The lovely Ashley Eckstein
Kentucky native Ashley Eckstein has certainly made her mark in geek history. Currently voicing the only apprentice of Anakin Skywalker on the Clone Wars series, Ahsoka Tano, Ashley is also the creator of HerUniverse. If you have not checked out this website, DO IT. Ashley decided to create merchandise specifically targeted to women when she isn’t bringing life to the young Jedi!
L: Let’s jump right in and talk a little about Ahsoka. She begins her journey as an 14-year-old when the Clone Wars begin. Was it difficult having that childlike mind frame and then having to switch to an older, more mature Ahsoka?
Her Star Wars counterpart, Ahsoka Tano
AE: Um, you know that’s a great question because I naturally have a young sounding voice and when I first went to audition for Clone Wars, I auditioned for Padmé and they stopped me before I could even get the first line out of my mouth. I literally….as I was saying it they stopped me and said, ‘no we’re sorry you sound too young for Padmé but would you mind reading for this new character?’ They didn’t tell me who I was reading for yet cause it was so confidential and um, my voice just naturally kinda fit that age range. Actually my voice is pretty high-pitched and it sounds real young! It was actually pretty easy in the beginning to play a 14-year-old girl and as the show’s gone on I’ve had to speak in my lower register. I’ve definitely had to become a lot more darker, more serious. Dave Filoni jokes with me in the studio that I have to ball up any cuteness, any girly-ness I have and throw it out the studio because she’s definitely grown a lot and really I try to put myself in her shoes. The Clone Wars have gone on for 2 years now in the series and it’s really taken its toll on all the Jedi. There are battles day in and day out and I have to keep that mind when I’m doing the episode.
L: Great insight! I’d never have imagined stuff like that coming into play.
AE: The Clone Wars were a tough time!
L: Were there any episodes or story arcs that were more fun to do than others?
AE: I have to say, personally, from this past season, season 3, I loved the Mortis trilogy! It was a fun trilogy or story arc to do because it was so challenging and covered so many emotions. I had to play an older Ahsoka in her 20s in a vision and play a dark side Ahsoka where she was evil and taken over by the Dark side and you know, Ahsoka died in those episodes and then I had to play her in present day. Just that wide range was fun to do. More so than that, the story and writing was fantastic. The animators really upped their game in those three episodes.
L: I know the inclusion of a brand new character not in previous Star Wars canon upset a lot of fans. In fact, I have not sat and watched much Clone Wars, not because of Ahsoka, but because it rendered one of my all time favorite story lines non canon. Did the fans original aversion to Ahsoka bother you?
AE: Well, you know, I have to admit that when the movie first came out, all the backlash began and it was nerve-wracking thinking ‘Oh my God, I’m the new Jar Jar.’ We’d been working on Clone Wars for 2 years before the audience saw anything and we’d become so emotionally attached to these characters and we’d completed the entire first season before the movie came out. I knew after the first season she would go in a direction the fans would like her to go and I knew they would be pleased with her evolution over time. After the movie which was 4 episodes strung together, she came across as overbearing. No character is perfect at first. In order for a character to grow they have to start somewhere. You have to have flaws and things that will improve. I think they appreciate how far she’s come but in the beginning it was definitely nerve-wracking.
L: Odd question, I know but if real, honest to God aliens landed in front of you and offered you any position on their planet, what position would you want?
AE: Um…wow. Okay this is where some fans may roll their eyes but I’m definitely a romantic at heart. I love all the fairy tales at heart. I was a huge tomboy growing up and something happened as I got older and I had to play catchup and watch all these romantic comedies and get a feel for things. I love princesses and not just Disney princesses…I’ve watched a couple of episodes of Game of Thrones and what’s her name….
L: Which one? I’m a big fan!
AE: The long-haired blonde one. Da…something?
L: Daenerys!!
AE: YES! I liked how at first she was unsure and now she’s discovering her power and I dunno, maybe going and being the alien princess? That was a long-winded roundabout answer but that’s what I’d be. I’d marry the alien prince.
L: As a voice actress, do you have any freedom to ad lib?
AE: Um, every now and then we are. You know, that’s one thing that Dave Filoni is really great at, we’ve gotten to know our characters and it’s almost like we know their tone and slang, how they’d say things. I’m able to change a word or two but in terms of ad libbing beyond that, we don’t do that. The writing team is truly fantastic, top-notch, and we never really have to change anything. Every now and then there’ll be something. They had Ahsoka saying ‘yeehaw’ and while I’m a Southern girl at heart and I’ve been known to say that, Ahsoka wouldn’t say that. We’ve gotten to know them well enough to change things they wouldn’t ever say.
