What are Media Tie-Ins?
Media tie-ins are a genre of literature that involves crafting stories, novels, or other written works based on established intellectual properties from various forms of media. These intellectual properties can encompass a wide range of sources, including movies, television series, video games, comic books, and even popular franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter.
Essentially, media tie-in writers are tasked with expanding, complementing, or reimagining the existing narratives and characters from these beloved worlds. In essence, it’s about embracing a pre-existing universe and creating new, original content within its boundaries.
The Double Trouble Anthology is a media tie-in anthology filled with great match-ups of popular fiction characters. For The Shape of Fury, which appears in Double Trouble, I chose the first two female superheroes to appear in comics: Fantomah, Queen of the Jungle, and Jill Trent, Science Sleuth. I chose these characters because my company, Kymera Press, is dedicated to supporting creative women in comics as well as presenting female protagonists with realistic bodies.
During the 1940s, Fantomah was originally portrayed as a voluptuous white woman with blonde hair and a loyal pet panther named Fury. I couldn’t make a white woman protector of the African jungle, so pondered, I reimaged Fantomah as an African American woman driven by a profound commitment to jungle preservation. Additionally, I gave her the intriguing background of being a celebrated scientist. As for her relationship with Fury, well, you’ll have to read the story to see how that plays out.
Jill Trent, a brilliant scientist renowned for employing her scientific acumen to crack complex criminal cases, was initially a character well-versed in scientific problem-solving. Her devoted assistant, Daisy, displayed exceptional proficiency with a variety of firearms, a skill that Jill herself had acquired. However, I opted to redefine their roles; Jill remained solely a scientist, while Daisy was given a compelling backstory as a former member of the Army Rangers, excelling in marksmanship and mastering various forms of physical combat.
A noteworthy shift from the original storyline was the nature of Jill and Daisy’s relationship. In the original comic, their connection was implied through their shared bed, stopping short of explicitly stating it. My adaptation took a more decisive turn, portraying Jill and Daisy as a dedicated, married couple who joined forces in their relentless pursuit of solving crimes. This alteration added an intriguing dimension to their dynamic and breathed new life into their partnership.
Back in the 1940s, writers played fast and loose with their female superheroes. Whenever something came up that they needed a specific skill set, they suddenly had that skill. The characters were never static. So, I felt like the changes I made to update my characters would have been well received by their creators. This story was so much fun to write I’m thinking of doing an entire series of them. Maybe I’ll even do a comic. Hm.
Double Trouble is available here.
Deborah Daughetee
Deborah Daughetee has spent most of her career writing and producing such television shows as Murder, She Wrote; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; and Touched by an Angel. She has published short stories in magazines and anthologies. In addition, she has also written audio dramas set in the world of the 60’s classic television show, Dark Shadows, including her Scribe award nominated, The Lost Girl. Most recently, Debbie created Kymera Press, a comic book publishing company that supports women in comics. She writes the comic series, Gates of Midnight which was winner of the 2019 Irwin Award and publishes the Bram Stoker Award Winning Mary Shelley Presents Tales of the Supernatural.
