If you're any kind of fan of women's bodybuilding, you've heard of (and probably own every issue of) Women's Physique World magazine. A quarterly that covers the contests and the women who compete in them, WPW also runs a sideline business producing and selling photos and videos of the women, posing in dresses and swimsuits, working out, etc.
I would love to be able to incorporate WPW in the Satin storyline, but Women's Physique World is trademarked and copyrighted, and can't be used without permission. Therefore, the fictional Female Physique Magazine was "created" to help lend an air of verisimilitude to Satin Steele. Similarly, the character of "Stan Warnerston" is a fictional analogue for WPW's real-life editor Steve Wennerstrom, although "Stan" is not otherwise based on Steve in any way.
Once again, because "Ms. Olympia" is owned by the Weider organization, I had to come up with something else to denote the top contest in Satin Steele's milieu. Voilà! "Ms. Ultima" is born. The current titleholder is Eve Coriander; in her first Ms. U appearance Satin managed to come within two points of claiming the title (the first time a first-time contestant would have won in the contest's eight-year history, of which Eve has been Ms. U for the past five.)
What if you wanted to open a chain of restaurants... sorta semi-sports-themed, almost as much bar as restaurant. Your décor is varnished unstained wood and colored lights strung across the rafters. Your specialty is Buffalo-style chicken wings, but you have a gimmick that sets you apart from the usual restaurant/bar: your waitresses are all young, beautiful, and shapely, wearing brightly colored short-shorts and tank tops that emphasize their buxom charms. The name of your chain, too, is a double-entendre that evokes the waitresses' afore-mentioned "charms" yet (you insist) is a very innocent reference to your chain's mascot. And the name of this chain of restaurants is... well, in the "world" of Satin Steele, it's "Buster's"; named after their cartoon bear mascot, of course ;-)
A startup comics publisher, whose staff Matt joined soon after his return to Orlando. Matt's and Explosive's stars rose together, as Matt soon becomes their "hot" artist and each's success and popularity helps the other's. Dream Machine #6, a science-fiction anthology which featured Matt's first "pro" job, the eight-page "Platitude", is currently one of the most valuable and sought-after comics in today's market. (In the Satin continuity, anyway.)
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©1998 David C. Matthews.
Female Physique Magazine
Ms. Ultima Contest
Buster's
One of Satin's first jobs was as a waitress at Buster's; there is a story in the works that chronicles her short but fondly remembered stint as a "Buster's Girl".
Explosive Comics