Alan Evans, known as Albone on his site, writes a comic with what I consider one of the most unconventional premises in webcomics today: Rival Angels. How unconventional? In his review, Ambush Bug of AICN said, “One of the coolest things about comics is that they can be about just about anything, especially webcomics, which don’t have to deal with uptight execs thinking about trends and expectations in the marketplace. In this medium, the artist/writer doesn’t have to worry about all that and can just tell the tale he wants to. Here’s such a concept: female professional wrestlers.”

In particular, Rival Angels follows the struggles of the high-flying blonde-haired, starry-eyed hero, “Ultra-girl” Sabrina Mancini, as she tries to prove her skills in the ring while navigating murkier political waters backstage. What follows is a lot of brawls, a lot of backstabbing, and a lot of redemption.

I relished a chance to do an interview with Alan Evans. Partially to talk shop, but mainly to chat about a shared passion for the warriors of the squared circle.

Alan Evans (right) and women's wrestler Gail Kim.

An Interview With Albone (Alan Evans)

WCO: Wrestling comics do not have a good track record among comics in general. A couple, like the Kevin Nash and Ultimate Warrior comics, have been inducted into Wrestlecrap.com. What do you think these comics did wrong? How do you hope to sidestep their errors in Rival Angels?

Albone: In every instance, including the Undertaker and Kane comics, they strayed away from wrestling. It’s like having Jeff Gordon in a space thriller with space race cars to get around while they’re meeting new life forms. Lex Lugar trying to blow up a boat with Sting on it, showed up in WCW’s comic. Really?! Wrestling will always be the milieu of Rival Angels. Sure, the girls might do things that aren’t wrestlerly at home, or out on the town, but they’ll always be wrestlers in a wrestling federation and I think that’s why it will succeed where those others have failed.

WCO: In your comic, wrestling is presented as a total shoot. It’s more like an MMA match, what with the outcome not being predetermined and the characters taking their rivalries off-camera. Any reason you decided to go this route?

Albone: It felt more entertaining to make the ring action real. For the most part, wrestling in our lifetime has been scripted so this is a way to present a fresh take on pro wrestling, while taking a cue from the rising popularity of MMA. From a character point of view I think it makes them more interesting and I think readers outside of pro wrestling will appreciate that realism.

WCO: In the Rival Angels universe, why would anyone, like the Hell’s Belles, decide to go heel (bad guy)?

Albone: Heel’s are usually revealed through their actions. Normally, they don’t pick to be a heel, their ring work dictates it. For instance, the Hell’s Belles didn’t decide to be heels (they usually think they’re right), actions like bashing fan favorites in the head with a chair chooses that. However, many wrestlers do promote their heel-ness. There’s a certain freedom to it that allows them to break the rules and get away with it (most of the time). There are a few wrestlers that are just natural jerks though and play it up for the negative attention it gives them.

WCO: Women’s wrestling is big time in other countries… Japan and Bolivia come to mind. But in the US, it’s usually takes a backseat eye-candy role to the men’s wrestling. In fact, ignoring a brief resurgence in TNA Wrestling (when Gail Kim was anchoring the division) and minor federations like Shimmer, it’s practically non-existent. So why do a comic about female wrestlers?

Albone: You hit the nail on the head with the current state of women’s wrestling in America. Because women’s wrestler is so neglected here, it seemed to be the more interesting road to take. Men’s wrestling is huge, so it’s pretty easy for one to find it. Women’s wrestling is a little harder to find and so, a bigger canvas for me to work with, so to speak. The creative freedom using women over men makes it that much more appealing.
Continue reading →