Go-Gos' Jane Wiedlin Gets Comic Book Treatment in 'Lady Robotika'

Jane Wiedlin is a lifelong fan of science fiction -- she's even appeared in 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home' and 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.' So, when artist Bill Morrison asked the Go-Gos guitarist and singer to collaborate on a comic book, she jumped at the opportunity. The result is 'Lady Robotika,' a recently published sci-fi comic book starring Wiedlin as a superhero.

"It was really exciting, of course," Wiedlin tells Spinner of seeing herself as a comic book character. "The comic book Jane is flawless, young and gorgeous, and that's great -- I like it! I wish someone could walk around making me look like that in real life all the time."

As she describes it, the story revolves around Wiedlin being kidnapped by aliens who take her aboard their spaceship and conduct experiments on her. But on the alien planet, she transforms into a robot and leads a slave revolt. Afterward, she decides to be a superhero full-time.

Sprinkled within the action of 'Lady Robotika' is plenty of humor. "It's really funny," says Wiedlin. "There's a lot of little Easter eggs in the book, both visually and in the script. We talk about a lot of the pop culture stuff that both Bill and I love. There's a lot of 'Star Wars' and 'Star Trek' references, and different sci-fi stuff, music references. I do think it's really entertaining, beautifully drawn and maybe a little bit different than a lot of what's out there right now."

Speaking about the collaboration with Morrison, who had previously worked on 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama,' Wiedlin says that she was hands-on throughout the process. "The only thing that I am not able to do at all is help with the drawing because I'm really hopeless at art," she admits. "But I looked at each drawing -- even each panel that gets drawn for the comic -- and review it and critique it, so I have my hand in that even though I physically actually can't draw."

The first issue of 'Lady Robotika' is out now with a second issue coming shortly. A new installment of the series will come out monthly totaling six issues, which will be later packaged as a graphic novel. That edition will be accompanied by a CD of music that Wiedlin recorded especially for the project.

Weidlin also reveals that there is a musical about Lady Robotika in the works. "It's ready to fly," she says. "I just need somebody who knows how to get musicals made come to me and help me."

After the sixth issue is published, the verdict is out on whether 'Lady Robotika' will continue. "We're just two people doing this," Wiedlin says. "It's all sort of 'Do-it-yourself' on a small scale. It kind of all hinges on whether people will like it and want to buy the books. It depends on whether we'll be able to keep making it. So we'll just have to wait and see."