L: It probably helps it comes across more natural.
AE: Dave has let me bring my own sarcasm to Ahsoka and so I trust him in terms of what he thinks she should say. There’s a very fine line between being bratty and joking around.
Pssst, I own this shirt!
L: How did you go about creating HerUniverse.com?
AE: Oh jeez, I had the idea, uh, over 3 years ago and it took me a while to convince people there was a market for female sci-fi fans, you know, cause I found in my research that close to ½ of sci-fi fans are women and it didn’t make sense that there wasn’t any merchandise for the women to buy when 85% of the consumer market is women! So women are the ones doing all the buying and close to half of all sci-fi fans are women and it just wasn’t adding up. It’s like, why isn’t someone catering to this fan base, because there are so many passionate women who love sci-fi just as much as the men do.
L: Which is definitely true. Whenever I try to buy sci-fi clothes I skip over the girl clothes immediately because there’s never anything available and go straight to the guys, so HerUniverse.com DEFINITELY stood out to me as a fan.
AE: Yeah, exactly, exactly. I have to thank Lucas Films and SyFy cause we just announced a deal with them. Pretty much from the beginning, Lucas Arts gave us the opportunity to make Star Wars merchandise for women right out of the gate and then Syfy as well, they believe in their female fans, are listening to their female fans and I just have to thank them for the opportunity to play with their property.
L: I’m really excited. I cannot wait to see the SyFy designs. Do you personally approve every design?
AE: Yeah, I think the biggest misconception is that HerUniverse was started by someone else and I’m just endorsing the brand. It was my idea from the beginning and I’m involved in every single step. I’m not an artist so I work with an artist to create the look or I can go through Lucas Art’s style guide of images that I can pick out and mix and match things from. I’m involved from the initial concept to the hang tag to the wash and dry test of every shirt. I can’t stand when shirts I buy shrink to half their size so it’s something very, very important to me.
L: That warms my heart because a lot of times, things become commercialized and the personal touch is lost.
AE: HerUniverse is a full-time job. It’s what I do all day long. It needs extra attention and now that we have the new Syfy line coming out I wanna do my best and make sure everything is perfect.
Must have for any member of the Empire
L: I read somewhere online that you designed a dress when you were 11 or 12. Do you plan on expanding HerUniverse to all kinds of clothes? I for one, would embrace a Death Star skirt.
AE: Oh, that’s awesome. Yeah, I would love to, that’s definitely in the future. The hard part with HerUniverse is I feel there’s so much catch up to do because the guys have so many items. The women don’t have much of anything and it’s kind of overwhelming. Dresses are something I want to get into but it’s going to take a while. Everyone’s body is different and they have to be custom made and printed. We buy the blank t-shirt and do the printing ourselves so dresses are a bit more tricky. Definitely in the future.
L: Let’s talk a little about the Star Wars Tours.
AE: It’s a great event. We just finished the first weekend. It’s Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I actually host a show called Behind the Force which is a behind the scenes look into the Clone Wars. It’s such a fun show. We just had Dave Filoni and we’re gonna have Matt Lanter (voice of Anakin) and Tom Kane (voice of Yoda) and it’s just a fun time. I’m really excited because HerUniverse has 2 new shirts and kids shirts for the first time. They’re for sale at Disney which is a dream come true for me. They’re not available retail yet so to walk into Disney World and see them for sale is crazy for me. I was there at 5:45am before anyone else. I took video, I’m such a cheese ball.
L: Do you have any tips for people who want to get into the voice acting industry or just wanna start their own business?
AE: Practice, lots of practice. For voice acting and acting in general, I started out in community theater and got an agent in Orlando where I grew up. The actors unions are very important and must be joined. I’d look up SAG.org and do your research. Listen to people’s voices and get into mimicking until you can carry a full conversation in another voice. You know how people say it’s fun to people watch? Listen to other people. You need to be able to do all kinds of voices on cue. For a business, I don’t know where to begin. If you have a dream to do something, never give up. It sounds cliché and cheesy but it took a good 2 years for HerUniverse to get off the ground. I can’t tell you how many people told me no and it’d never work. If Plan A fails, go to Plan B. I think I went to Plan G before it actually happened. When a door slams, a window opens. I truly believed there was a market for this. Don’t give up and keep going.
