Allen: Tell me about Female Force series.

Darren: This is a non-biased series to showcase strong independent women in a different demographic...comic books. I started to get frustrated over the election this year. People were slamming the candidates without educated knowledge. So we came up with this so people can learn about the candidates and them make an educated choice. It is not smart to make decisions based off emotions. Knowledge is the key and in 22 pages we are giving a snippet of it. We hope people will like what we did and inspire them to learn more about these people.

Allen: How did idea for this series come about?

Darren: Bluewater is known for it's strong independent female characters like 10th Muse, Isis and Judo Girl. After seeing what IDW did with the Obama and McCain comics we thought we needed to pick up the female side of things. So our VP Jason Schultz thought it would be cool to do a Hillary comic since there were a McCain and Obama one. At the time, we thought Obama was going to pick her for the VP position. After that did not happen, we had a feeling that she would still be in his cabinet. We have been pretty lucky with the women we have chosen. Sarah Palin is in the news daily and now all the stuff that is happening with Caroline Kennedy.

Allen: What is the mission statement of Female Force series?

Darren: Educating about the strong independent women who have made a difference in our society.

Allen: How did you decide whom to choose for each issue?

Darren: There are about 5 of us who pass names around to see if we should devote an entire comic to them. We started off with political women and moving to the next set which will be women in the media. To be honest we even have taken suggestions from fans.

Allen: Who were some others in consideration for Female Force?

Darren: We thought about doing it on Condoleezza Rice, Maria Shriver & Nancy Pelosi. At this point they are still on the short list but we are changing the focus a little. These women are amazing candidates for the series and we will come back to the political arena and possibly do one based on these women. Who knows with the way the women we have chosen are going, we might have to do a sequel on them.

Allen: How did you decide on art and writer teams?

Darren: When I spoke to Neal Bailey about this title he had problems with Hillary Clinton and did not want to take on the series. He made up his mind without knowing a lot about her. After talking him through it, he decided to take a shot. What happened with him is what we really want to happen with everyone. After Neal did the research he gained a respect for her and what she accomplished. From there he did the same with Sarah Palin. We are not asking people to like these women, we are just showcasing their accomplishments and the ground breaking things they have done. We chose Ryan Howe because he has a fun feel to his art work We did not want this comic to be just a history lesson, we wanted to add some comic book elements to it. Ryan hit these books out of the park! For the Michelle Obama one we went for a more classic look. A lot of people will pick this one up because it is more commemorative so we hired Joshua LaBello to do it.

Allen: Tell me about Female Force cover artist.

Darren: We are using 3 different cover artists for the series. Vinnie Tartamella who has done the new Hillary Clinton cover as well as the Michelle Obama and the Caroline Kennedy covers. Joshua LaBello is in the process of designing the new cover for one of the media women. Patricio Carbajal did the Sarah Palin cover. We just changed the Hillary Clinton cover because we found out through her people that she was not happy with the way the cover looked. After looking at it again, I felt that it was in the best interest of Bluewater to change the cover. These books are not meant in any disrespect to these women. Bluewater is not publishing these comics like a MAD Magazine, so we went back and had Vinnie paint a new one. All the covers are amazing and I am really proud to have them in the Bluewater arsenal.

Allen: How hard was it to develop stories with non-functional characters?

Darren: It is hard because you have to get all the facts right. Neal did a lot of research on this series. The comic series will list all the places where he did his research. It is also hard because we all have bias, but we are making sure that these books are 100% unbiased. You will never know who Bluewater supports.

Allen: Are these stories for historical purposes?

Darren: As much as they can be in 22 pages.

Allen: What is best way to get issues of Female Force? When will they be appearing in stores?

Darren: Issue one that features Hillary Clinton will be out the 2nd week of February. Then 2 weeks later will be the Sarah Palin one. In April will be the Michelle Obama one. And we just announced in May the Caroline Kennedy issue. After that we are going monthly. All of the political women will be put into a trade paperback for July.

Allen: What has been media reception to Female Force series?

Darren: We have had tons of mainstream media people contact us. I was just interviewed for TIME Magazine this week. That was one of the highlights of my career. We have also been on CNN, Fox News, OK! Magazine. The funniest one was the SUN which is a total tabloid magazine. The same one where they have the Batboy. They did a full page article on us. We also have been in tons of newspapers from USA Today to the Los Angeles Times. So overall people seem to be loving what we are doing by bringing this series into the national spotlight.

