Last year, Clueless celebrated it’s 20th anniversary, but the love for the film continues to grow. BOOM studios is bringing the beloved film to comic books, set to be written by Amber Benson (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), and Sarah Kuhn (Heroine Complex), with illustrations by Siobhan Keenan. The new comic book will follow the fan favorite characters of Cher, Dionne, and Tai as they navigate their senior year at Bronson Alcott High School, focusing on what their plans for their futures will be.
Clueless was loosely based on Jane Austen’s Emma, taking place in modern 1995 Beverly Hills. The 1995 film contained a then unknown cast: Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, Stacey Dash, Donald Faison, Paul Rudd, and Wallace Shawn. From the film’s success came a television adaptation that ran for three seasons, and contained a few of the original cast members. However, the TV series wasn’t a direct sequel, instead it replayed the plot of the film.
Source: Amazon
Ensuring that the 90’s tone will be authentic and a call back to the film, Benson and Kuhn are working with the UCLA Linguistics department, and using a slang book of terms from the decade. Benson is excited to add the legacy of Clueless, having her own connection to the film. At seventeen, the actress/author auditioned for the role of Tai, but despite not getting the part, she remembers thinking that the film (then titled As If) would be a pop-culture phenomenon.
“All these years later, I am tickled that I finally get to be a part of it’s continuing legacy, and that I get to collaborate with two people I respect greatly: my co-writer Sarah Kuhn and our edition Shannon Watters,” Benson speaks about getting to work on Clueless after all these years.
Clueless still resonates with fans, because Cher (played by Alicia Silverstone) was a complex character. She loved clothes and was almost entirely immersed in her own little world, but she was more than a stereotypical shopping girl. Cher was a flawed character that failed and made mistakes, but she always picked herself up, learned, and tried again. Benson says she believes Cher is still a beloved character, because women are “told to be perfect all the time, and to take somebody who looks perfect and has kind of a perfect life and go, ‘You know, I’m not perfect. I fail, I make mistakes, but I learn from them’ (Vanity).”
“I know that Amber and I both like writing female protagonists who mess up a lot, because we mess up a lot. The fact that both Cher and Emma do mess up and are flawed and messy, that’s very appealing as both a writer and a reader,” Kuhn says about Cher.
This won’t be the first time for Benson is entering the literary world. Having published several books since her time as Tara on Buffy, Benson has also written and directed films as well as recently releasing Star vs. the Forces of Evil and Marco’s Guide to Mastering Every Dimension. Other novels of hers to read: Echo Park Coven series, Calliope Reaper-Jones series, Ghosts of Albion series, and Among the Ghosts. She’s also co-written Buffy novels about fan favorite couple Willow and Tara.
Brush up on your 90’s slang, and get ready for Clueless.
YouTube Channel: Entertainment Tonight
Featured image via Clueless Wikia
h/t Kotaku
