Kitty Ravencraft is and all new creation from Dan Parent and Fernando Ruiz launching it’s first Kickstarter today. Fernando was nice enough to stop by First Comics News to let our readers know what to expect from the adventures of Kitty Ravencraft.
First Comics News: Who is Kitty Ravencraft?
Fernando Ruiz: Kitty Ravencraft is a beautiful young witch who is not only a real honest-to-God magic using, spell casting witch, but she is also the star of her own comic book. For decades, the comic book publishers of Kitty Comics have been putting out a comic book starring Kitty herself. The comic book was at one time a hugely popular franchise but in recent years, her popularity has started to wane. Her greedy, ruthless publishers decide …like MANY publishers do nowadays… to fall back on that cheap hackneyed old stunt of killing their main character in order to boost sales. In Kitty’s case, however, her publishers decide that sales and interest in Kitty will REALLY spike if they kill off the lovely young witch in REAL LIFE!
1st: What are Kitty’s powers?
Fernando: Kitty has mastered the basics of a magic-using witch. She has telekinesis. She can start fires and control flames. She’s a shapeshifter who’s favorite form is that of a black cat. Kitty’s favorite position to sleep is in a basket in her cat-form. She can teleport and cause men… and women… to fall in love with her. Kitty can also conjure different types of monsters and demons who will carry out her will. For more complex spells, Kitty may need her magic books and if its a spell she hasn’t completely mastered, the results aren’t always predictable.
1st: I understand how a publisher would kill a comic character, but how does he kill the real life Kitty and the context of the comic Die Kitty Die?
Fernando: Kitty’s publishers quickly find out that it is a lot easier to kill Kitty in the comics than it is to kill her in real life. In order to kill Kitty, the publishers turn to a number of other supernatural beings and beasts. Surely ONE of them are able to kill the beautiful young sorceress… or so they hope!
1st: Is Real Kitty a witch too?
Fernando: Yes. Kitty is a REAL magic-using, spell casting witch. She just may not be always great at being a witch!
1st: What are the differences between Real Kitty and Comic Kitty?
Fernando: The real Kitty is an actual real young woman living in the real world. She’s very much a comic book fan and because of her “celebrity” as a “comic book character” she’s very much involved in “fan culture.” Comic book Kitty lives in the fun, seemingly-on-the-surface simple life of her comic book. There’s a very retro feel and look to comic book Kitty, but don’t mistake that for being predictable. There are a lot of shocking surprises within the pages of Comic Book Kitty’s life!
1st: There appear to be 2 different main stories plus flashbacks. How does the story break down?
Fernando: Our book starts off with a short six page “She’s Kitty” story in the Classic Kitty style. From there, we transition into Real World Kitty whose story encompasses the remainder of the book. Each issue will break down this way.
1st: Is this a “G” rated all-ages comic?
Fernando: Just to be safe, let’s call this a PG book.
1st: Kassandra Love has already started cosplaying as Kitty Ravencraft, how did that come about?
Fernando: We met the lovely cosplayer and model Kassandra Love last year at Fan Expo Toronto, one of our favorite conventions of the whole year. She’s a huge Archie fan and just a very pretty, sweet young woman. She’s terrific at what she does and I suggested to her that she would make a perfect Kitty Ravencraft! She’s already planning something for next year’s Fan Expo. We can’t wait! It’ll be a dream come true to get our picture taken with a REAL Kitty!
1st: Getting into the supporting characters…
Who is Rudy?
Fernando: Rudy is one of Kitty’s friends who practically lives at Comics Corner, their comic shop hang-out. Rudy is the ultimate comic geek and a tremendous fan of Kitty’s comic book and of course, Kitty herself. In his attempts to impress Kitty and attach himself to her world which he finds completely captivating and enchanting, Rudy has swiped some of Kitty’s spell books to teach himself a limited amount of magic. He’s mastered just enough to make himself a pest!
1st: Who is Mara?
Fernando: Mara is the manager of Comics Corner and Kitty’s best friend. A nice girl, Mara is very much a mother figure to the comic fans that hang out in her shop. She gives Kitty a faithful ear and she tries her best to keep Rudy in line!
1st: Who is Maxie Millions?
