Lettercol lettercol lettercol. Here we go, first off with the text from the print edition…
First up, apologies to inkmaster Wade von Grawbadger, whose name was inadvertently left off last month’s cover. And a hearty welcome to Peter Pantazis, on his first trip to our fair city, as he steps in for Alex Sinclair and Wendy Broome, both of whom were too tangled up in deadlines to manage this story. Sorry, Wade. Yo, Pete!
And on that elegant note, time for the Letter of the Month. This month, it’s from:
KEVIN SEAN MAHONEY
I haven’t written in for a few months, but I haven’t missed an issue. I bought #27 the day it came out, and while I enjoyed it on its own, it synergized (can I use that word non-corporately?) with #25 to the point that they both got stuck in my head and forced me to write you again.
Those issues have a lot in common, on the surface. There are two female protagonists making tough choices. Each issue features guest spots by Honor Guard. There are two reality bending crises. Both stories have a mother daughter component to them. And of course each issue has a guest artist.
But there are plenty of differences too. The Hummingbird story really gives the reader a bird’s eye view (ugh!) of her whole life, where she’s come from and where she’s going. The Chibi story really is about one day, though it does reveal the past and sets up a new future for a couple of characters. The progression of the Hummingbird story focuses in more on how she relates to her heroic cohorts, thus she feels more complete and real. The Chibi story almost has that unreliable narrator feel, where her realizations are almost more important than the plot, but she doesn’t gain her emotional reality until the story’s close. The art in each issue couldn’t be more different. Mr. Merino has a similar look and feel to Brent, which helps sell the multi-era tale. Mr. Infurnari’s scenes set in the real world just jarred too much. The Chibi-verse looked great, as did the last couple of pages, but those first ten or so pages just didn’t sit right. If that’s his regular style and not a choice meant to evoke contrast with the other world, I guess I just didn’t like it. But I’m a story over art type of guy anyway, so it’s bearable because…
You made me cry, Kurt. Both times. Twice in three months. Dammit. Admittedly, there are certain tropes I’m a sucker for. Give me caring women sacrificing for a real goal and I’m a soft target. Combine that with young kids doing the right thing and I’m useless. I am sure it’s part of getting older and having nieces and godchildren in my life, hoping for them and helping them become good strong people, but when you hit that idea just right…well, I guess I had something in my eye. Yeah, I guess I’ll have to go with that.
So we get a story about Wolfspider next month? Cool. Was that story rescheduled? I want to say I saw a previews for it or something similar ages ago.
Always happy to make readers cry, Kevin—though I will say I doubt we could have done it without the tone set by Joe Infurnari’s nuanced character portrayals. I thought he brought the story to life beautifully. But to each their own. And no, this is our first time scheduling a Wolfspider story.
So you know the drill: E-mail. Mailing address. Signed copy. To you. Badaboom!
And boom chakka lakka boom, there’s more…
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