L: It’s great that you’re enjoying what you do!
AE: You have to enjoy it otherwise you’ll be miserable!!
Many, many thanks to Ashley for taking the time out to call me. You can meet her at Disney’s Star Wars weekends from May 20th to June 12th at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando or at San Diego Comic Con this July. Take a look at the clothing she has available at HerUniverse or check her out at her official website !
Interview | Dante Basco
I thought this kind of informative writing would be a door opener to those of us wanting to get know characters quickly. If you haven’t branched out and “met” a villain you loved to hate, maybe this will help! I first embraced villains as a young, messy haired girl of four. Speed Racer and Sailor Moon were watched almost 24/7 and let me tell you, Snake Oiler and Queen Beryl ROCKED my world. I don’t know if it was the kick ass clothing or the devious way they held themselves that made them memorable.
Let’s start by defining what a “villain” is. Aw, who are we kiddin’, it’s the bad guy, or in the better story lines, they even become the hero! I’ll begin with a few Marvel villains starting with the metal insanity that is Ultron.
Exhibit A: evil adamantium bastard
Ultron
“Hope is a human delusion.”
Ultron is the creation of Henry Pym (also known as Ant-Man) and gradually developes its intelligence to the point where it goes insane. Made from superior adamantium, Ultron is virtually indestructible. His various incarnations range from being “infected” with human emotion to creating Jocasta in his image for a robotic bride. Currently known as Ultron Pym,and banished to ultraspace, it hid its consciousness in an inert Galadorian Spaceknight that re-activated on accident. An Age of Ultron is currently looming.
Ultron’s powers include superhuman levels of strength, speed, stamina, durability, reflexes, subsonic flight and various offensive weapons on top of being a superb roboticist and strategist. Good luck fighting THAT guy!
I suggest picking up Siege event from your local comic book shop, for an especially issues #34-#37 tasty bit of Ultron madness.
Apocalypse
“Enjoy your small victory Xavier, for the Age of Apocalypse is nigh!”
Merciless, and brutal, Apocalypse first arrived on the Marvel scene in the 1980’s, as the first mutant. Regardless of being over 5,000 years old, Apocalypse had alien technology that he used to his advantage to implement his “survival of the fittest” mentality, transform and enhance himself, and entered a state of suspended animation. Large, grey skinned and blue lipped, Apocalypse cuts an intimidating figure, especially when flanked by his Four Horsemen.
His mutant powers include shape-shifting on a molecular level, teleportation, immense strength, near invulnerability, rapid regeneration, energy absorption, and projection. He is resistant to telepathy and psychic attack, and may have limited telepathic and telekinetic capabilities of his own. Currently, Apocalypse has been reborn as a child in the new series Uncanny X-Force.
The Age of Apocalypse mini-series is definitely the most popular, and worth some of your time!
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Top 10 Comics of 2017
HULK READ!
As those of you noble comic readers out there know, the first Saturday of May brings a most joyous occasion: Free Comic Book Day. Originally started as a promotional event for comic stores nationwide, it has evolved into a day of fun, cosplay, happiness, and of course, comics!
The day itself has several purposes which include sparking interest in newbies on the comic scene, to thank regular comic readers for their repeated patronage and hell, who cares, it’s FREE! This year there were a total of 37 titles AND a free Green Lantern Heroclix. Most stores allowed 1-3 comics per customer and charged a small fee of either a dime or a quarter for additional comics.
Being the intense well read gal that I am, I swung into work at my comic shop (Keith’s Comics) to help out (you know, cause I work there) and check out the goods. Amidst a decent crowd, I made my way to the designated area and pondered the choices set out for all. Would I want the Green Lantern one that had the largest group over it or would I want Elric by Michael Moorcock (yes, that’s his REAL name!!)? My brain pleaded for me to grab a copy of good ole’ Captain America/Thor but my heart screamed for something new.
The Dark Side accepts applicants of all ages
As I was arranging comics, I was caught off guard by the raspy breathing of one I know so well. Darth Vader reached over and chose Top 10 Deadliest Sharks and I giggled as I followed him outside to assist, only to see his cohorts waiting.
Outside of the comic store, there were quite a few cosplayers, including some from the Star Garrison of the 501st. The 501st are a Star Wars cosplay group dedicated to getting their costumes as screen accurate as possible.
