
This right here is THE BEST.
Dave Baldwin
September 7, 2012 at 1:34 pm
If they did not do it before I see no reason why they’d do it now.
Steve Flack
September 7, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Which confuses me, because when she self-published the collection, I thought she changed the title to avoid an issue, but now that it has a big publisher behind it, they are pushing it. It’s usually the other way around. Either DH doesn’t know what’s up, or is going to fight it.
Dave Baldwin
September 7, 2012 at 1:35 pm
But anywho, Miss Hicks is lovely and I love her work. Never bought her original published Superhero Girl collections but no reason not to check this out.
Brigid Alverson
September 7, 2012 at 1:39 pm
@Steve Flack Or maybe they cleared it, or maybe they have decided it’s not an issue. Let’s give some benefit of the doubt here.
Steve Flack
September 7, 2012 at 1:43 pm
That’s no what the internet is for!
But seriously, this is a lovely strip, and will be great no matter what it’s called.
Brigid Alverson
September 7, 2012 at 1:44 pm
I think we can all agree on that! Faith rules!
Steve Emond
September 7, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Congrats Faith! Nice cover! I will pick this up
Dave Baldwin
September 7, 2012 at 1:50 pm
Kind of regret not buying some of the original SH Girl art when I had the chance. Bought a page from her Adventure Time story instead.
Angela
September 7, 2012 at 4:49 pm
Yay! I am seriously excited for this book. I loved reading it in black and white online, but the color image there looks great and I would love to own a collection. Definitely on my to-buy list.
Kat Kan
September 7, 2012 at 8:38 pm
I purchased a self-published copy from Faith at the ALA Annual Conference in June, but I’m totally stoked to know about the hardcover from Dark Horse. That means we can get it into libraries! And schools! This is great news!