Dan Mendoza is the current reigning king of bad girl comics. Everything he touches turns to gold. Zombie Tramp is a runaway hit and the best selling comic at Action Labs – Danger Zone. His second title Dollface is again another hit for the publisher. Dan is now starting a new studio and becoming a more independent, indie comics guy with his new creation Sad Girl Psycho Baby. Psycho Baby has so excited Dan’s fans that it was fully funded in the first hour! Dan was nice enough to stop by First Comics News to tell us all about his new project.
First Comics News: Who is Sad Girl Psycho Baby? What is her world like?
Dan Mendoza: Ok. Here’s the pitch. In a destroyed world lit by a perpetual sunset sky, a new evolution is born. New races, new blood, new rule. In this ever-changing landscape, the only constants are gangs, low riders, and Spanglish.
From beneath the rubble of the destroyed 22 castles gang, emerges a girl bent on revenge. Enter Sad Girl Psycho Baby. A girl born out of sadness, a sadness so great, that those who remain around her become suicidal. The only ones unaffected by this were her Grandma and little brother, who were taken from her many years ago.
Now all grown up and hardened by the new world, Sad Girl sets out to find the one responsible: the mysterious woman known only as Relik.
1st: How much of your life and your personal experiences are presented in Sad Girl’s world?
Dan: This book is a homage not only to post-apocalyptic movies, but also a homage to the Latin culture I grew up with when I was younger. the movies, the cars, and the people.
1st: Is Sad Girl a survivor of the apocalypse, or a mutation after the apocalypse?
Dan: She’s a mutation after the apocalypse. She knows nothing about how the world used to be. Everything she’s learned about history is stories told by her Grandma. She was only a small child when the world ended, so her view of history will be warped and silly at times.
1st: What can you tell us about Sad Girl’s family?
Dan: All that’s known is she had a little brother and a Grandma that were taken from her when she was young. Everyone else had killed themselves from being around her sadness mutation.
1st: How does Sad Girl spread her sadness to others?
Dan: It just happens naturally but the process is sped up drastically with a deadly kiss or to be touched by her tears.
1st: Does Sad Girl intend to spread her sadness or is that another thing that makes her sad?
Dan: Yes. through the years, she has learned to harness her power and use it for survival. After the loss of her family, she no longer cares for others and if they live or die.
1st: Who is Relik?
Dan: It’s a secret.
1st: Who is Sugar Pop?
Dan: Sugar Pop is Sad Girl’s bubbly sidekick that she meets a bit later in the first issue. She’s the complete opposite of Sad Girl’s personality. Full of life and happiness. It’s an “odd couple” duo.
1st: Is the plan for Sad Girl to become monthly?
Dan: In theory, yes. But right now it’s a book that I’m doing in between working on Zombie Tramp and writing Dollface. Ultimately though, I would like this to become so big, that I could do a monthly series. Right now, I’m just trying to get her noticed and into the wild like I did back in the day with Zombie Tramp.
1st: How do you balance your time with Sad Girl, Zombie Tramp, and Dollface?
Dan: I’m a workaholic. I’m most relaxed when I surround myself in my own world. I always wish I have more time to do more, but gotta sleep sometimes.
1st: What is Still Ill Princess?
Dan: Still Ill Princess is my Studio brand I built that’s an image representing my art style. I tend to draw cute and pretty things but with a sick twisted-ness to it. I came up with the image of a pretty Princess in a straight jacket that I think conveys that.
1st: Why leave Action Lab?
Dan: In no way have I left Action Lab. My baby Zombie Tramp lives there. I always intend to take good care of her. This is just something I wanted to do. Something that’s entirely me again with no viewpoints or deadline stress coming at me. Something that reminds me of when I 1st started.
1st: Is Jason Martin still part of the team?
Dan: Jason will always be a part of my team. He knows the ins and outs of a lot of things. No matter where we go in the future, we’ll take care of one another.
1st: Will Sad Girl be released through Diamond eventually?
Dan: Eventually yes. That’s the plan. But for now, I’m all about the numbers. I’m trying to learn all I can about the business side of things. Making the fans happy and creating great content for them. If I can achieve amazing numbers all on my own without a publisher, then the Diamond part should be easy.
1st: You are doing a retailer only reward.can you tell us about that?
Dan: Yes. When word got out about my upcoming Kickstarter, I started getting approached by retailers for exclusives. I never even imagined stores would be interested in something so indie. But It makes me feel good that these stores take interest in me as a creator no matter what company I’m under. Even it’s my own Label.
1st: Why is this limited to three?
Dan: I actually just up’d it to six. lol. More stores are interested, and I want to try and take as many as I can handle.
1st: Do the retailers get any input to the cover image?
Dan: Yes. They can help chose what kind of cover to get and even chose another artist if they wish.
1st: This project was 100% funded in the first hour. As we speak you are at about three times your goal, so everyone will get a copy. When can backers expect to get a copy?
Dan: Yes. It’s so amazing to be funded in an hour. I’m already planning cool stretch goals and free stuff for all contributors. I’m still shopping around for who’s going to print it. Will most likely depend on the quantity at the end of the campaign. So as soon as that’s settled it will all depend on that printers turn around time and how fast I can lick envelopes. lol
1st: Why aren’t you offering a digital copy of Sad Girl #1?
Dan: Honestly I’m just a fan of physical books and I think my fans are as well. There’s just something about keeping it traditional. We live in such a digital world, I want to keep that old nostalgia.
1st: What makes Sad Girl so cool no true comic fan should miss the first issue?
Dan: This book is raw and no holds barred. A true grindhouse genre with an original twist. I think fans will not only enjoy the over the top violence of the harsh world she lives in but find her personality adoring as well. She is indeed an original gangsta.
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