My First Book Release Ever!
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Powell's Books
My new book, Huntress: Year One, the origin story of a powerful, brooding, misunderstood, Gotham-based DC Comics hero, has officially been released. I've written books before, but it's different when it gets published. This book, originally a six-issue comic book miniseries, is now a real book, a graphic novel. It's a mafia noir feminist action series. There's a huge market for that, right?
For those of you who aren't comic book fans, Huntress was created in 1977 , by Paul Levitz, as the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. The modern-day Huntress is a mafia princess turned against the mafia. In real life, I also was originally the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, but the modern-day me is the daughter of two very nice Red Room members. Friends of mine have said they can see me in the character all over the book. I'm always vowing to take down the mafia, for example.
You can even buy one if you want to. I was honored that Paul Levitz wrote a new intro for the trade paperback version, an intro that I argued should be more glowing, but he's the boss of bosses and writes what he wants. As Red Room author Chip Kidd put it, Paul is the "Lord God of the DC Universe." And in that universe, my story is now part of Gotham's story.
As always, it is an honor to be helping shape pretend history.
Ivory Madison
Founder & CEO, redroom.com
- Login Or register To Post Comments
- Send To A Friend
- Share With:
Smartryk Foster says:
Huntress Returns!
A new intro? Gotta read it~
"Why haven't you bought my book yet? Don't you love me enough?"
;P So, you'd prefer people buying the GN over individual issues?
And if you want to know whether there's a market for feminist action series', get Warner Bros. to make a movie out of 'Birds of Prey: Manhunt.'
http://www.comicvine.com/birds-of-prey-manhunt/49-6634/
(You know you want too. ;] You're good with that~ )
Randy Wong says:
Got the book yesterday
I prefer to buy these single TPB so I can read the story in one setting. Pretty powerful story. There is a lot going on, so it is worth a re-read. I won't put spoilers here, but my first read of the story was pretty damn cool. Good story.
Randy Wong
Katie Burke says:
Congratulations!
CONGRATULATIONS, Ivory! I'm thrilled for you!
Katie Burke
Huntington W. Sharp says:
For me...
... it wasn't so much the taking down the mafia as it was the crossbow. I could try to recount how many times Ivory's saved my life with one of those things, but no one would ever believe it.
Huntington Sharp, Red Room
Smartryk Foster says:
Oh? Do tell~ Has someone
Oh? Do tell~ Has someone been doing some secret training?
A little message from Batman:
Batman doesn't say, 'I can't do it,' or 'I wonder if I can do it.'
Batman stands at the end of that skyscraper, looks down, and sees if he's confident enough in his own abilities to jump. If he isn't, he goes back to training until he *is.*
And then he stands at the edge of that skyscraper again, asks the question again, and repeats the process until the answer is 'Yes!'
Then he jumps off that skyscraper and goes to kick butt!
Set yourself a bench mark, one that you can achieve but will also be as hard as some of the hardest problems you'll face, and then prepare yourself to overcome in. Once you're confident in your abilities (which is a big key!) and you overcome the obstacle, you'll be ready for anything!
;]
Belle Yang says:
I think it must be a literary first
for the author to be truly as saavy and gorgeous as the depicted hero in the comic book.
Ivory, I would say, I hope you get big media attention, but I know that's inevitable.
x
Ryoma Collia-Suzuki says:
I'm so excited for you!
Absolutely AWESOME! Officially part of Gotham history. That is just so 'Wow!'.
Ryoma (grinning like a Cheshire cat, which is actually a little scary)
Ellen R. Sheeley says:
Congratulations, Ivory! Well
Congratulations, Ivory! Well done!
Gregory Roensch says:
Shazzzam!!!
Congratulations to the Huntress of the Red Room.
Ivory Madison says:
Thank you!
These are some of the nicest comments ever. I want to thank all of you for creating such a supportive community. This isn't the kind of place where people tear each other down, it's a place where everyone truly is rooting for everyone else. A dream come true for me ever since I founded the Red Room Writers Society seven years ago.
A few quick responses to my favorite people:
Greg, be careful when you say "Shazzzam!!!", I've heard it can have some strange side effects on some men.
Ellen, thank you, and thanks for the nice email the other day! Great to know more about you.
Ryoma, I'm so excited to find a new Red Room face I haven't met yet! Welcome to the Mad Tea Party.
Speaking of Mad Hatters, Belle, you should be our honorary founder, here from day one making this a friendly place to meet brilliant people. I saw the pictures of you and Steve Hauk on Red Room recently and was touched. Regarding my gorgeousness, please remember you're always looking at the best photos of me I can find.
Smartryk, I love your photo. Now, is that your real name or a secret identity?
Huntington, if you would just LEARN HOW TO USE THE CROSSBOW YOURSELF, I wouldn't have to step in and save you so much.
Katie, I keep all your notes (and Belle's!), and really appreciate your encouragement.
