In the early ’90s, before he’d help create iconic work like Batman: Long Halloween and Superman for All Seasons, Tim Sale was still an up-and-coming artist. But then he got what you could arguably call his big break when he joined forces with writer Sarah Byam for the four-issue Billi 99 from Dark Horse Comics. In it, a “teen vigilante hero” named Billi Chadam is forced to “take up her late father’s sword to bring down the powers of oppression and give the people of her city back their lives.”
While devout Sale fans may know the book, it’s often ignored or underappreciated in the grander canon of his other works. But now, thanks to Byam, Clover Press, and the Sale family/estate, Billi 99 is getting a second chance at life with a brand-new Kickstarter campaign. The project, which has been discussed since even before Sale passed away in 2022, is a hardcover edition with full color from José Villarrubia. In addition to a whole new way to experience this poignant and political tale, the book features heaps of extras: an essay from Sale’s widow, Susan Bailey; pin-ups from Andy Kuhn, Matt Wagner, and Rick Hober; and even a Sale portrait from Bill Sienkiewicz.
The campaign for Billi 99 kicked off earlier today (head here if you’d like to support it). In the meantime, we got the chance recently to speak to Byam via email. There, we talked about her collaborations with Sale, the continued importance of the Billi 99 story, and what makes this new hardcover extra special, among other topics and tidbits.
AIPT: What does it feel like to be re-releasing Billi 99 after some 23-plus years?
Sarah Byam: It’s like a chance to visit old friends. I feel like we are doing right by Tim after all these years. Everyone misses him, even those who did not know him, miss his work. For many, this is an early treasure of 196 pages of art unlike they have ever seen it. That’s exciting and rather daunting at the same time.
AIPT: The book is described as a “cautionary tale about corporate greed and a corrupt government” Does that make it all the more relevant now than in 1991?
SB: I think so. Billi 99 is a story about cycles of corruption and what that does to those in poverty in the community. The situation hasn’t changed much except that the stakes are higher. Everybody is hanging on, to one degree or another. White-collar folks are doing three times the work, or getting laid off. We are fighting for a living wage, and in many cases, we are winning. Some people have to work two and three jobs just to survive. We won an eight-hour work day back in the early industrial revolution, and have had to win it back over and over. We have had rights taken from us. Yet we are remembering that together we have more power than we do fighting these things alone.
AIPT: What was it like working with Tim Sale?
SB: Working with Tim was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Tim spoiled me, but I didn’t know that at the time. I was lucky enough to be able to go to his attic studio with my books, photos, stories and the bare beginnings of a script. Tim taught me how to write for comics as we went along. Tim always said that he wasn’t a storyteller, but he was. We tried to create images that didn’t always need words and worked on language that augmented the art.
AIPT: How would you describe the collaborative process between you two?
SB: It certainly wasn’t traditional. It was more of an apprenticeship. I brought Tim a lot of reference material, but he always wanted more. For example, when designing the city of Sulter, we used contemporary references of a once-great city that is in decay. Tim contributed to the storytelling and I provided reference for the art. To do this we had to try to think like each other. We were in each other’s back pockets a lot.
AIPT: How do you feel like this compares to Tim’s other comics work (especially considering this is among his earliest efforts)?
SB: Tim and I discussed the presentation of women in this book. Each was designed with a different body, and personality type. Tim told me it was very important not to portray the victimized women as victims, most especially not to sexualize brutality. Across the story, Billi is a little androgynous, and that is intentional. She is trying to pass as a boy, to be more credible than female heroes were perceived to be back then if they were seen at all. Billi Chadam was just an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. That was important to both of us.
AIPT: There’s mention that neither you nor Tim felt as if there was a final version…that reflected your vision. How does this release help cement that vision, and what does that really mean or look like this time around?
SB: Decades after Billi 99 had been published, Tim said that he wished he could redo Billi 99 in ink wash. Tim was experimenting with painted duo-shade at the time. It was a halfway point in his painted art between black and white and the ink washes he would later become famous for. He painstakingly painted the two-tone duo-shade, but at that time, printing technology was not as advanced as his imagination.
Also, he wanted better production values, but the pages had degraded past reproduction quality. It was Jose Villarrubia who served as Tim’s eyes. The resulting work now captures a version duo-shade black and white that is awash with color. This was as close to a redo as we could give him. Tim believed that Jose would be able to bring his sharp vision back into focus through his restoration and color art.
This time around, we had the chance to be delighted with our choices.
AIPT: You’ve tried to get this book off the ground before, right? What were some of the issues or hang-ups at that time?
SB: Technology, money, and work hours in a day. When the technology had finally caught up to us, Patty, Tim, and I reached for the sky with the original proposal. Many publishers were interested, but It became clear that we were going to need crowdfunding for color. We had never done crowdfunding, and between us there just weren’t enough work hours in the day.
I cannot thank Clover Press enough for the team they have put together to see this edition of Billi 99 come to fruition. Their team is smart and coordinated. They do a dizzying dance that makes a relay race look simple.
AIPT: The new edition also features the equally legendary José Villarrubia on colors. What does he bring to this project?
SB: Anyone who has worked with Jose knows that he gets involved in every aspect of the project. We could not have estimated how much he would bring. It was almost like working with Tim again. For someone so accomplished, Jose is incredibly kind and curious. Jose brings tension to the storytelling. The end result is a more vital, urgent story than we have seen before.
AIPT: Tim’s widow, Susan Bailey, also wrote an essay for this release. Can you tease that at all — seems like it speaks to how much this book meant to Tim overall.
SB: Yes. Billi 99 was the first book he gave to Susan, to introduce her not only to his work but core values. I know it was one of his favorites. He once called it a giant portfolio piece for Archie Goodwin. He told me, “I will always be Team Billi.”
Susan is now Team Billi, too.
AIPT: Do you have a favorite moment or scene from the book that speaks to something about its core story or its larger themes?
SB: Oh, well, there are so many scenes. I particularly love how Tim portrayed the relationships between women. I was in awe of how much each character looked different from the next. That was planned. Plus he was brilliant, even prescient in his fashion choices.
AIPT: Is there something about this book that was misunderstood or missed out when it first debuted?
SB: The book was received very well when it came out. Probably by professionals as much as fans.
Is this a way to maybe give this a chance at influencing a new generation?
There are so many young people out there doing so much good. It would be great if Billi 99 made them feel seen and maybe even inspire them.
AIPT: Would there ever be a way to move forward and do more of this story and universe without Tim and his work?
SB: Tim will always be part of Billi 99. He designed the city and the characters. It is too soon to think about that.
AIPT: Why should anyone support this book’s campaign?
SB: This is a chance to celebrate Tim Sale’s legacy and also to discover a work that was published ahead of its time. Please come join us.
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