Welcome to another installment of 31 Days of Halloween! This is our chance to set the mood for the spookiest and scariest month of the year as we focus our attention on horror and Halloween fun. For the month of October we’ll be sharing various pieces of underappreciated scary books, comics, movies, and television to help keep you terrified and entertained all the way up to Halloween.
It’s said that no one is the villain of their own story. Let Her Be Evil, it would seem, has another take in mind.
Organized by writer/editor Cassandra Jones, Let Her Be Evil is a forthcoming comics anthology currently crowdfunding via Zoop. The 128-page collection focuses not on “sympathetic anti-heroines or villainesses with tragic backstories” but rather serves as a “celebration of unapologetically wicked women with cruel intentions — of the nasty, the vile, the rage-fueled monstresses who know exactly what they want and aren’t afraid to get it by any means necessary.” And there’s quite a few impressive names attached in exploring “the darkest sides of femininity,” with contributions from Heather Antos, Brent Fisher, Rio Burton, Taylor Esposito, and a couple dozen more creators.
Let Her Be Evil‘s Zoop campaign is active starting today (October 10). As a preview of what this anthology truly entails, Jones, a recent entrant into the realm of comics, answered a few of our most burning questions. That includes the book’s larger interests in representation, the makings of a proper villain, and some standout moments/stories.
AIPT: What made you want to make the move from the trad publishing world (where you’ve been an editor) into comics?
Cassandra Jones: I’ve always loved graphic novels and manga, so when I was looking to challenge myself in a new medium (and to open a new avenue in my freelance work) comics seemed a natural choice.
AIPT: I think this project demonstrates that, despite it being 2023, there’s still a clear issue with representation. Did you have a sense of that larger issue going into this book?
CJ: I was acting off my desire to see stories featuring truly evil women. The more I searched for them in film, TV, books, and comics, the more I was disappointed in what I found. I’m sure there are characters out there who represent the themes and values seminal to Let Her Be Evil, but I wanted a focused place where perfectly awful women could exist without being annoyingly redeemed in the final act. The issue in representation I’m railing against is our need to make femme characters moral paragons—or to excuse their evil through motivations incited by the pain they’ve experienced at the hands of men.
Main cover by James Fenner and Andriy Lukin
Give me a woman who steals medically revolutionary tech because she wants to make a billion bucks—not because she actually wants to save her dying partner; or a woman who painstakingly inches up a corporate ladder, back-stabbing all the way, because she loves power—not because she secretly wants to provide for a child she was forced to give up as a teen. Denying female characters the same base impulses of greed and envy as their male counterparts robs them of their agency. It’s misogynistic and boring.
AIPT: Similarly, there’s a timeliness to this project. Is that decidedly dark tone a response to deliberately awful/regressive people out there?
CJ: It wasn’t planned to be, but if they take it that way, I won’t lose any sleep over it.
AIPT: This book emphasizes “unapologetically wicked women with cruel intentions.” Why is a celebration of such a distinctly “bad” character such a delightfully wonderful experience for creators and readers alike?
CJ: People love characters whose desires drive their actions. At the center of every lovable character, good or bad, is a pounding drum of passion marching them forward. Evil characters are fun because like Shonen heroes, they say these wants out loud and then unabashedly go after them regardless of the opinions or lives of the people around them. There’s a piece of all of us that wishes we could be that recklessly horrible in the pursuit of our ambitions, even though we know it’s ultimately wrong. We get to vicariously live out that wish through bad characters.
AIPT: Similar to that last question, are these kinds of stories a truer form of representation? To show that stories don’t have to be about empowerment to be empowering and vital (if that makes sense)?
CJ:Empowerment comes in a lot of different packages. I’m not sure I’d say one is truer than another, because it depends entirely on who you are and what kind of characters you see yourself in…and also what you’re currently into. Sometimes a flower power movie kicks absolute ass and other times a dark and gritty blood fest hits the spot. I say consume whatever media makes you feel seen and heard or that inspires you.
A variant cover by contributor Alison Sampson.
AIPT: What makes for a really good/compelling anti-heroine or villainess?
CJ:My checklist while reviewing submissions for Let Her Be Evil were: neither her inciting incident or her motivation center a man or a child (aka no abuse, no SA, no romantic rejection, no child death or miscarriage); if she is in the pursuit of revenge, it is not justified revenge; she is not redeemed by the narrative; and she has a strong, tangible goal. Are there compelling characters who do not meet the demands of this checklist? Absolutely. But if you sit for a while and mentally run through villainesses in popular media over the last decade, you’ll notice it’s super tough to get past even the first requirement. Which blows.
AIPT: What are some of the challenges in assembling/editing an anthology? Do you think about balancing aesthetics? Maybe which stories to place in relation to others?
CJ: The challenges of assembling and editing an anthology are all the unseen elements: the email upkeep, the file organization, the marketing outreach—these are all the things you need to stay on top of constantly and can make or break a project. The low and slow stress of this kind of sustained attention can definitely be draining. If anyone reading this is considering editing their own antho, I would definitely recommend establishing hard lines for yourself on how long you’re allowed to work each day (i.e. I will only answer ten emails a day, I will give myself three days to answer an email, I only need to post on social media twice a week, etc.).
AIPT: What does this group of creators represent to you? Perhaps they represent a new generation of talent or a more representative cross-segment of comics?
CJ: The group of creators is a good mix of old hats and emerging creatives. To me, they represent the kindness and talent of the online comics community. I’ve learned a lot by molding these stories with everyone; there isn’t a single person I wouldn’t work with again.
Promo art from contributor Moe McGonagle.
AIPT: I’m sure it’s hard to pick, but do you have a favorite story? Or a tale that best exemplifies the concept at-large?
CJ: The answer will probably change depending on what day you ask me, but right now it’s “The Hill” (story by Mike Tjaden, art by Y. Sanders, colors by Rebecca Good, and letters by Samuel Parata). The protagonist kills to make her dream of becoming an astronaut a reality. She’s really sickening. But, at the same time, on that final page…you can’t help but be impressed by her single-mindedness.
AIPT: Why should anyone support this campaign?
CJ: Support this campaign because you’re tired of seeing tired narratives slapped on to your favorite bad bitches, because you want to support living artists and writers, and because you want to have a deliciously good time reading about malicious characters.
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