Kitty Mayer is back...

... and at last, she's built a pay site! I could probably go dig up blog posts where I said exactly this, but I am so, so glad that a female mask enthusiast has finally done the right thing and said "Hey, maybe I shouldn't give all these goods away for free!" Viva capitalism!

Ahem.

Long-time readers probably recall that Kitty is a bit of a legend, having really been one of the first 'genetic girl' maskers to hit the 'scene' and we were all a bit devastated when she went into semi-retirement. Well, great news because she's back and posting new material. There's one catch: you need to pay for it. But just once, and that gets you access forever. Brilliant.

It would have been easy (ish) for Kitty to go with the whole subscription thing, but I'm positive that this method is going to pay off for her (literally) and she'll see floods of happy customers. I'm definitely going to be one, myself. Who wouldn't want a gorgeous female masker in their lives?

So go! Get yourself over to KittysKornerVIP.com and get signed up, already! If you sign up before September 1st, you save!

Happy Christmas!

Managing, somehow, to spend at least part of Christmas Day quietly writing. Couldn't ask for more.

If you get to be with those you love and be loved by them this Christmas, so much the better. If you don't, feel loved anyway.

Apropos of nothing - call it a cheap Christmas gift - here's a look at the excellent Catwoman fan film, Principles. I'll leave it to you to figure out why I like it so much...!

An inspirational cosplayer...

Working on finishing up issue 25... should be up soon. Found this cosplayer in a random Google search, showing off a great Spider-Girl outfit. You can probably guess why I enjoyed her look...

She goes by the handle of Julia, The Wicked Deviant. All images from her Facebook, DeviantArt and Tumblr.

A rare jawdropper moment

The best moments when writing are the flashes of inspiration that come mid-writing - where a character does something you didn't expect ("Of course she should kiss him here").

The better moments are when that inspiration suddenly coalesces into a future plot event... and your jaw drops open at the sheer audacity and excitement of it.

(And as a bonus, when that moment actually wraps up your story in a climax that is completely perfect for what you had planned.)

Just had one of those moments while working on Housesitting. Wow oh wow.

Let's hope I get to write it....

The 'lost' cover for #21

 Gentlemen (and maybe even ladies), I present this limited edition comic cover for Betty Brant, the Sensational Spider-Girl #21... umm, a little late.

Issue #21 cover: click to enlarge!

Late last year, when for a brief shining moment I thought I was about to be able to start releasing issues regularly again (Ha!), I commissioned DeviantArt user Poserhobbit to create this custom image of Betty. As you might guess from his name, the image was created using Poser 3D.

Poserhobbit was very helpful in letting me get exactly the pose and style of image I wanted, which was really a 'classic comic cover' look. This image is actually cropped a little from the original, which you can see here. I added the cover flash and so on.

And why didn't I post this along with issue #21...? Er, honestly, I just forgot!

Eye candy: Mary Jane as Spidey

For some reason - well, apart from the obvious - I've been looking for images of Mary Jane dressed in Spider-Man's costume recently. This is the image that started my search:

That one's by Steve Rude, I believe, and here's another more recent one he did - both, I'd guess, were convention sketches:

No idea who the artist is on this one, but it's fun anyway:

Looking for these, I think, was probably inspired by this classic cover - Amazing Spider-Man annual 19:

Yep, I certainly remember buying that book in great excitement... and getting very disappointed that there's no scene like it inside. (Some mad scientist thinks Mary Jane is Spider-Man. It's all very silly. Although there was some interesting discussion of 'exoskeletons' to allow a female to fake a male form, which is on file somewhere in the back of my mind for a potential future Betty plot.)

Anyway, just thought I'd share. Seen anything similar? Cross-gender comic imagery is always fun.

Chameleon as Jean DeWolff..

.. in Amazing Spider-Man 620, which I think was on sale last week, or this week, not sure. Here's the relevant bit:

I'm pretty sure this was just a one-off gag for this issue - it may have been someone that Mysterio was going to 'resurrect' to torment Spidey with - but still, fun.

Thoughts on the Chameleon's return

I warn random search visitors in advance: I doubt you're looking at this the way I am. Also, SPOILERS for Amazing Spider-Man 602.

As I mentioned before, this week's issue of Amazing Spider-Man features the return of the Chameleon, who in the course of the issue manages to kidnap and impersonate Peter Parker as a ploy to get inside the high security of City Hall, wherein J Jonah Jameson is now serving as Mayor. At least, that's what we assume he's going to do, he hasn't done it yet.

The issue's writer, Fred van Lente, has done a really good job updating the character for the modern world. He's written in a creepy, quite chilling way; ruthless in what he does, clinical, professional... and to me, not entirely convincing.

One fairly major issue I have is this: I've never seen the Chameleon as a serial killer. In this issue he kills one bystander so he can take over their life, and then 'kills' (because, you know, I highly doubt Spider-Man himself is about to die off-panel) Peter Parker too. Without much concern for either death.

