RISE: Comics Against Bullying #1

Leia Weathington’s sword-and-sorcery epic The Legend of Bold Riley is illustrated by Leia and a host of talented artists.

“Who is Bold Riley?” you might ask. She has hunted the wildest game and dallied with countless beautiful girls, but still longs to know the world beyond the city walls. Princess Rilavashana SanParite, called Bold Riley, leaves behind her station and sets out to travel through distant lands and find forgotten ruins, fearsome enemies, inscrutable gods and tragic love.

She’s as capable with a sword as she is with her wits—man, does she carve things up when the need arises—and is a strong, beautiful, confident woman who doesn’t wear a bikini into battle. And she always gets the girl!

Created by Leia Weathington, with art by Weathington, Marco Aidala, Vanessa Gillings, Kelly McClellan, Konstantin Pogorelov and Jason Thompson. Cover artwork by Brinson Thieme. 232 pages. 7″x10″. Full-color with metallic ink cover.

Retailers! Download a Bold Riley Promotional Display that highlights the foreword by fan-favorite writer Jane Espenson and helps encourage customers to check out the book.

PREVIEWS:

You can download a 67-page preview of the book in PDF or EPUB (iPad-only) format right here on the site. The preview includes excerpts from four of the stories in the book, bonus artwork and more.

Additionally, there’s a ZIP file of preview images available for use in reviews and articles. Download it here. (11MB ZIP file.)

INTERVIEWS:

Feature on Panel Patter by Rob McMonigal — “Ms. Weathington, working with a variety of other artists, has created a fantasy world ripe for exploration, with our guide being Bold Riley, a young woman with royal (but restless) blood. It’s great to see the ‘Uncharted Fantasy World’ idea given a new twist by having a protagonist that’s not only female, but queer as well.”

Feature on Portland Comic Books Examiner by Christian Lipski — “Author Leia Weathington is releasing Bold Riley, her first book, at the end of June, and spoke with the Portland Comic Books Examiner about her own journey.”

Interview on Portland Comics by Doug Dorr — “I worked with 5 other artists for Bold Riley and made the mistake at first of trying to really tightly control the visuals of the comic. That was something I learned to back off from pretty fast. If you are working with artists you probably decided to get into a collaboration with them for a reason. SO TRUST YOUR ARTIST! What I’ve started doing is making model sheets characters, objects and places that must look a certain way to maintain continuity in the story, after that I send photo references, script and descriptions of mood and setting and turn the artist loose to have fun with it.”

Interview on The Hathor Legacy by Maria Velazquez — “Like many creators I started writing the kind of story I always wanted to see. Like most women I was raised with fairy tales and the complex feelings that go with them. Sure they focus primarily on female leads, but those leads tend to be passive objects. The women are what things happen TO not people who make things happen themselves.”

Interview on Sequential Tart by Lee Atchison — “We like the anti-hero right now. And with reason. Things are shit, we’re all pretty jaded. How can you not be when at the click of a button you can see the latest string of atrocities played out before your eyes. I like the anti-hero, but somewhere amid all of the horror and the skepticism, I wanted to place a story about a hero who, while not beyond reproach, is good and wants to do good and tries her hardest.”

During a stormy night and under the influence of some surprisingly strong pipe weed, Bold Riley glimpses a shape of what’s to come. Now, somewhat less burdened by sorrow, she heads towards the Atratan Desert in search of the powerful city state of Kabumzala.

Written by Leia Weathington and illustrated by Joanna Estep. With color by Nechama Frier, a pinup by Gisele Jobateh, and a cover by Genue Revuelta.