Siobhan DuVall is a superhero. She is the kind of character that lives in vivid colour, etched into the cover of a comic book for the whole world to see. She is blonde, really blonde, and sensual. Her lips are full and her dark eyes reflect that quiet dignity possessed by all true superheroes. She is dressed in a shiny pink body suit that shines sequins in the sun and clings to her womanly, rock ‘n’ roll physique, subtly revealing its underestimated and hypnotizing power. She stands, larger than life, towering over the mountains of British Columbia, wielding her guitar like an axe as though she is preparing for battle. Siobhan DuVall is the power pop diva Fon Fon and she is here to save the day.

The legend of Fon Fon starts on page one. DuVall is young, a nine-year-old innocent, curious about the world she lives in. She has gone through life holding her mother’s hand. Then one day she let’s go and begins to wander, eyes all aglow. Music notes float across the page. DuVall follows them like the child that she is.

 

I was in the stereo section in Woolco’s when I heard Dream On by Aerosmith.

Then I made my parents buy me a guitar but I hated the person who was giving me lessons so I just didn’t want to learn.

10 years later DuVall finds herself in another world, another decade. She is no longer the picture of innocence. At 19, she is frustrated and full of energy. DuVall knows she has yet to serve her true purpose. The feeling she gets from listening to Blondie and the Ramones is too strong to ignore. She feels a sudden urge to pick up the guitar again. The superhero’s quest is always met with adversity and DuVall’s is no different.

 

When I first started playing I lived in this house full of these punk rock guys and they would totally laugh at me and thought it was absolutely ridiculous that I would attempt to learn how to play guitar.			When I started playing it was absolutely unheard of for girls to be playing guitar in rock bands. Being a bass player or a singer was acceptable but if you went into guitar stores you would get laughed at. It was that bad.

Yet DuVall persevered and learned to play the guitar despite the gender inequities in the industry and despite the societal chauvinism. Every time she heard ‘No,’ or every time someone snickered, her powers began to grow.

DuVall’s Gotham is Vancouver, British Columbia, a city that sees its music scene go through phases, a city dominated by the Rocky Mountains, a city overrun by hellions on snowboards and skateboards. It is 1989 and DuVall looks out her window. She sees a world she must conquer. So she forms an alliance with like-minded women with similar powers. They call themselves the Bombshells. With the Bombshells, DuVall lets her blonde hair down and breaks into the industry with her amp turned way up. Legions of boarders perk up their ears. With one strike of the chords, the walls of societal chauvinism come crashing down.

The Bombshells quest for world domination fell short and they disbanded in 1994. Unwilling to be kept down, DuVall resolved to take another approach at rock superhero stardom by becoming the sidekick to the alternative maiden of mischief, Bif Naked. It only took two years of studying under Bif’s tutelage and DuVall was ready to strike out on her own once again. And, believe it or not, it was all due to a single article of clothing.

Superman has his cape. Batman has his hood. DuVall has her shiny pink dress. And now, DuVall, like a shadow at sunset, grows ever larger. She is a force to be reckoned with. When she puts on the shiny pink dress she transforms into the sexy, glamorous, tongue-in-cheek, power pop diva Fon Fon. She loves everything pink and she doesn’t take things too seriously. But as Fon Fon, DuVall knows she must avoid the pitfalls and perils of being a sexy woman in rock ‘n’ roll.

 

The Bombshells was a “girl band” and I would never do that again because it was a way of getting attention and stuff and I don’t think that’s necessary.

I don’t mind wearing sexy dresses because I know I can play. So, if you look good I don’t think there is anything wrong with using it because it is going to be used anyway, right?

What separates the superheroes from the meek is the ability to recognize their power and to use it wisely. Fon Fon is sexy and glamorous, but she knows that it is nothing more than a disguise. It is her secret weapon and precious few are able to resist its lure. It draws you in like a siren’s call and just when it is about to render you unconscious she blasts forth some powerful pop melodies that sink deep into your heart and soul, infecting your very being with irresistible, hardcore, candy-coated goodness.

 

I am using that kind of sexuality and glamour on purpose. If I was Britney Spears and making videos like that and taking myself seriously I think there would be a big problem.

But I’m kind of taking the piss out of the fact that it is used. I am comfortable with the way I use that. It doesn’t really mean that much to me. I think it’s funny.

Yet sex and glamour is only one part of Fon Fon’s potent arsenal. Brandishing a sound that takes as much from hardcore punk as it does from new wave, keyboard-driven 80s pop music, Fon Fon combats the evil forces that plague women in rock with her hip, musical superpower.

 

I can’t compete with the music here (in Canada) because I am not fucking boring. You have to be in that boring box, all safe and lame and homogenized. I am way too cool for that.

It is nearing the last page, the ending of this week’s adventure, and Fon Fon has become more real than a comic book superhero. She is a flesh ‘n’ blood rock ‘n’ roll star with an impeccable fashion sense, a smart attitude, and flare for the glamorous. The power pop diva fights evil with her melodies and saves the music world for fledgling rock starlets just like herself. She recognizes that progress is being made but there is still a long way to go. Yet the fact that she can influence other young women to pick up the guitar is reward enough.

Next week’s adventure promises to be just as exciting. It looks like Fon Fon will be joining forces with members of another crime fighting group known as the Black Halos. Together they will form a deadly and dangerous alliance called The Widows. Evildoers beware! And look for Fon Fon to take her crime-fighting act to California. Having already rescued the snow-loving boarders of British Columbia from the diabolical lord of lame music, she is planning the rescue of the surf-loving boarders along the Golden coast. A superheroes job is never done. So goodnight, and until next week remember, Fon Fon says, “Glamour, glamour, glamour!!!!!!”