Now sure, we could argue that many people in this world wouldn't be missed, especially if after the Chameleon impersonates them, he makes arrangements for them to 'leave town'. And yes, I know it makes the character more threatening if he's willing to kill, and I also know it's just a story and no-one thinks these things through. I'm only giving it thought because frankly I've spent way too much time thinking about this character, as I'm sure you realise.

My take was always that if the Chameleon had to impersonate someone specific, he'd get them out of the way if needed, but only temporarily. He'd also quite often just go ahead and do it, and leave others to figure out why there were two people who looked exactly the same wandering around. This has been seen in previous comic appearances, too.

My other thought was that often, when the Chameleon chose a disguise, it'd be one that wasn't even based on a specific person; it was instead just a generic disguise, non-specific, but convincing. If after all you just need to blend into the crowd, how hard can that be?

Of course for us, as particular consumers of a particular fetish, it's the specific impersonation we crave. That's always more fun to read about. Which is why I found it quite thrilling to see the Chameleon impersonate Peter Parker - even though he's done this before (briefly). As you can see in this preview for next week's issue, he certainly gets away with it, to the extent that he actually manages to seduce Peter's roommate, Michelle - who in fact Peter's already slept with.

Which brings up an interesting point; some commenters on that preview have said that this is rape, because Michelle, while she consents to sex, isn't consenting to sex with Peter. Interesting argument, and I wonder how it'd hold up in the courts. If you think for all intents and purposes that the person you're sleeping with is who they say they are, is it rape? I expect the argument would hinge on consent regardless of who it is.

It is of course a downright sleazy and villainous thing to do - to take advantage like he certainly does - but hey, the Chameleon is a villain. And one thing this storyline seems to be doing is re-affirming his place as a Grade-A one, at that.

If that leads to more storylines, great. I've got to say, it's gotten me thinking about the Chameleon again as a character. How fickle am I, eh?

Chameleon returning to comics

In case you don't follow comics like I tend to do, you might have missed this. This week's issue of Amazing Spider-Man, number 602, will feature the return of the Chameleon - and it looks like he's up to his old tricks:
That image, by the way, is part of a five-page preview you can see over at Newsarama.

What's really interesting (well, to me anyway) is that as you can see, he's back to using masks for his disguises. The Chameleon's appearances in comics are infrequent enough that I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but I'm pretty certain the last time he was seen, he was using 'face changing tech'. Or maybe I'm confused with the Spider-Man cartoons.

Anyway, for those of you, myself included, who are fans of this master of disguise... might be a good idea to get along to your local comic store. (This issue is the first in an arc to feature him, by the way. If we're really lucky, perhaps he'll try on a few of those female masks behind him, hmmm?)

Oh and fans of the Black Cat might be pleased to see this cover image for issue 607, which is coming in about five weeks or so (now that Amazing Spider-Man comes out three times a month):


... especially because if your mind works like mine does, it probably sparked a few Spider-Girl ideas...!

A search related addendum: By far, this is the highest traffic post on this blog. I can only assume it's some magic combination of 'Chameleon' and 'Marvel' going by the search terms, but then again, I find myself on page 10 of the Google results... so I have no idea what you're looking for.

On the off-chance that you, like me, find the Chameleon an intriguing and in fact exciting character; if the phrase 'master of disguise' does special things for you... then you might like my fan fiction series which features him heavily, especially in the first four issues. Read the first issue right here.

The Robin inspiration

So I'm actually writing this on the 4th, when I said I wanted to reference some inspiration I'd had - but if I did, it'd give away a major plot point.

Hopefully by the time you read this, you'll know all about the resolution of issue 20 and the Crossover arc (Hey, you're ahead of me, I haven't written it yet! Ah, the joys of projecting into the future) so now I can talk about my inspiration.

When it comes to impersonating Robin, well, there's probably been more than a few occasions over the years... but one that sticks in my head particularly because it was in the 1960s (the spiritual home of my SG series) and also because it featured a woman doing the impersonating, is Jill St. John as Molly, in only the second episode of the Batman TV show.

In case you haven't seen the episode in question, naturally it's illegally available on YouTube (here's Part One, in which the impersonation takes place; here's Part Two, in which you sort-of see Molly unmask). What makes the episode so fun for me is actually (believe it or not) Burt Ward's performance. When he's playing 'Molly as Robin' he really does camp it up in a few places, and boy if that ain't kinky.

Anyway, when I was writing the (SPOILER!) Betty-as-Robin scenes in issue 20, I needed reference to remember what the heck the 'classic Robin' costume looked like. So I went looking for visuals, and then I remembered that episode. One quick YouTube search later and I was delighting in that scene again. That gave me all the visual reference I needed, and also Molly's delicious play acting as Robin ("Riddler, you fiend!" she says when she first turns up, Robin mask in hand) really inspired me to ensure that Betty-as-Robin took the 'role' seriously.

Here's a few gratuitous pics of the scene when Molly turns up dressed as Robin. Sorry about the quality, but they're just screen-grabbed from YouTube:

Molly confronts the Riddler, costume ready, mask in hand...

A knowing glance to her partner in crime... time to transform...

