INTERVIEW: Danielle Paige Flips the Script with Her YA Superhero #ZoeMG

A girl with black hair, a flashy outfit and glasses, is surrounded by emojis as she poses for a selfie

As a young adult writer who’s brought us stories like Dorothy Must Die, Mera: Tidebreaker, and more, Danielle Paige is well aware of the influence of social media on teenaged girls. In #ZoeMG from InterPop Comics, Paige flips the script, she tells WWAC, in order to “really explore “what if” a teen could literally influence others with her emojis.”

Culverton’s favorite social media influencer, #ZoeMG, is breaking the internet with her own solo title! Bestselling author Danielle Paige joins the talented PJ Kaiowá in bringing Zoe to life in InterPop’s latest ongoing series, joined by colorist Yenny Laud, letterer Sal Cipriano, and variant cover artists Lynne Yoshii, Sean Chen and Steve Buccellato, and John Amor.

Zoe is just a typical teenager trying to get through high school…except her emotions are constantly on display through her “emoji aura” and she’s Culverton’s biggest social media star. In this debut issue, Zoe learns that as a young child, she was part of a failed kidnapping, which revealed the true nature of Zoe’s emojis. Her parents feared her untapped potential and kept the secret from her. Zoe soon finds out there’s more to her powers than selfies and stories…will a new frenemy, and the death of a well-known role model, push Zoe to take action? What’s her role in the future of the Emergents, and what will she discover when she looks for answers about her powers and her history? Find out in #ZoeMG #1

Tell us a bit about the world that Zoe lives in. Do we get to learn where these superpowers come from and how they are being used outside of Zoe’s circle?

Brian David-Marshall, President and Publisher of InterPop, created The Nine’s origin story and universe where the Emergents who inhabit Culverton were created through genetic tinkering. While the brilliant Will Pfeifer, The Nine series writer, is unfolding this larger story, I get to zero in on Zoe’s view of it as a teen discovering her powers. For me, it was like getting to write Spider-Man. Seeing the superhero universe through a teen’s eyes is really such a special view. There’s an innocence and joy in watching a kid discover she has power and seeing what she is going to do with it

I see that Zoe has her own Twitter account. What can we expect to see from her on social media as the story picks up?

Followers will get teases of story and art as the series progresses, orchestrated by Zoe herself. Readers should follow both @TheRealZoeMG and @Interpop on Twitter to get the full scoop!

Given her abilities, how would Zoe feel about The Emoji Movie and its portrayal of its characters?

Is it horrible to admit that I’ve never seen it? I think I’m going to wait to see it now until I finish Zoe’s arc. But knowing Zoe — I think she’d happy for the screen time.

Can you give us a tease of what’s to come in your #ZoeMG series?

Zoe starts the series not really wanting to be a hero. She wants to use her abilities to get as many likes and followers as possible. But once one of her favorite heroes, Crime Blotter, is killed, she begins to have a change of heart. She can’t resist looking into Crime Blotter’s death and in the process she finds herself aligned with other powered kids and she begins to rethink her priorities. Will she be a hero or is she happier just sticking to being the most influential influencer? And there’s also a real danger here with the nature of her power. Zoe can literally make others feel what she wants them to feel — that’s pretty potent stuff that raises real questions about free will and makes Zoe’s powers a possibly dangerous power. Zoe starts the series wondering how she could possibly matter in this universe and ends it realizing that she might just be the most powerful one of all.


#ZoeMG #1 is available to purchase digitally, including limited variants, on interpopcomics.com, with free weekly segments available starting on November 3rd. Digital comics buyers will have a chance to participate in making future storyline choices via interactive voting through InterPop Comics. Check out this exclusive preview below!

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Wendy Browne

Wendy Browne

Publisher, mother, geek, executive assistant sith, gamer, writer, lazy succubus, blogger, bibliophile. Not necessarily in that order.

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