Today on Karl Kesel’s Facebook page he treated fans to a 1991 Throwback Thursday flashback:
“FEMALE FURIES, “NEW.” I’ve always loved Kirby’s “bad girl” characters, the Female Furies, with the original five each clearly reflecting a different stereotype/archetype of woman— Barda = Amazon, Lashina = Dominatrix, Stompa = Butch Dyke (this was the late 60s, after all), Mad Harriet = Hag, Bernadeth = Spinster. But the Furies are an entire battalion— there are a LOT more where those came from! So in 1991’s Hawk & Dove #21, I came up with a few more. Again, I tried to make each represent a type of woman— Gilotina = Girl Next Door, Speed Queen = Rebellious Teen, Bloody Mary = Seductress, Malice Vundabarr = Brat. (Gilotina first appeared and was named in a few Kirby Mister Miracle panels— but I gave her her personality and outlook.) Bloody Mary never quite jelled as a character (odd, because she seems to be the strongest, high-concept-wise) but I’ve always really liked the others. I actually stranded Gilotina in Project Cadmus for a while, and started a romance between her and Tommy (the typical boy-next-door). Of course, I’d revisit the Furies again when Tom Grummett and I introduced Superboy to a lady named Knockout a few years later. Side Note: Malice’s pet “Cheshire” was renamed “Chessure” in the printed comic, combining “cheshire” with “pressure.” It seemed more “Kirby” to me.”