I walked away that evening with a full heart, my comic choices, and some kickass pictures.
Several people walked in looking to get free comics based on their favorite TV shows and watching them walk out with several new titles to begin their journey is definitely a warm fuzzy feeling as I put everything away.
Hopefully all of you went out and shared in the FCBD festivities, ’cause let’s face it, comics are the backbone of us all.
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Emerald City Conversation with Jen Wang
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Top 10 Comics of 2017
Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham City picks up where the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game ends. Written by Paul Dini (of Batman: The Animated Series fame) and art by Carlos D’anda, the story begin right after you’ve finished Arkham Asylum and fought the Joker hyped up on Titan. The Joker is hauled back to the Asylum and he’s realized that Titan is slowly eating away his insides and knows there won’t be a next time to confront the Bat. The intense skill it takes to draw the Joker looking completely balls to wall crazy and then in the next frame, capture the Joker looking perfectly sane and capable of anything genuinely made me grin. He looks sickly but utterly capable of creating chaos as he begins cackling loud enough for poor locked up Harley to yearn for her puddin’.
Batman, meanwhile, is searching Gotham for a sister and brother pair high on Titan and wreaking havoc under the apparent orders from Two Face. We find out this isn’t the case once Bats infiltrates Two Face’s lair and instead it seems to be Hugo Strange who is pulling the strings. I’m definitely looking forward to the next issue in June, so check it out! I’d give it 3.5/4 stars!
Moon Knight
veriant cover
Moon Knight was something a little different for me since I didn’t read the original series back in 2006. The story is by Brian Michael Bendis (pretty much Marvel’s “golden boy”) and is a complete reboot of the character.
Jake starts this tale as a hot, popular television star, a show Wolverine labels as crap, and is celebrating at a party when the Avengers show up. He is forced to become Moon Knight again and stops a possible drug deal which is revealed to instead be a deal for….a dead Ultron? Artist Alex Maleev does a damn good job foreshadowing the end panel which shows Jake has clearly hallucinated everything we’ve just read and leaves you in a state of mindfuck.
You definitely don’t see that coming! I think it’s a good series for newcomers to start off with so I’d give Moon Knight # 1 2.75/4 stars.
I definitely enjoyed both but if you’re on a tight budget, I’d recommend picking up Batman: Arkham City #1. I think it’s going to have a better story, the pacing is neater and I ain’t gonna lie…I dig the Joker more!
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Kate Finnegan is a robust, gorgeous 26-year-old ex-RN who currently makes her living as a colorist for Big Dog Ink and Azurek Studios. This Irish beauty hails from Pennsylvania and has a love for Batman that is unrivaled! Her interests include Batman, comics, Star Wars, Batman, Game of Thrones, Photoshopping herself onto men and her ideal mate must possess a strong physical build, resistance to most diseases, sharp eyesight, acute hearing, knowledge of wilderness survival, martial arts, and firearms/other weaponry.
L: Kate, I’m going to start off by saying you are my female soul mate. How does that make you feel?
KF: It makes me feel like a unicorn farted in my chest and then sang me a love song.
L: Hahaha, that is hilarious to picture! Here we go, question #1: if you were a Star Trek [or Star Wars] character, which one would it be and why?
KF: For Star Trek, I would be Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the S.S. ENTERPRISE because I would be bald, smooth, and sexy. Plus, I could run around telling people to “make it so.” For Star Wars, I’ve been told I’m like a female Han Solo even thought I don’t smuggle things on a regular basis. If I got to choose, I’d pick Chewie because then I would never have to shave my legs again and my lush pelt would be a thing of beauty!
L: Oh my God, you are cracking me up! Next question! If aliens landed in front of you and, in exchange for anything you desire, offered you any position on their planet, what position would you want?
KF: I would want them to go the hell away because I am deathly afraid of aliens. If I could somehow refrain from soiling myself, I think I would make a fantastic Surgeon General. I wouldn’t be a stuffy type either, I would be the “cool” kind. I would follow the warnings on cigarette packages with something like: “It’s okay, we support you no matter what you choose to do, brah!” Since I’m an RN, I am so qualified for this!
L: If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you have?
KF: I don’t really eat salad. I do like fruit salad, though and I really like that strawberry cream cheese flavored dip that comes with it. That counts, yes?
Leia: I SAY YES!
