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Former Go-Go Jane Wiedlin takes punk attitude to comics

ALTHOUGH "Jane Wiedlin's Lady Robotika" is perfect reading for your summer "Vacation," and Wiedlin and co-writer Bill Morrison seem to be screaming "We Got the Beat" with a story that flows surprisingly well, so far they are telling Comics Guy "Our Lips Are Sealed" regarding the future for the character and concept.

ALTHOUGH "Jane Wiedlin's Lady Robotika" is perfect reading for your summer "Vacation," and Wiedlin and co-writer Bill Morrison seem to be screaming "We Got the Beat" with a story that flows surprisingly well, so far they are telling Comics Guy "Our Lips Are Sealed" regarding the future for the character and concept.

OK, that might not have been the wittiest line ever written, but it gets its point across, and you can tell I was at least trying to be witty about this book starring Wiedlin, former Go-Go's guitarist. The same thing can be said about "Lady Robotika," Wiedlin and Morrison's initial effort.

This is not a book that will ever win any Eisners (the comic industry's Oscar). But it is wildly imaginative, and Wiedlin and Morrison have a true love for the material and are doing the best they can with it. This isn't a celebrity vanity project in which they're just trying to throw something together and hope it eventually becomes a movie or TV show.

In fact, Wiedlin, who has been a regular at comic conventions for years, seems to have learned a bit about the craft along the way. The book is fun and solidly scripted.

One of the best ideas was for Wiedlin to be the star of the book, both as herself and as Lady Robotika. She comes across as extremely self-deprecating. There are many Go-Go's inside jokes for die-hard fans, and even a scene in which Wiedlin, after being captured by aliens and stripped naked, makes a reference to her reputation for selling revealing photos of herself at conventions by saying, "What happened to my clothes? I know I have a reputation for being kinky, but this is ridiculous." In another, where she has cried so much her mascara smears, she jokes that it could help her in the next phase of her career, since she's "never tried shock rock. Could work."

One of the linchpins of the story is the mystery as to whether the Lady Robotika scenes - in which Wiedlin portrays Robotika - are simply Wiedlin's dreams or actually happening. We get a definitive answer by the end of issue #1 (by which time you can cut the tension with a knife), which ends with a surprising twist.

Again, this is pretty standard sci-fi stuff. Wiedlin's obvious enthusiasm for the character and ability to make us laugh by laughing at herself sets it apart and has Comics Guy hoping we see much more of this character and concept in the future, maybe even on the big screen starring Wiedlin.

Comics Guy would go "Head Over Heels" for that one.

Wilcox a survivor

Speaking of kick-butt female characters, while helping to promote "Never Sleep Again," a "Nightmare on Elm Street" documentary, actress Lisa Wilcox told Comics Guy that she is looking forward to her role in NBC's "Kindreds," which brings David E. Kelley back to TV and also stars Kathy Bates.

"We're very excited about the show," said Wilcox, who is best known by horror, sci-fi and comic fans as Alice in the "Nightmare" films. She is the only character to survive two "Nightmare" movies.

"How about that? And I didn't even sleep with the producer or directors," she joked. "Ultimately, it was such a compliment. Though yes, to this day I wonder what Alice's death scene would be like.

"People over the years have given me so many suggestions. But, yeah, one day, you never know, they might decide to wrap that up - or wrap me up!"

The still-stunning Wilcox said that she was offered "many wonderful opportunities" after her two "Nightmare" films (the fourth and fifth in the series) got her noticed.

"But I chose to have a family and that became my focus for that period of my life," she said.

Wilcox's incredible beauty had Reneta J call her to show off one of its dresses at the new "Nightmare" red-carpet premiere earlier this year.

But her photogenic features were not always an asset, she told Comics Guy.

"The audition for 'Nightmare,' I remember it well," she said. "I was just out of college, and I had gotten a manager and an agent and all that, and my manager said, 'Oh, I submitted you for a "Nightmare on Elm Street.'

"He said, 'They don't want to see you,' because they didn't see me as right for the part. Which, if you looked back then at my head shot - I looked like a cheerleader and did not fit the role. But then about a month later, I got an audition. They had auditioned over 600 actresses and so they were going through the reject pile, which I was in, and I got the opportunity. So I auditioned and then I got a call back on Friday. I was getting married that Sunday and learned on my honeymoon that I had landed the role.

"I went wearing pale yellow - my worst color - and no makeup and plain hair and all of a sudden they went, 'Oh! This is an actress!' We can be chameleons, you know?"

Though she said that she enjoyed the reboot, "It's so hard not to go: 'But Robert Englund's supposed to be Freddy!' "

Wilcox also said that it would be tough to see another actress playing Alice.

"Oh, I don't know if I could," she said. "But of course I will because I'll be just too curious. You know? Go for it. These are good stories, and they deserve to be retold."

Wilcox said that she would love to do a cameo in one of the new films.

"Heck, yeah!" she said. "Absolutely! I would love to be a mom. That would be great!"

In the end, she said that she would love to reprise her character if given the chance, and loves what she represents as the only survivor.

"You would think Freddy would say, 'I'm gonna get that one! No, I missed her! Gonna get that one,' " Wilcox joked. "But they've let it be. So, I guess you can survive Freddy Krueger. Maybe that's what that represents. You can survive your worst nightmare. Right?"

E-mail comicsguy@phillynews.com.