Rough Monday: “The Secret Origin Of Stiletto”
The 90s. It was the age of Zima, Melrose Place, Hootie and the Blowfish, sideburns and… Stiletto?
Yeah, Stiletto. One part “working at the mall”, one part “too much spare time” and one part “unhealthy comic book addiction.” It started as a lark… I created a mini-comic of “Stiletto”, a hard-edged heroine with a sharp blade and killer heels. It was only supposed to be one issue. But all my co-workers liked it so much, that it became a thing:
A sixteen issue mega-epic thing. With it’s own spin-off mini-series (“The Savage She-Cat” if you must know).
The character took a life of her own, serving as a satire for comic books, but “sexy under-dressed 90s anti-heroines” in particular (think: Lady Death, Cry For Dawn, Jim Balent’s Catwoman, and the like).
I took the first few issues of these (very, very rough) mini-comics and created my own ashcan editions available at good ol’ S&S Comics. Here’s the very first issue:
Stiletto had five ashcans in total, but the series didn’t catch the attention of any major publishers. When I started the Hero Business, I knew somehow Stiletto would return…. it was just a matter of when. She made a cameo return in “The All-New All-Different” Bravado on page 10, which skewered female exploitation comics. And then, when I brainstormed last week’s strip, the subject matter practically demanded Stiletto’s return.
I had already been toying with a revamped look, so I sketched it out:
And voila! Welcome back, ‘letto! We missed ya!
So, heroites…. do you like Stiletto? Would you like to see more of her archived 90s adventures on “Rough Mondays”? Let me know!
Love it! more please!
That was pure, corny cheesecake of the highest order… AND I LOVED IT!
Ha! OK, I’ll post #2 real soonish.
I demand more. The Dark Lord of the Underworld commands you.
I would pay extra for a cross-over with Empowered.
I remember a superheroine called Stiletto in a DOS game called Noctropolis. A quick google tells me it came out in 1994 – here is a link to some info on it http://noctropolis.wikia.com/wiki/Noctropolis . The illustration doesn’t look a million miles from your Stiletto; was this an inspiration?
No, just a funny coincidence. (Wow, sexy knife-wielding blonde with her hair parted on the side– that is a funny coincidence!) I used “Stiletto” because it was a women’s high heel as well as a deadly dagger… so I thought that was the perfect combo for a take-charge sexy anti-heroine parody. Also, Lois Lane became a vigilante on SMALLVILLE and used the name “Stiletto”, but she didn’t have any knives. I guess a few people had the same idea, eh? : )
Great memes think alike?
yeah, stiletto means sleet, small, and dangerous in any meaning I suppose, be it shoes, knives, or women.
Heh. I remember when I did those ashcans, I did do a cursory search of the name, and I was actually surprised there wasn’t an entry of some forgotten female character named “Stiletto” in DC Who’s Who and Marvel Universe Indexes — and I’m not a gamer, so I was completely unaware of Noctropolis.
A bit more remembering and research tells me that Noctroplis had live actors in it, (there were some about at the time, point and click games that were halfway to being cheap movies – Dennis Hopper was in a lot of them). The one who played Stiletto was an ex Playboy Playmate (Miss July 1985) and she definitely got her top off a couple of times. That would fit in with the sexploitation angle of the comic.
Darn Eoraptor, Always gets the comments I want to say before me…Either way fantastic cheescake issue, Nothing will top the Supergirl cheescake I’ve seen, but this is close.
You are my new favorite guy. Stiletto is a thing that needs to happen. I LOVE this ash can.
Cartoonish but still retaining a dark, mysterious, sexy look…you did a great job on her design.
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