KF: Okay, that’s what I’d pick. I’d like to be chopped in tiny pieces and covered in strawberry cream cheese dip (If you’d have said it didn’t count, I would have chosen thousand island dressing cause it sounds pirate-y)
Leia: Pirate-y is the best adjective there is :D Now on to the serious stuff! Top Dog’s Penny For My Soul issue #6 is the first issue we get to see your work on. How did it feel getting to see your name?
KF: It was kind of surreal at first. I set a pretty hefty goal for myself and seeing my name in print was proof I made it. If you set a goal, dedicate yourself to it, sacrifice and practice for it. You can’t fail; I’m living proof! When reality sunk in and I saw the placement of my name, I had a very good laugh.
L: For those who don’t know, Kate’s name appeared beneath a very intimate encounter, hahaha. Kate, are you influenced by any colorists out there?
KF: I’ve read comics for a large portion of my life so I leave it up to the people looking at my art to figure out who influences me. I love old school fantasy art…Frazetta, Luis Royo, Boris Vallejo, and Julie Bell and the like. For comics, it depends on the style of the lines you are coloring. When I was younger and first saw Battle Chasers, the guys over at Liquid! Completely blew my mind. The times I color stuff for Stefano Cardoselli, I study stuff he himself has colored and folks like Mike Mignola and Les Dorscheid. Since I started reading and working for Big Dog comics, I just fell in love with Oren Kramek’s style. Take a look through Penny For Your Soul or Ned the Chainsaw Guy and those pages just pop out at you. For pin-ups and other styles, I’ve been looking at Jason Keith, Steve Firchow, Blond, Peter Steigerwald, and Nei Ruffino. I watch Nei livestream a lot; she’s awesome all around.
L: Are there any comics currently circulating that you’d love to color for?
KF: It seems like a lot of folks chase the “dream” of working for the big two but I gotta say, I am totally happy where I’m at and what I’m doing. I’ve met and am working with some of the most amazing people with totally fresh, brand new stories. Sure we grow up with DC and MARVEL and I will always love them, but I find myself drawn to small press. That is how Tom Hutchison found me. I was a fan of Penny For Your Soul and we started talking about it, and I was like “Oh hey, I totally color stuff” and it went from there. I’m not saying if an opportunity came along for me to color for the big guys I wouldn’t take it, but it would have to be something pretty damn outstanding and it wouldn’t be able to take away from what I’m doing now.
L: Why did you choose to pursue coloring?
KF: I bought a Wacom tablet on sale on a whim. I was feeling pretty low, and needed a creative outlet. I’ve only ever taken art classes in high school and since they always brought me happiness, I figured I’d start drawing again. Shortly after posting stuff on DeviantArt, I fell in with a group of artists and found out you could just color stuff. That’s my favorite part so I started working at it. I never expected it to be more than a hobby and once I was laid off in October from my nursing job, I gave myself the winter to see if I could do it professionally. Now, here I am!
L: That’s awesome. What medium do you prefer to use when you color?
KF: I built my own rig with digital art in mind. I upgraded my Wacom Intuous 3 to a Cintiq 21UX recently and that made me happy. I use Photoshop and have been teaching myself through Google Sketchup as I would like to start drawing as well. I’m looking into purchasing Copic markers to do some convention pieces and I can’t forget my old standby: tub of crayons!
L: I feel lame; all I use is color pencils to color Pokemon! Do you have any advice for girls out there who want to break into the comic industry?
KF: The comic industry as it stands right now, is still a boy’s club. You’re gonna have people come right out and insult you, belittle you, make inappropriate comments and advances just because you’re a girl. Never compromise your values to fit in and never let them treat you like less of a person because you aren’t the gender they think should work in/appreciate comics. There are many amazing creators out there that will respect you; be smart and find them. Tom Hutchison at Big Dog Ink is one of these people. I wouldn’t work for anyone who is disrespectful or lewd to women, which is why I’m happy to stay for as long as he’ll have me. Always be kind, supportive, respectful and appreciative of fellow fans and creators, no matter the gender. Just don’t try and take my job, ladies!
L: Thank you so much for taking the time out to speak with me, Kate. Kate Finnegan’s next works can be seen in Top Dog’s Penny For My Soul Issue#7 and Legend of Oz: The Wicked West in the fall!
REVIEW | The Batman Who Laughs – #1
REVIEW | Doomsday Clock #4
Review | The Lost Path by Amélie Fléchais
Emerald City Conversation with Jen Wang
REVIEW | Doomsday Clock #2
