From comic books to Tawny Kitaen

Faces:  Mom, model is also comic book hero

By Shawn Hogendorf, Staff Writer
The Prior Lake AmericanCheyenne King of Prior Lake is living her dream.

King woke up one morning three years ago at a “life-changing moment” and decided she wanted to be an actress. By 6 p.m. that day, King had an audition and was cast in her first role on a movie set as a bar patron in the movie “Older than America” by Tribal Alliance Productions. Cheyenne King of Prior Lake is a mother of two, a model, an actress and a comic book hero.

King went on to be cast in her first starring role in the movie “Fist of the Vampire,” for which she studied martial arts and power moves and learned how to handle guns.

From there, King said she just kept on “crashing local movie auditions” and did a lot of networking on MySpace, a social networking Web site. After setting up her Web page, she began getting work as a model, an actress in music videos and her second starring role in a movie called “Demons Rising.”

But that’s not all. King is also a comic book hero.

In her first role as a comic book hero in “Her Majesty and the Fish” by Catapult Comics, King modeled in front of a green screen, and the photo images of her were turned into computer images for the comic.

“The green screen is so fun to work in front of because it leaves everything up to the imagination,” she said.

King also will be the main character in a comic book in creation called “Tribal Force,” by Jon Proudstar Company. She plays the role of Thunderwolf Woman, a 500-year-old assassin warrior by night and “Cheyenne King” by day.And:This January, King will head to Pennsylvania to film another movie called “Wendigo” by Killer Wolf Films. The film is about Ojibwe Native American Tribe folklore about a half human, half animal capable of human spiritual possession.

King also keeps busy with numerous modeling jobs around the Twin Cities, where she’s represented by Talent Poole in St. Paul and Agency Model and Talent in Minneapolis. She has recently done photo shoots for local guitarist David Kline Jr. and his custom guitars and nationally for Jason Becker Merchandise.

King also starred in the music video “Forever” by Shawn Michael Perry.

“I always wanted to be Tawny Kitaen in the Whitesnake videos,” she said. “I always wanted to be a beautiful woman everyone was after.”Comment:  So King's goal is to be Tawny Kitaen in Whitesnake videos? Talk about not being a role model. Could you aim any lower, Cheyenne? What, you have too many principles to pose nude in Playboy?

I also appreciate the update on TRIBAL FORCE. But I'm still not impressed with how Jon Proudstar's Yaqui heritage informs his Native comics. An Indian "assassin warrior" is one of the oldest clichés in the book (see BUTCHER, RIPCLAW, SCALPED, THE FOURTH HORSEMAN, STREETS OF GLORY, et al.). And "Thunderwolf Woman" sounds like a generic, New Age version of an Indian name.

For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies and Comic Books Featuring Indians.

Below:  "Cheyenne King of Prior Lake is a mother of two, a model, an actress and a comic book hero." (Photo by Shawn Hogendorf)