Interview: Amanda Conner at Baltimore Comic Con

Our contributor Christopher Holden happened to be going to Baltimore Comic-Con this past weekend, and graciously volunteered to be on the job while he was there!

Amanda Conner (whose comics work resume is so prestigious you should probably just go read about it before we quote the entire Wikipedia article) agreed to speak with me at the Baltimore Comic-Con while she meticulously worked on a custom portrait of Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) for a fan, which she agreed to draw for $100.

TMS: You’re famous for your work on Power Girl. The DC reboot is right around the corner and Power Girl has noticeably been missing from and news or solicitations. What are your thoughts on this, and do you know anything the rest of us don’t?

Amanda: I’m a little bummed because I love Power Girl, and have done a lot of work with her (motioning to the pictures of PG for sale around her) in the past. I think that the reboot coming up will only be the first one to start things off, then as time goes by, they’ll reboot other characters back into this new continuity, so hopefully we’ll still get Power Girl at one point.

Some people have noticed certain Power Girl influences in Supergirl’s rebooted look, and have speculated that D.C. might have simply merged their looks and personalities. What do you think of the possibility of this happening?

I like having 2 separate characters; a Power Girl and a Supergirl. They’re both interesting characters and great in their own right. They should stay separate.

Not too long ago there were rumors of a film adaptation of “The Pro” being in the works. Are plans still moving forward?

I always hope there will be a Pro movie. God I hope so. But actually Jimmy [Palmiotti, Conner’s husband] is the one you have to talk with about that. He’s the one who handles that stuff.

Given your experience, do you feel it is harder for female writers and artists to break into the business?

I don’t know, I think it’s equally as hard for anybody. I remember Joe Kubert saying “It’s going to be incredibly hard for any of you to get a job in this industry.” With it being such a small industry, it’s tough for anybody to get a job, regardless if they’re a man or woman; unless they’re really really naturally talented.

What things do you have coming down the pipeline?

There’s a D.C. project Jimmy and I have coming up that we’re not allowed to talk about, and maybe even a second one. We’re also working with Frank Tieri on a creator owned, 3 issue series from Image. Oh, I’ll also be doing some Painkiller Jane.

Bleeding Cool has since found more to say on the subject of Conner and Palmiotti’s two mystery books for DC. Palmiotti has been quoted as saying “the two books…both female characters…and one’s a lady,” but that’s all we know for now.