Stop That Panzer Woman!

(PG; Superhero) Agent K's first solo mission: stop an alien invasion by going deep undercover in a UNIX war zone. Armed only with her wits and laxtex super-suit, the High-heeled Heroine faces a global-scale army with nothing to lose.

Story Notes

This is a prequel to "The Null Device," in which the mysterious Agent K had a relatively minor role until the end. She was nothing more than my desire to draw a latex bondage scene at first. As the story developed, keeping her as just a damsel to be rescued seemed so wasteful. By then, however, there wasn't any room to flesh out her character. And I didn't know her yet. Until last year, Agent K was a bondage drawing looking for character.

Years later, I wrote the next Agent K story Enter...General Zaq!" This began as a comparison between modern and classic comics. That began as a film noir, but developed in an Agent K superheroine story. While its premise is a bit convoluted, it does enhance her character. She had to be clever, to figure out how to win when the first plans failed. Since the entire story's a fight scene, her character is only defined by action and banter.

"Stop That Panzer Woman!" tries to address unanswered questions: If she's such a bad-ass, how did she get captured in "The Null Device?" Did she tell her father, the Director, about her adventures? Where does she live? Why does she fight at all...especially in tights and 6-inch heels? While a lot of these questions are still unanswered, "Stop That Panzer Woman!" passes the Bechdel test in flying colors.

Influences on Agent K's superheroine persona are from the Golden Age (Miss Fury, The Black Cat,) Silver Age (The Black Widow, Yvonne Craig's Batgirl, Honey West, Emma Peel from The Avengers,) and modern Goth heroines (La Femme Nikita, Charlize Theron's Aeon Flux, Trinity from The Matrix, Selene of Underworld.) Their common priority is proving their toughness and intelligence, while taunting and looking fantastic.

Hopefully future stories will define her private and social personality. What does she think is funny? What's her biggest nightmare, her worst fear, what drives her every word and action? I'm waiting for that "character writes herself" trope to kick in, but will probably have to discover the answers through a lot of writing and observation. Short of that, let's hope this story is at least entertaining.

Dave M!, blogging from 1369 Coffee House, Inman Square.

Back to top