So I look at my artwork and think, "I'm sorry, that's just not what I see!" and that's not what my female audience sees. So this has been a fascinating experiment. What is beauty? What is erotica? What appeals to one person might be anathema to another.
Erotica is the most subjective, personal thing. I happen to like long, lean and angular guys! That's what has always turned me on. (laughs) It's what looks good to me, and to a lot of other women too.
FAN FERVOR AND CRITICISM: YOU JUST CAN'T PLEASE EVERYONE
Q: Has this story evolved into something different than you originally imagined when you first came up with the concept?
Wendy Pini: When I started receiving strong criticism from gay men, I started looking at the artwork and analyzing it more deeply than I had before. I caught myself doing that and decided to stop trying to please these critics.
In the story, there's moment of transformation when Anton discovers the secret of immortality. He injects himself with the formula, and he comes out of the experience completely healthy. So I had to envision what Anton would look like as a completely healthy, not-so-gaunt looking guy. (laughs)
But this is still not going to satisfy those guys who like beefier men. But I'm not here to please everyone. If you try to do that, you end up pleasing nobody! (laughs) This I've learned over the years.
Q: You have such a strong relationship with your fans, and you take their comments very seriously. But at the same time, you are willing to push back and say, 'I'm going to do things the way I do things and it's too bad if you don't like it!' That takes guts! But to be fair, you do have fans who do support you when you take chances, right?
Wendy Pini: I sure do. And I’m pleased to say that I’m seeing a pretty balanced response to Masque now that Volume One is completed. Of course it’s not for everybody – I have a close girlfriend who won’t read it because of her religious beliefs. But the responses of "newbies" have generally been wonderful and very open-minded.
No question, Masque is catching on through word of mouth. And, happily, gay men who really love it and think it looks gorgeous are speaking up... this in addition to the intended audience, women over twenty, which is continuing to grow.
Go! Comi and I had a great experience premiering the book at this year’s Yaoi Con. Representatives from the whole spectrum of the LGBT community attended. All different kinds of people – including straight ones! - bought the book and got it autographed. I thought the fact that fans were asking about the characters as if they were real was a very good sign – it means they’re really getting into the story and anxious to see what happens next.
I’ve been invited to speak about Masque next year at a librarians’ convention in Anaheim – isn’t that cool? Those female librarians... few people know this, but they’re hot tickets!
By the way, getting back to the subject of catering or not catering to audiences, when I finish Elfquest I'm going to finish it my way. (laughs)
When the Masque movie comes out, or the Elfquest movie comes out, God help us what the fans are going to say. I don't even want to think about the complaints we'll get about what got left out, what we should have done differently, how we should have cast the characters with different actors. We just can't listen. They either have to accept what we give them, or just punt! (laughs) It's not the be-all and end-all of my life.
Q: With over 30 years of receiving both acclaim and criticism for your comics, you can take these comments with a grain of salt.
Wendy Pini: Oh, you have to! It has to be a balance between what people want, and what you want to say. You can't take the attitude of 'screw you!' -- I don't believe in that. I respect other people. If someone comes up to me and says 'that looks horrible,' or 'I hate the way you're drawing that,' I think, 'fine, go with my blessings and find something that you do like.'
That's one unfortunate aspect of this Internet generation. They can be so cowardly, because they can attack anonymously. It's very cowardly to say something that they wouldn't have the guts to say directly to your face. Unfortunately, once something gets into print, then it gets taken more seriously.
BRINGING MASQUE TO LIFE AS AN ANIMATED WEBCOMIC
Q: So how did you connect with Go Comi?
Wendy Pini: Well, David (Wise) and Audry (Taylor) are good friends. Richard and I had been mentoring them as they were starting up their company.
About a year after that Chicago anime convention, I sat down with David and Audry and told them about my idea, showed them a few sketches and asked if they'd be interested. David said, 'Absolutely!'
The wonderful thing they did was to create the venue for me to present this story as a Flash-animated film, as well as publishing the book. It's been a very unique publishing experience.
We created this together. There's no other webcomic out there like this. David and Audry were very visionary in supporting me.
Q: This is a lot of work for you, and for Go Comi.
Wendy Pini: Oh, goodness, yes. More work than I can really do, actually. I've managed to get through the first few chapters, but will have to figure out how to make it easier for the next ones. (laughs)
Q: You pump out an episode a week, right?
Wendy Pini: Here's how my life has been for the last year and a half. From Sunday to Thursday, I do my four pages. I usually finish them around 2 am in the morning on Thursday night. Friday, I spend the whole day doing the animation. Then Saturday, I sleep in as late as I can, have a day off and then Sunday, I start all over again!
I'm just really in love with this project!
SURVIVING AS A FEMALE CREATOR IN A FANBOY'S WORLD
Q: There are a lot of new comics creators nowadays, but some critics have mentioned that younger creators sometimes don't show a deep understanding of human nature...
Wendy Pini: Well, some of them haven't lived -- they've lived through comic books. This is why comic books today, by and large, are 90% crap! The stories are written by someone who has grown up reading comics and watching cartoons, who sits in front of their computers and don't go out and live.