Fernando: Kitty isn’t the only real world person turned into a comic book. Kitty has other friends who have… or HAD!… comic books of their own. One of these is Maxie Millions, a filthy rich child billionaire known as “The Ruthless Little Rich Boy!” Maxie uses cold hard cash to buy himself out of any problem! Maxie is among Kitty’s many pals who used to have their own comic book but had their book cancelled after their star faded. Unlike most though, Maxie adapted to his cancellation fairly easily. He tapped into his secret Cayman Islands accounts and retired to swim in his swimming pools full of money!
1st: Who is Dippy the Dead Kid?
Fernando: Dippy The Dead Kid is another of Kitty’s comic book friends who used to have his own comic book but doesn’t any more. Unlike Maxie, Dippy hasn’t adapted to cancellation as well. There just isn’t much room in the real world for a homeless ghost. Dippy spends much of his time haunting Comics Corner which is among the few places where he is remembered and where a dead kid would be welcomed. He is one of Kitty’s closest friends.
1st: Who is L’il Satan?
Fernando: Lil Satan also used to have his own books but has since been cancelled. After being cancelled, Lil Satan, an actual Hell-spawned devil, said “The Hell with it” and retired back to Hell. He contents himself with seducing innocent souls and playing evil practical jokes. He is a friend of Kitty, but would love nothing more than to lure the beautiful young witch to his Underworld realm and keep her their forever.
1st: With two of the rewards you guys are giving the “Full Comic-Con experience with Dan and Fernando”. 3 people can join you at NYCC, and 2 people at SDCC. What is the experience exactly?
Fernando: The purchaser of this reward gets one of our exhibitor badges. This is a highly sought after professional-level pass that grants the holder unlimited admission to the convention for the entire duration of the show. They get to sit with us at our tables at artist alley and see the convention as we do. After the con, they are invited to dinner with the two of us.
1st: It’s hard to get in to the SDCC and expensive, last year the price for an out of state resident was about $1,853 per person before they purchase anything. What expensed can a fan expect to pay if they pledge for this reward?
Fernando: The responsibility to get to the show will be on the purchaser. We only guarantee the exhibitor badge, the seat at our table, and the dinner afterwards.
1st: You have rewards that allow you to appear as a guest star in Die Kitty Die, how much of the comic are you in if you win?
Fernando: You will have a substantial cameo as a ghost in the second issue.
1st: Is there a limit on how many people can pledge to become guest stars.
Fernando: We would love to be in the position where we need to cap off this reward because the number of guest stars has just become too unwieldy and unrealistic. Let’s wait until that’s a possibility before we start considering limits. Right now, I know I’m going to need a bunch of ghosts!
1st: There is a reward for a fan to be on a variant cover for Die Kitty Die. Can fans combine that reward with the reward to be in the comic?
Fernando: Yes. Fans are certainly welcome to pledge at multiple levels.
1st: Why form Asto Comix and do a Kickstarter instead of traditional publishing?
Fernando: First we didn’t want to go through the long and frustrating process of pitching Die Kitty Die to companies who weren’t going to understand our story or who might just sit on our pitch while they went back and forth on what they wanted to do with Kitty if anything. Dan and I have both been in this business long enough to see this happen over and over again. The elegance of crowdfunding is the independence that it grants you. We have no interference what so ever. it’s all up to us!
1st: What else are you planning from Astro?
Fernando: If we are successful with Die Kitty Die, we certainly have more plans to continue our Astro Comix label. Naturally, we would continue Kitty’s adventures but Dan and I also have ideas for our own individual characters and stories. I would love to bring back The Iron Ghost, the robotic anti-hero I introduced in my own independent anthology, Epics. Astro Comix would be a natural hone for him. Dan is also no stranger to independent publishing. He’s put out his own stories in the past and he’s spoken to me about projects that he’d like to bring about under Astro Comix.
1st: What makes Die Kitty Die so cool, comic fans will hate themselves if they don’t pledge?
Fernando: Die Kitty Die is a fun comic done in a way that few comics are nowadays. We aren’t relying on huge crossover events or big names. We have a quirky fun unique premise that lets us be funny, scary, and sexy. There’s adventure, lots of satire and commentary on comics, and most of all, its going to be a fun story that anyone can enjoy and pick up. We appear at a number of conventions around the World and we meet a lot of fans who want to see more of our work. This is a very rare opportunity to see more of our work and in its purest form where it is not diluted by corporate or editorial mandates. We’re doing what we think is fun.
You can back the DIE KITTY DIE! Kickstarter HERE
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