Ash & Thorn by Mariah McCourt is a 5 issue mini series being released by Ahoy Comics that has been described as Buffy meets The Golden Girls. While I think that is a pretty cool description, I think I’d go with Supernatural meets Calendar Girls. (Yes I am aware that’s a weird reference)
Ash & Thorn is a comic the world should have been gagging for. It’s all about strong women saving the world. Strong, older women, becasue we all know that if it came down to it, it makes more sense to have a seasoned adult be THE ONE. We’ve all read stories written around some grand apocalypse that means one person has been tagged to be the saving grace, and for years I’ve been waiting for it to shake out like this. The fact that it’s an older, sassy, black lady is pretty much icing on the cake. This first issue is so good, I cannot wait to see what happens next. The only downside is that it’s a miniseries and we’re only getting five parts of it.
(Peruvia and Lottie)
Ash & Thorn is written by Mariah McCourt who is sassy on twitter and based on this first issue, is a seriously talented writer. I was able to get a few minutes of her time to talk about this new release. Our conversation:
Why? Why an older lady? Why a black older lady?MM: A lot of reasons! 1. Because older ladies are awesome. 2. You don’t see nearly enough older women as the main character in stories generally and even fewer in comics. 3. I grew up with my grandmothers, with a lot of older women as teachers, and I wanted to tell a story about people like them and to subvert a lot of the tropes and assumptions about what a hero is and looks like. 4. Well, first, why not? Second, older black women have been, and are, the leading voices of so many human and civil rights movements that it just seemed like exactly who should and would be a cosmic hero.Is writing this super fun? It looks super fun. MM: Very! I get to write about all the things I love, from monsters to baking, and I even get to have recipes in the back of the comics. That’s a first for me!What kind of adventures can we expect Lottie and Peruvia to have? MM: Weird ones! I would suggest expecting things to be unexpected and be prepared for nearly anything to happen. Especially if it’s got tentacles and gets hit with an iron skillet.and lastly,With all the upheaval in the comics industry of late, have you found it hard as a woman to get projects like this greenlit? MM: Well, it was very easy to get it greenlit at AHOY! because they’re awesome folks, but I wouldn’t have pitched it to most other companies in comics for a reason.