Allen: Did you have to get special rights to create stories using real living people?

Darren: These are like unauthorized biographies. The cool thing about them is we know that a few of these women know about them and are excited about it.

Allen: Are there plans to put issues on WOWIO?

Darren: At this point we are not rushing to put anything up on Wowio. We are really not happy with the way Wowio's business model has changed with Platinum buying them. The books will be available digital a couple months after they are out in stores on IVerse.com - for the I-Phones & I-Touch.

Allen: Are there going to be different versions for Female Force covers?

Darren: We are only sticking to one cover per issue. We are trying to get away from doing multiple covers. I think it hurts the comic book market by doing these and over the years we have lowered the amount of alternate covers we do.

Allen: Are there plans to do more Female Force comics after Caroline Kennedy conclusion?

Darren: This is an ongoing series. We are moving on from the political area for a while and focusing on other strong independent women in the media. After that we have plans for historical women.

Allen: What is best way for readers to get updated on Female Force series?

Darren: The can pick up the Hillary Clinton cover which comes out in Feb.

Allen: What are some other nonfiction comics that are in works for Bluewater Publications?

Darren: We are working on another series called The WASPS. It will be about the 1st female air force pilots from the war. We are working on it with a celebrity that his grandmother was one on of them. We will be announcing more from this series soon.

Allen: Tell me little more about Female Force trade. When will trade come out?

Darren: In July we will have a trade that features all 4 stories together. Vinnie did the cover to this already.

Allen: What is best way to contact you? Also, tell me your website link.

Darren: People can email me directly at Darren@bluewatercomics.com or go through our website which is www.bluewaterprod.com . For those that are ambitious and really want to contact me, they can meet me at Starbucks on Wednesday in Vancouver, WA!

Allen: Where is Bluewater Publications now located?

Darren: We just moved the company to Vancouver, Washington. I needed to be closer to an airport, which is the main reason for moving. I loved Bellingham, Washington, but it was a little small. I lived in Bellingham for 5 years and loved every minute of it. I felt inspired living there to create more. Being in Vancouver lets me be closer to my family and gives me the best things I like of a big city and small town.

Allen: I suddenly got curious to your middle initial. What does G initial stand for?

Darren: It is my middle name which is Garrett. I was named this in honor of my grandfather. So I have always used it in my professional world. It also make me different from the football star Darren Davis.

Allen: How much input did you have on Female Force series?

Darren: I chose the art team as well as the writer. I have had my hand in there the whole time. Neal and I go to coffee once a week and talk about the tone of the book. He asks me if he has gone to far and sometimes I have to say yes! I was always the point person with the art making sure everything looked good. Anything we put Bluewater's name on has to be really polished down to the letters. When people see our logo they know it will be a quality book.

Allen: What would you like to say to readers that might want to read this series?

Darren: People should judge these people based off of the tidbits they here in the media. There are good points to all of these women. The only way you should judge them is when you have done all your homework and then you can make an educated assessments. We are telling these women's story in 22-pages. It is sort of like an illustrated Cliff Notes!

Allen: Are you personally working on any new writing projects?

Darren: I am developing a couple new series for Bluewater. We are also bringing Legend of Isis back as an ongoing series. I will be writing a couple issues for that series. I am also co-writing a couple books, a new "Wrath of the Titans" story and "Missile to the Moon." It is hard to find the time to do both writing and publishing. I seem to never sleep now. I am also editing over 50 books in production right now, from "10th Muse" to a new series called "The Dead End Boys."

Allen: Thank you so much Darren Davis for taking time to do interview with me about Female Force series. It is nice to see so many various stories from Bluewater Publications. It is also refreshing to hear about series directly from publisher. Would you like to leave us with any final insights about Bluewater Publications?

Darren: With the new year, Bluewater Productions is changing its publishing practices and reaching out to better help comic book retailers, the economy and the environment. Bluewater's new found effort is designed to drive new readers into comic book stores. Not only is Bluewater promoting the comics, but the comic book locator as well. Our efforts have led to a recent flurry of national television, newspaper and magazine coverage from CNN, TIME Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, OK! Magazine, Fox News and USA Today. All were drawn by Bluewater's "Female Force: Michelle Obama" & "William Shatter Presents" series. The "Female Force: Michelle Obama" comic has received more pre-orders from any comic produced by Bluewater.