Strong Female Character — Talking ‘Fire And Ice: Teegra’ With Writer Bill Willingham

Writer Bill Willingham and publisher Dynamite have brought back the 1983 cult classic film Fire and Ice through a prequel series. Now Willingham fleshes out on the film’s major characters, Teegra, in a special one-shot. In a Comicon exclusive, he discusses how to write a strong female character and which character from the series might be next.

Tom Smithyman: What made you want to focus on the character of Teegra?

Bill Willingham: Editorial fiat. Okay, that’s not quite a lie but also not fully accurate. At about the time I wrapped up scripts on the main six-issue story of Fire & Ice, talk had already begun about the prospect of doing a set of one-shots focusing on some of the individual characters. I let them know I had (what I hope are) good ideas for just about any of the characters, so they should let me know which one they might prefer be the first. I had no strong preference on who should go first. They were unanimous that they wanted Teegra first, so here we are.

Smithyman: You’ve written strong female fantasy characters before.

Willingham: Yes, a few, a good 20 years before “strong female character” became the cliché it is now.

Smithyman: Indeed! What makes Teegra different?

Willingham: Because she isn’t any other character. Want to know the secret to writing a good strong female character? Don’t make that the one and only goal. Sure, make that one of the many qualities the character might have but only as one part of a grand mix of characteristics. If her adventures (and misadventures) could happen with any other character plugged into the same story, then the story is weak.

Smithyman: How does this story fit into the movie as well as the comic series you’re also writing?

Willingham: On the official timeline this Teegra one-shot takes place just after the events of the six-issue series (still in progress) and about a year or more before the events of the movie.

Smithyman: Gabriele Di Caro, who is known for his work with the female form, illustrates the issue. He seems like a perfect choice for this one-shot, doesn’t he? 

Willingham: Yes he does. It’s difficult to imagine a better choice.

Smithyman: Now that you’ve written Teegra’s pre-story, is there anything stopping you from exploring other characters in the Fire and Ice world?

Willingham: Not really. So far everyone involved seems to want to do more of these.

Smithyman: Who should be next?

Willingham: That’s the big question, isn’t it? As I said, I want to do a story focusing on each character, villains included. So do they. But who comes next? It’s still being discussed and I’m going to keep mum about who the front-runners are for now.

Smithyman: What other projects do you have coming up?

Willingham: Many, many, many. Nothing new with (or from) DC, of course. They remain fired. Of course there’s still, as of this writing, one or two more issues of the new Fables story to come out, but since I finished my part of that more than two years ago, I don’t really count it as a new project.

From my pal Ken Levin and his 1First Comics publishing group my fantasy-adventure series Lark’s Killer is starting up again. Readers may recall it was paused some years back mid-storyline. But now that story has been completed, and two new Lark’s Killer stories have been completed. Look for an announcement soon (I hope) on how and when those new stories will appear.

I have a few prose short-stories coming out next year, in various publications – all part of the pulp-magazine revival that I find both charming and necessary, and plan to keep supporting.

And I have a huge prose novel in progress, working with a publishing group I love (made up entirely of ethical people, steeped in the rare practice of fair dealing). But I can’t divulge even a single small detail about that project (except maybe that I’ve rewritten the opening chapters seven times now, but I think the current take will finally stick). It’s up to them to make the announcement when they feel the time is ripe.

Smithyman: That is plenty for fans to get excited about. And please let us know when you come up with the next Fire and Ice character to spotlight. And if hear anything more from DC, clue us in!