8 Things You Didn’t Know About My Story “Princess Marshmallow”

In early 2020 “YEET Presents” #33 was published with my second comic book story “Princess Marshmallow” on the back cover of this issue.  Unfortunately the story was not published the way I would have preferred, with two pages featuring misspelled words.  I had Greta Fantini correct the mistakes and upload the new pages so that editor Mike Jones could download them and use them instead of the pages with the mistakes.  But this didn’t happen because Mr. Jones didn’t feel like downloading them.  Another thing I disliked was the way the inside back cover looked, with the P in “Princess” being slightly cut off.  Much like the previous issue that had one of my stories, I wasn’t very pleased with how things were printed.  

Presented here is a list of eight things that you didn’t know about my story.  Sadly, I'm two facts short of ten this time.   

08. “Princess Marshmallow” Was Originally A Prose Story 

I wrote “Princess Marshmallow” several years ago as an assignment for my writing course to learn how to write for children and teens.  When adapting the story for a comic I stuck pretty close to what I originally wrote.  But in order to keep the pace fast and not use anything that would slow the story down, I had to cut a short paragraph in my original story in which the reader gets a chance to hear Princess Marshmallow’s thoughts.  She thinks about the time when she and Morio first met and was chosen to receive magical powers.  Something else that unfortunately was changed for the comic was Princess Marshmallow’s shoulder pads.  I mention her shoulder pads in both the prose story and my comic script.  I drew a poor-looking sketch of Princess Marshmallow for Greta to use as a guide for the comic version.  Due to my poor drawing skills Greta misinterpreted the shoulder pads I drew for simple lines on her shoulders.  Oops.      

07. “Princess Marshmallow” Was Inspired By Magical Girl Anime 

It might be obvious to most people that a Japanese character created by an American (me) was inspired by manga and anime.  I began watching anime as a teen, but didn't know what magical girl stories were until I was in my twenties.  This is when I discovered the series Sailor Moon.  It took me two episodes to really get into the series, but I’m glad I didn't give up after watching only one.  My character Princess Marshmallow is mostly a combination of two magical girls, with perhaps a bit from a third character.  Those characters are Sailor Moon (obviously), Cardcaptor Sakura and Magical Girl Pretty Sammy.  Sailor Moon and Pretty Sammy both use magical transformations, while Cardcaptor Sakura does not.  All three use some sort of magical scepter, and all three have a magical creature that helps them.  Cardcaptor Sakura’s magical creature resembles a teddy bear with wings, which is what inspired my character Morio.           

06. This Is My First Story On A Cover! 

This was not only the first time one of my stories got to be on the cover, but also the first time artist Greta Fantini had one of her stories on the cover.  I have admired Greta’s art ever since I saw it in the first issue of “YEET Presents” that I read.  I’m happy that we both got to have the pleasure of having a story on the cover simultaneously.  Unfortunately the cover didn’t look exactly the way I would have preferred, with the Princess Marshmallow logo Greta used being cut off and replaced with a less impressive logo made by Mike Jones.  (The word “Princess” isn't centered above the word “Marshmallow” correctly, either.)  Then there’s that awful Black Fury character appearing on the top left corner and the even worse “Old Guys Who Like Old Comics” stamp, both of which I wish weren’t necessary.  I agreed on the way Mr. Jones redesigned the cover to avoid an argument with him.  Below is the cover I prefer.  

05. I Like To Use Funny Names In My Stories 

Beyond the fact that the title character is named after a confection, there are other unusual names in the story.  The villain, Professor Lagomorph, is named after the scientific word for rabbits and hares.  Princess Marshmallow’s secret identity, a junior high student named Junko, is named after Japanese singer and voice actress Junko Iwao.  Junko is the voice of my favorite character from Cardcaptor Sakura, Tomoyo Daidouji.  The talking dove Morio is named after Cardcaptor Sakura’s director, Morio Asaka.  

04. Greta Fixed The Mistakes And Improved The Art 

As mentioned above Greta Fantini did fix the misspelled words once I caught them and asked her to do it.  She also changed some of the art to add a furry look to Professor Lagomorph’s costume and to add different and additional sparkles to Princess Marshmallow’s transformation.  Below are the corrected panels for pages 3 and 6.  

03. The Inside Front Cover Was A Complete Surprise 

The inside front (or back, depending on what cover is your preferred front) cover was drawn by Greta as a surprise to me!  This was very nice of her.   

02. This Was Greta’s First Time Drawing A Comic She Didn’t Write 

I was very nervous when I asked Greta to draw a story for me.  I guess the worst that could have happened is she would have said no and then I’d have to find another artist to draw the story.  She told me that she usually draws her own comics, but would read my story.  Sometime later she got back to me and said she loved my character Junko, so she’d draw my story!  Because she said yes I finally got to see a character that I created come to life in color, the way I intended my first comic story to look, and I got to work with a fantastic artist I admired.  I’d love to work with her again, if possible. 

01. My Birthday Present 

For my 49th birthday last year Greta gave me this awesome gift!  

I’m glad that after wanting to be published nearly all my life that I finally was.  I only wish I knew what had been in store for me by giving away two comic stories to a comic magazine that does not pay their contributors.  It cost me $720 total to pay two artists to draw the stories that were published in “YEET Presents”.  Maybe $720 isn’t much to you, but it is to me.  I don’t work (due to various health problems and no transportation) and the money I spent on those stories was part of what little life savings I had.  I can’t afford to just throw away $720.  I was hoping that these stories would lead to something bigger and better, eventually.  Both stories that were published mean a lot to me, especially “Princess Marshmallow”.  “Fever” mostly used public domain characters, but all the characters in “Princess Marshmallow” are mine.  I submitted a third story before “Princess Marshmallow” was published and the editor rejected it as not being funny enough, or something like that.  In the meantime, his sense of humor is extremely archaic.  I kept wondering when reading his so-called attempts at humor if I was supposed to laugh or not.  But I guess everyone has a different sense of humor.

I know “YEET Presents” #33 was published about a year ago, but I never found the time to write this article until now.  I wasn’t on the Internet all that much in 2020, and when I was I had problems with my connection.  Writing this now allows me to get all of this out of me and helps me to bring closure to this chapter in my life.  I wish I could write more stories for the possibility of being published in a comic, but my financial situation may prevent this, and I need to seek out a new publisher or to seriously look into self-publishing.

As always, thank you for reading my blog.