Girls Are Running the World in BOOM's New Series LadyCastle

 
In this brand new adaption of her first original series, Novelist Delilah S. Dawson introduces the first comic book issue of LadyCastle (NOV161224), illustrated by Ashley A. Woods. 

When King Mancastle and his mighty vassals ride off on crusade, the women left behind are not at all put out-that's a lot less armor polishing for them to do. Of course, when the men get themselves eaten by a dragon and leave a curse that attracts monsters to the castle...well, the women take umbrage with that. Now the blacksmith's wife Merinor is King, Princess Aeve is the Captain, and the only remaining (and least capable) knight Sir Riddick is tasked with teaching the ladies of the castle how to fight, defend, build, and do all manner of noisy things the men had been doing while the women assumed they were just drunk. Novelist Delilah S. Dawson (Star Wars: The Perfect Weapon, As Wicked as She Wants, Wake of Vultures) brings her first original series to comics, and is joined by breakthrough illustrator Ashley A. Woods (Niobe: She Is Life) for a rollicking fantasy adventure featuring women reclaiming their lives on their terms.

Find out more about Ladycastle in this PREVIEWSworld exclusive interview with writer Delilah S. Dawson!

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PREVIEWSworld: The title suggests a lot, but can you tell us what this story’s about and who the main characters are?

Delilah S. Dawson: When King Mancastle and his vassals are all devoured by a dragon, the women of the castle must knight up—hence, Ladycastle. The new queen is Merinor, the former blacksmith’s wife and a talented smith in her own right. She takes the sword from the Lady of the Lake not for power or glory, but because she can’t stand to see good metal go to waste. Her champion is Aeve, once the sleeping beauty kept in a tower, now a mighty knight (once she hacks off that floor-length hair). Aeve’s contrary younger sister Gwyneff is her squire and seemingly the only one in the castle who grieves the old king. The only knight left to train them is Sir Riddick—because he ran away from the dragon. Together with the ladies of the castle, they must work together to defend the castle from the same monstrous (and wacky) curse that brought the dragon.

PREVIEWSworld: Ladycastle seems to turn a lot of medieval themes on its head. What was your inspiration behind it? 

Delilah S. Dawson: I was watching “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and got to the famous line, “Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government,” and thought, BUT WHAT IF IT WAS? And then I wanted to flip the Round Table. I wanted the women to become knights, but with armor that reflected their personalities, Mad Max style. I wanted Sleeping Beauty to be a fierce warrior, and the powerful king to be a black woman claiming her power, and the fair prince to be a tomboy princess with daddy issues. Overall, I wanted to write a story about ladies lifting ladies, about how women of all ages, sizes, races, and abilities can come together and pool their unique strengths to overcome any threat.

PREVIEWSworld: You’re a well-established novelist and this is your first comic book series. Some of your book fans may be unfamiliar with comics. Do you think Ladycastle would be something they’d be willing to give a try? How would you pitch it to them?

Delilah S. Dawson: I think they’ll love it, honestly. Except for my Star Wars books, most of my novels are very violent, very sexy, or both. Ladycastle shares my core belief in kicking butt on your own terms, but it has a humorous and uplifting tone to balance out the drama. This is a book you can share with your teens and tweens—once you’re done reading it, of course. It has the worldbuilding of my Blud series, the action of my Hit series, and the trope-destroying fun of my Shadow series. I would pitch it as a gender-flipped Arthurian legend with a lot of heart and monsters.

PREVIEWSworld: What does Ashley A. Woods bring to Ladycastle that you think will appeal to readers? 

Delilah S. Dawson: Ashley truly brought each of the character to life, so much so that seeing her designs changed my scripts. It’s almost like I sketched a stick person, and she drew in all the details I didn’t know I knew. Her work has a painterly flow to it, with lush colors and expressive faces. I’m especially stoked about the armor and costumes design, which merge Disney and Mad Max to gorgeous effect. I’m a big fan of Ashley.

PREVIEWSworld: How did you come to be working with BOOM! on Ladycastle?

Delilah S. Dawson: I’m honestly not sure if it was a coincidence or not, but a BOOM! editor reached out to me the same day that I survived a disastrous panel on Making Comics for Women at GenCon. The moderator basically turned the panel into “Why Men Should Make Comics for Women and Women Should Shut Up,” and The Mary Sue had some great coverage of it. When I saw the editor’s email, I nearly screamed. It was an invite to pitch, so I came up with two ideas (Ladycastle and a horror adventure that didn’t get picked up). Thanks to the amazing Jim Zub, I was able to research how to write a pitch, and now, after several iterations, we have Ladycastle. I’m so grateful for my chance to write comics, I’m so happy to have such supportive editors, and I hope the readers are as excited about Ladycastle as I am.

Check out some LadyCastle Character designs!