All right, so you're asking yourself why in the world this actress from Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been allowed anywhere near the hallowed halls of Dark Horse Comics. You're thinking that she has no business writing a comic book - I mean she is just an actor. Well, it wasn't until recently that I, too, would have been scratching my head at this seemingly bizarre turn of events.

A little background for those with inquiring minds:

Being a girl, I was never really all that interested in comic books. I saw them in the grocery store, but was never tempted to pick one up. Sitting benignly in their spinning racks, their technicolor faces looked like a not very girl-friendly amalgam of muscles, testosterone, and pulpy, bloody flesh.

And it wasn't that I hated comic books for being more guy-friendly - I just felt like they didn't really apply to my life. I was into liking boys and taking gymnastics and ballet. I mean, Superman in a tutu? Come on. Can you see (and maybe this has been done, you never know) a whole series of Batman comics as he helps a group of preadolescent girls survive the rigors of Junior High? Imagine the Batman sleepover-party issue - ten little pony-tailed girls asking Batman for love advice, painting Batman's toenails, giving him a facial. I think all that stuff is better reserved for Barbie, don't you?

As someone unexposed to comics, I had no idea that there was such a plethora of genres out there. All I knew was the superhero. I think if I had been turned on to Promethea or Strangers in Paradise as a kid, my whole comic outlook would have been changed. Here are comics that deal with things that appeal to me as a female. As a kid, I could have so related.

Anyway, what's past is past. I remained in the dark until Chris Golden approached me to do this comic. It wasn't until then that I discovered the beauty of a well-written superhero. For the first time, I took my blinders off and saw the grace in the muscle and steel, the poetry in the terse words, the excitement in the fluid stories. And it was all cooler than cool.

As I began by journey into comic-book-writer land, I was lucky enough to have as my guides a number of friends (almost all male) who took it upon themselves (thank God) to put into my grubby little hands the crème de la crème of comic writing. I won't go into all the reading I did, but suffice to say, I was blown away. I couldn't get enough. I was devouring comic books like a fiend. But with the accumulation of knowledge also came the fear that I wouldn't be able to do justice to the medium. So, you know what I did? I just calmly kicked fear in the butt and wrote. And it was good.

So, now that I feel more comfortable in my comic-book-loving skin, I think that I could do this again. Here's to hoping you guys dug what Chris and Terry and I have put together.

Amber Benson
January 23, 2001
Los Angeles

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