Nice review for Lady Robotika over at Philly.com

Former Go-Go Jane Wiedlin takes punk attitude to comics

By JEROME MAIDA
Philadelphia Daily News

ALTHOUGH “Jane Wiedlin’s Lady Robotika” is perfect reading for your summer “Vacation,” and Wiedlin and co-writer Bill Morrison seem to be screaming “We Got the Beat” with a story that flows surprisingly well, so far they are telling Comics Guy “Our Lips Are Sealed” regarding the future for the character and concept.

OK, that might not have been the wittiest line ever written, but it gets its point across, and you can tell I was at least trying to be witty about this book starring Wiedlin, former Go-Go’s guitarist. The same thing can be said about “Lady Robotika,” Wiedlin and Morrison’s initial effort.

This is not a book that will ever win any Eisners (the comic industry’s Oscar). But it is wildly imaginative, and Wiedlin and Morrison have a true love for the material and are doing the best they can with it. This isn’t a celebrity vanity project in which they’re just trying to throw something together and hope it eventually becomes a movie or TV show.

In fact, Wiedlin, who has been a regular at comic conventions for years, seems to have learned a bit about the craft along the way. The book is fun and solidly scripted.

One of the best ideas was for Wiedlin to be the star of the book, both as herself and as Lady Robotika. She comes across as extremely self-deprecating. There are many Go-Go’s inside jokes for die-hard fans, and even a scene in which Wiedlin, after being captured by aliens and stripped naked, makes a reference to her reputation for selling revealing photos of herself at conventions by saying, “What happened to my clothes? I know I have a reputation for being kinky, but this is ridiculous.” In another, where she has cried so much her mascara smears, she jokes that it could help her in the next phase of her career, since she’s “never tried shock rock. Could work.”

One of the linchpins of the story is the mystery as to whether the Lady Robotika scenes – in which Wiedlin portrays Robotika – are simply Wiedlin’s dreams or actually happening. We get a definitive answer by the end of issue #1 (by which time you can cut the tension with a knife), which ends with a surprising twist.

Again, this is pretty standard sci-fi stuff. Wiedlin’s obvious enthusiasm for the character and ability to make us laugh by laughing at herself sets it apart and has Comics Guy hoping we see much more of this character and concept in the future, maybe even on the big screen starring Wiedlin.

Comics Guy would go “Head Over Heels” for that one.