Randy, I just saw you posting something about an anti-estrogen diet book somewhere else on the site...and now you've also got the pro-estrogen Huntress book on your shelf, too. You've got it all covered.
Thanks again for all the support. I am going to try to squeeze in doing some book promotion and I will share with everyone what worked and what didn't, first-hand.
Ivory Madison
Founder & CEO, redroom.com
Smartryk Foster says:
The Question
I'll tell you in PM. If I said it here, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. ;p
"...and save you so much."
So you're saying you'd have to save him even AFTER he knows how to use a crossbow?
tisk tisk, Ivy. (or rather 'tisk tisk, Huntington', if it's true... )
Maybe you should write a few stories about Huntress' training days, how how she learned to handle those weapons (and moves)? Would be good to know what you're up to when you train~ ;p
And for anyone interested, that Batman lesson came from the KnightFall Saga (I've got the issues here, but don't feel like looking through all of them to find the specific one).
In the story, Bane blows a hole out of the side of Arkham Asylum (anyone watching the current Batman movies should know what that is), and drops a crate of weapons. The plan? Batman can't just be *anyone.* He has to have enough money to do what he does, athletically fit enough, and of a certain height.
So Bane decided to watch all the people on his narrowed list to find out who Batman is. Bane accomplished this by fatiguing Batman -running after Arkham patients for 3 days straight (with barely rest) left Bruce Wayne and Batman with the same signs of fatigue. Bane noticed this.
So when Bruce got home after 3 days of running after Arkham patients, Bane was standing at the bottom of the Batcave stairs. Bane broke Bruce's spine. It was touch-and-go to save Bruce's life, and Bane took over Gotham from there.
Bruce knew he needed a successor. Gotham needed a Batman. Gotham needed THE BATMAN. But that could no longer be Bruce... at least, not yet. So Bruce appointed Jean-Paul Valley (the former Azrael, a young man who had subliminal messaging put into him from childhood so that he could one day replace his father in the role of 'Azrael: Angel of Vengence of the Order of St. Dumas'). Not the smartest choice for a new Batman, but Dick Grayson (Nightwing/former-Robin) already had a life and responsibilities, and Bruce didn't want to burden him. Tim (current-Robin) was too young (being barely 14). So the choice was Jean-Paul.
This seemed to go well, until Bruce went to England on a kidnapping investigation, and Jean-Paul went nuts thinking that he was 'Batman: Angel of Vengence', and started killing people. Tim tried to hide this from Bruce, and solve it himself, but once Bruce got home Tim realized that he couldn't solve this himself. Someone had to do something about Jean-Paul. Someone had to take the Mantle of the Bat (and Tim wasn't about to do it).
When Bruce handed Jean-Paul Valley the Mantle of the Bat, he made Jean-Paul promise one thing: Never to go up against Bane. Well, since then, Jean-Paul kicked Bane's butt into next week and back, and Bane was in the hospital recovering. Now Bruce had to go up against the guy who brought Bane within a few feet of death, while Bane was the one who broke Bruce's spine and brought *him* within a few inches of death. And Bruce was the one who put Jean-Paul in the suit. And Bruce was *horribly* out of shape.
So what does Bruce do to train for this? Get back into a workout schedule! When he thought he was ready, he stood on the first skyscraper he ever jumped from (as Batman), and looked over the edge. To not-die from this jump, Bruce would have to throw his Batarang at just the right time to catch a single flagpole that he could swing from to safety. If he missed that flagpole, he was dead. He wasn't ready. He needed more training.
So how does he train? He asks (world-famous and leading assassin) Lady Shiva to help him! One smart choice after another...
If there's another lesson you can get out of this:
Don't let your 'Alfred' quit. Sometimes, that motherly, annoying voice telling you to 'stop pushing so hard' is the voice of sanity and reason that you need to temper your otherwise-bad ideas.
yeah.
~The End~
Randy Wong says:
good summary
KnightFall was tough to read because the Batman is my favorite character, and to see him broken down like that was tough. That was some serious story telling by DC.
Randy Wong
Gina Collia-Suzuki says:
Wow, what an achievement!
Wow, what an achievement! You must be floating around on cloud nine. Congratulations!
Ivory Madison says:
Thanks, Gina!
This comment section is turning into a panel at Comic-con, with academic historical lessons about pretend history, as well as Campbellesque hero psychology. I'll bet you non-comics readers are getting an education.
Thanks for reading, and I just looked you up and you and your books sound facinating! Really a great addition to the community. So glad you're here.
Ivory Madison
Founder & CEO, redroom.com
Randy Wong says:
Campbellesque
In case anyone missed the reference, this refers to Joseph Campbell. His most famous work is "The Hero With a Thousand Faces." This is a must read as this seminal work describes the hero's journey, which is pretty much the foundation of all stories, screenplays, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces Randy Wong
Ruth Paget says:
Just started a graphic novel and graphic format book club on RR
Dear Ivory,
I would love to hear why you chose to tell your story in a graphic format in the above club on RR.
Best,
Ruth Paget