This is in reference to the scene in NEW BLOOD
#29 where Chot and Shenshen talk about herbs. I think
I was as taken by surprise as Shenshen was when Chot
said. "None of it smells as nice as you... Shenshen..."
He caught her totally off guard. Could they be headed
for Recognition? We must remember though that Go-Backs
usually don't bother with Recognition. It could
be he just fancies her and is trying to find the courage
to tell her. There is the old saying that opposites do
attract. This might apply here, and it might not be a
case of Recognition at all. After all, Redlance and
Nightfall chose, and weren't struck with "soul meets
soul when eyes meet eyes." Imagine a throwback Go-Back
lovesick for the snotty former midwife of the
Sunfolk... But no matter what happens, keep your eyes
peeled and keep turning those pages. I think we're all
going to be surprised concerning these two!
Melinda Lea Wilson
<<street address removed from archive>>
Ahhhh... does this scene seem familiar?
Pale-skinned bad-mannered barbarian goes after bitchy
(sometimes) unwilling brown-skinned bimbo... Yes,
my dear friends, history does repeat itself.
Well, I hope you've had fun playing with your fellowship's minds. You did send Chot on a quest - and you even managed to do it without making him leave the Holt! Chot and the Quest to Capture the Bimbo. Whoopie! You've really got to give Shenshen a better attitude - and cure Chot of this ghastly infatuation.
Now don't get me wrong - I have no problem with a little affection - not even when the bimbo's involved. But please. Chot?! Of all the nasty tricks to play on your readers!
Could this be the same Chot that tried to off Kahvi for the Little Palace? The same Chot that was going to usurp Zey's chieftainship? The same Chot that disdained the "soft" Sun Folk? For Freefoot's sake, who wrote this bit in? The Chot I remember would never - never - have gone all mushy and blurted, "None of it smells as nice as you, Shenshen." Arrrrgh!!! indeed!
However, I'm done complaining now. Barry's art is fantastic! At first I was wondering, but it's getting better with every issue. Chot and Yun are the only characters that don't quite ring true for me.
Yun - I don't know, well, I vaguely remember her face having more cheekbone and less cheek.
Chot - Barry's character somehow seems a bit different from Wendy's. He lost the "I am Go-Back, hear me roar!" thing somewhere in issue #20. That ridiculous dance. But something's come back to the art now. On page 12, panel 2 - the same panel where he turns into a romance-gushing idiot and spouts the aforementioned statement - Barry got him there. That's Chot. Pure and simple. Facial expression, the eyes, bone structure, hair - they all balance out. Finally!
By the way, are the New Blood ever going to get new outfits? Most of the clothing is annoyingly the same lately.
You people are addictive - my parents are threatening to send me to a psychiatrist to help me with my Elfquest obsession.
But please, please, please - so I lied - why did he have to fall for the bimbo?!
Missu Johnson
<<street address removed from archive>>
Okay, I know when I'm beaten. It's when I
save a particular book to read last out of my triweekly
batch. New Blood reached that status a few issues ago
but I've been too embarrassed to admit it because
when I first wrote about Barry's work I hated his guts
and now I think he's an effin' god, right up there with
Katsuhiro Otomo and Masamune Shirow and Mike
Grell and P. Craig Russell and Mike Kaluta and Howard
Chaykin and Charles Dana Gibson and Frank Miller
and the Brothers Hernandez and John J. Muth and oh
yes, let's not forget Wendy Pini. Steve Blevins is about
at Archangelhood.
Barry, If you're the one doing the scripting, you should think about branching out into prose. Those panel headers were positively eloquent (yes, yes, I know, Richard already writes prose). (Thank you so much - me and Cyrano... - RP) And good job in setting up new plot threads (in weaving it would be called "warping the loom"), I can hardly wait for the denouement. (Quick, use the word denouement in a sentence. One that makes sense, preferably.)
"I dunno. What do you want to do..." Dammit, you made me laugh right out loud! That's from my favorite old cult classic Wizards, I just know it is. (Hey, it goes back further than that! Brownie points for the original source. - RP)
Three panels of romance was not enough. Awwwww, gee, it was really sweet and all that, and I know it's good storytelling sense to spin it out like that, but I can't help wishing that Shenshen hadn't run away! Unless... you know, that look on her face was a dadblamed mirror to the look on Leetah's face the first time she locked eyes with Cutter...
Hey Richard! Why is the Gaijin installment not there?
Mari Hersh-Tudor
<<street address removed from archive>>
Well, you see, I've got X number of pages to
play with each month and Y number of things to put
into them, and generally Y is greater than X. Editorially,
I'm that guy who's got 6 bowling balls, 3 chain
saws, 4 sticks of dynamite, and a mating pair of
porcupines juggling all up in the air at once, and have
to make it look like it's all supposed to be just fine.
There are still three or four days left to the Japan trip,
and I certainly want to talk about the Ginza, the side
trip to Kyoto, the other side trip to Osamu Tezuka's
home town of Takarazuka, and the difference between
a Big Mac value meal in Poughkeepsie and a
Big Mac value mean in Tokyo. (Hint - none.) Keep
those letters and bouquets coming in, and we'll see
you in 30! - RP