Ta-da... out goes Jill, in comes Burt, and he's happy to 'play the girl'.

Great stuff. If you haven't seen it, be sure to check it out.

2012 Update: As this post still gets hits - most likely people looking for the same memories I had - here's a couple of bonuses. One, this entire episode is on YouTube now, who knows how long for:

Second, here's another screengrab - the moment after Molly unmasks herself (which frankly, is a terrible, terrible piece of fakery, but at least she's pictured here, mask in hand):

"Maybe you could put that back on and we'll have a little fun..."

Self-indulgent nostalgic rambling

Can you remember the earliest times you felt - ahem - stirred by the prospect of masks or disguises?

I'm sure we all have a story (unless you just wandered onto this page by accident, in which case, seeya later), and for a lot of us it might involve Mission: Impossible or similar. That's a common touchstone, but I bet all of us have our own unique memories. If you're anything like me, those memories haven't faded too badly over the years, even though your original source may have long disappeared.

One of my earliest ones was of course the primary inspiration behind the Spider-Girl series - a single panel, really, of Betty Brant pulling on her mask. Don't know why, but that sure as hell got me. I also carried with me, for years, another turn-on from about the same time. I could see the image as clearly as anything in my mind's eye, and I knew the story it came from. That'd be this image here:

That there is a corner of a front cover to Eagle comic, dated 22nd January 1983. I know this because I have a copy sitting next to me, lent to me by a friend (who, of course, has no idea that I asked to borrow his entire collection of vintage Eagle comics, in part, just so I could find this particular issue). Given that issue's cover date, I would have been 10 years old when that issue hit the stands.

Well, now I know about when adolescent hormones started for Young GW.

That image drove me crazy, particularly when I read the story inside. Invisible Boy was a series where the kid in question ('Tim', who looked quite a bit like how 10-year old Ghostly Writer saw himself) could, erm, turn invisible. So far so dull. But of course while the comic story dealt with 'interesting' situations like Tim helping out refugees and stopping crimes, in reality what hormone-plagued boys like me wanted to see was Invisible Boy doing what any normal kid would do... sneak around and see girls naked.

Any normal kid. I wasn't normal, as we all know by now.

What Young GW wanted to see was girls in disguises. I'd already developed strange feelings after watching Mission: Impossible's Lynda Day George... and we all know how that Betty Brant crush manifested itself (admittedly, about 17 years later). So when my eyes clapped on that image on the front of that issue, you'd better believe I flipped straight to the Invisible Boy story.

It's not like it's Shakespeare, and no, I won't send you scouring the Internet to find some obscure 'torrent file so we can all read it. (Although if I had a scanner and not a crappy iSight camera, I'd share.) Basically Tim's single scientist of a father gets a new housekeeper... and of course as we all know from that spoiler of an image, said housekeeper is actually a gorgeous blonde in disguise. Or as Tim puts it:

"She's like some Hollywood film star!"

Yeah, emphasis on the word 'like' there, Tim. Still, she was blonde and kinda cute - but more importantly, she had just pulled off a wig and glasses! For Young GW, this meant she was a mistress of disguise, and hence a sex goddess. I would not be argued with, even if we all went back in time and tried.

Over the next three weeks my little adolescent heart went pitter-patter as I picked up each issue, hoping to see 'Miss Martin' transform herself for some obscure reason. I didn't get my wish, although I did get these two panels:

"Tim could imagine it so clearly..."

... and fairly obviously, so could little ol' me. So much so in fact, that the image above of 'Miss Martin' pulling off her wig stuck in my brain for 24 years... and in case you were wondering, here's where all this becomes relevant to our supposed topic...

... that image has inspired the plot of a potential story called, right now, The Babysitter. I think you can imagine where it might go.

And that, my friends, is what you call a tease.

Altogether now... torrent!

Hey guys and maybe even gals... remember these?



Those there are the only clips I've ever seen of The Black Widow, a very hard to find 1947 Republic serial which, in case you haven't bothered to watch the clips above, features quite a bit of female masking.

I've been jones-ing to write a 'serial style story' for quite a while now, with these clips inspiring me to do so. I've even gotten to the point of starting to plot it (harder than it looks, those cliffhangers every episode).

Anyway, all this time I've really, really wanted to see the original serial so I could get some more inspiration, and hopefully see a few more disguise or impersonation sequences! Unfortunately the serial wasn't exactly a landmark, so it's only been available on VHS and hasn't had a DVD release...

... but that doesn't stop the Internet. Some wonderful kind person, understanding my bizarre need to watch old serials that cater to my 'special' fetish, has encoded all 13 chapters of The Black Widow and made a 'torrent for them. You can grab it right here.

(Before I go any further, if you don't know what a 'torrent' is, or what BitTorrent is, go find out. Then come back.)

So why do I tell you all this? Well apart from the fact that you too could now see this serial, the simple fact is... if you download the 'torrent too, then we all get the serial faster. That's how it works. (Sort of.)

So help my inspiration! Download that torrent and let's seed this sucker!