Painkiller Jane: Creator Jimmy Palmiotti's blog on SCIFI.COM

The first time was years ago when Amanda and I were working on a Xena comic for the Topps comic company and we did a story written by the actor Robert Trebor who played Salmoneus on the series. Robert, by the way…is not only a great writer, but a really funny dude. Creation conventions had a Xena convention happening at the Hyatt in nyc and we got invited as guests to the con by the comic company. We went there and watched Lucy on stage and Amanda handed her a page of original art as a gift, them we proceeded to go to the tops booth and sign one billion things. The joke was that Lucy was only gonna sign the first 200 autographs and it was like winning a prize. so there we were, outside a room full of thousands and we were the only people remotely related to the show that was giving autographs for free [ never charged in my life…lol] and we got bombarded. We signed anything they threw our way. we tried a number of times to tell people that we only did the comic, but they didn’t give a shit. They paid to get in, they carried their memorabilia and by Zeus, they were gonna get a signature. It was pretty amazing how celeb hungry this crowd was. It was still fun and we managed to give away thousands of free comics.

The second time was at the premiere of EURO TRIP in los Angeles. My good friend and fellow art collector David Mandel directed the movie and wrote it with his friends and my other good friend Phil Noto and I took the trip out for the premiere. If you remember , Lucy was a dominatrix at a whore house in Amsterdam and I think its one of the funniest scenes in the movie besides the scene with the brother and sister are making out. If you haven’t seen this movie, go out and buy it. That and Harold and Kumar go to white castle are my guilty pleasure Saturday night specials. At the after party I met many of David’s friend, got stalked by Larry David [ another story for another day and no, he didn’t actually stalk me] and finally met Lucy, gave her a handshake and parted ways. I know it sounds pathetic, but the third time I met her was even more sad…lol.

I was in san Diego last year and got invited to the Sci-fi party because they have just picked up PAINKILLER JANE as a series and I was there to meet all the people involved with the show from Starz and sci-fi for the first time. It was a blast and a who ‘s who of sci-fi actors. The only real other person I knew there besides the people I met that day and my friends was the one and only Stan lee. Stan and I go way back to when I was a freelance editor at marvel comics with Joe Quesada and we started up the marvel knights line. Anyway, I spotted Stan sitting on a couch/bed like thing chatting up a hot blonde. As I got closer I realized it was Lucy lawless and Stan looked like he was in seventh heaven. I did the polite thing and waited till they were done talking and went over and introduced myself to Lucy and gave Stan a big handshake. Stan and I spoke for a bit and Lucy split. See, I told you it was pathetic…no ride in an elevator and a black out happens, no walking down a beach and saving her from a tsunami, no…nothing really exciting…and yet, each place I have said hello to her , I was in a place that I never dreamed I would be. Me…just another regular guy that loved comics from Brooklyn New York.

Speaking about Brooklyn, I live in two places these days. The first and place I really call home is in Brooklyn N.Y.. I was born here in the beginning of the 60’s and have practically lived here my whole life. For some it’s a cliché in a lot of ways and I love it…even though with each season we are losing what has made this place so great. A perfect example of this is this summer of 2007 is the last summer of the old Coney island I have grown to love and cherish. The one where at any minute it felt like the cyclone was going to fall apart, the wonder wheel was going to loosen up and careen into the ocean and the one where the bumper cars were really not too safe and at any time I believed I could actually cause harm to that person who was “gonna get it” in front of me. This Coney island was the place I would escape to each weekend with my family and friends to go on rides, shoot out the red star and win crap that we really never wanted to win in the first place. Well, this summer is the last gasp of the old and with the resurgence of another summer we will see a new cleaner, shiny polished Coney island that will be someone else’s future memories. Attached to this blog is a cool photo of my mom and dad…I am guessing around 1946, with my dad trying to win her something in one of Coney islands amusement parlors. I love the picture for a million different reasons, but even someone not emotionally attached can appreciate the totally manly way my dad is going to bag my mom a prize and how…well, they just don’t take pictures like that anymore. My older brother Anthony is still, to this day, totally obsessed with Coney and I guess if you really wanted to gain an appreciation for it, I would give ken burns documentary featuring New York and especially Coney island a try.

The other place I live between an endless amount of trips is in Clearwater Florida. Its only been for the past year and a half and I cant wait to spend more time there. It’s the complete opposite of my two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. It has a huge yard, tons of trees and vegetation and is a block off Tampa bay . the other thing is its 4 times bigger than my apartment , so right away it can hold more of my crap [ books, movies, comics, model guns, art supplies, artwork, and more comics]. The funny thing is , once I moved there I found that I am actually keeping less crap and enjoying the feng shui feel of the place. Big open spaces and windows from floor to ceiling. Down here I am a minute from a small town called safety harbor and its what I always dreamed life would be like outside the big city. Just minutes away is the first hooters ever built, the Dali museum, Clearwater beach and some of the biggest flea markets you have ever seen. The other best thing about the location is that I only know a few people there…fellow artists and fantastic neighbors, so I get a ton of work done there each and every time I visit, which is about once a month these days. Living in two places is an interesting learning lesson for me because it has taught me to hold on to less physical things in my life and enjoy each place I am living for what it offers.

Other random thing. painkiller jane the first issue of the comic by dynamite comics came out a week and a half ago and has gotten great reviews and more importantly is selling well, so happy about that and also happy that the new episodes started again of the show this week. Once again, I am never home on Friday so I have to wait till Tuesday to watch the show. When are they going to learn to send me the episodes? Never I think. Anyway, the feedback has been good and I know for a fact that the show is finding its legs and picking up new viewers which will pay off for them because the new episodes are a lot better as they go. Its really important for a show to find its voice and I think it finally has. If you watch closely, notice how much better the actors are interacting and especially kristanna who is doing a killer job on this. She is awesome on so many levels.

My next blog entry, I promise, will be much more interesting to you guys because kristanna and I will be traveling to Monte Carlo to attend the http://www.tvfestival.com/
We are going to show the pilot, show some scenes from other episodes and deal with about 300 reporters from all over the world. Trust me, this is not something I do very often. Come to think of it, almost never, so I should have some really cool photos and stories. All this courtesy of the fine people of Starz. This will be te real test of my bonding skills having Amanda and kristanna with me the whole week…and Dammit, I am up for that challenge!!!

See you in a bit. ‘

Jimmy 6/2/07