Dreaming aloud as a dynamic duo
She settled on a 240-page, spiral-bound notebook and a five-pack of blue pens. She declined to decorate said notebook with stickers, or any other kind of affectation, because that would defeat its purpose. The book, she insisted, wasn't about presentation but imagination - it was a place in which her ideas could roam free, unfettered, without the restrictions of being marked or following sentence structure or even logical, coherent thought. The notebook and pens were for dreaming aloud.
As foreshadowed, LJ has decided it's time to move on from her Saturday morning epics and into the realm of prose. Toys simply don't cut it for her anymore; her ideas are too big to be encapsulated by chibis and minifigs. Ironclad, Sunburst and their peers need - nay, deserve - the unlimited special effects budget that comes with writing and drawing. Now is the perfect time to make the change. So too do LJ's other ideas... her burgeoning ranks of non-super hero stories... warrant chronicling.
Rest assured that, even in notebooks, her adventures will continue. Sunburst is destined to meet Millicent, a time-traveling juvenile delinquent determined to make the Last Daughter of Krypton "relax and unclench" while proving "the greatest hero of all history" has feet of clay "just like anyone else". Their chronology-bending adventure will not only serve as an update on the classic Superman/Mister Mxyzptlk dynamic, but also tie back in to one of LJ's earlier triumphs.
SHIELD, now run by Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, will be attacked by a lithe female assassin. Recognising her moves as the product of the infamous "Red Room", Steve will call the Black Widow in to investigate. Assisted by Shield Maiden, the semi-retired Avenger will discover those who created her are back in business... and, in shutting them down, will inherit a new generation of Widows to rescue, train and repurpose as an elite fighting force on the side of right.
Tony Stark, the Mayor of Super Hero City, will receive an invitation to an inventor's conference. Ironclad, suddenly bereft of projects, will grudgingly accompany him. Together they will discover the conference is for evil inventors, specifically those who serve as mad scientist lackeys for the big villains of the world! The armoured heroes will have to fight their way out of a convention centre filled to the brim with the craziest gadgets ever devised - most of them malfunctioning in even more lethal ways!
The tragedy of Damien, son of Batman, will be explored. As Robin, he watched his father give his life to save an innocent couple and their child from the Joker; the villain sought to break Batman's spirit by re-creating his origin. When the police arrived, they found the family safe, Batman dead... and the Joker with a Batarang buried in his head. Now the criminal element fears Damien, the "new Bat" who is prepared to kill. But is all as it seems? The heroes must discover whether their friend truly has gone rogue...
And, in the most shocking development of all, Thanos will finally escape his Oan sciencell... murdering Kilowog in the process! A quirk of fate will have freed the Mad Titan; Mysterio, the dimension-jumping master illusionist, crossed his path while escaping his own incarceration and must now serve the powerful being! It will fall to the heroes to stop Thanos' dream of galactic genocide. Fortunately, they will have a brand-new web-slinging ally on their side who is keen to stick around and fulfill his responsibilities.
Will I miss Saturday morning playtime? Yes and no. Like LJ, I recognise it was no longer as fulfilling for her as it had once been. Her occasional frustration with my write-ups was another factor; she'd want emphasis on moments or lines of dialogue I'd not prioritised. And we've been having even more fun together through new shared pursuits, like video gaming, than we were lately rolling around on the floor with toys. This is a really great moment, in her life and our relationship, to step up and move on to bigger things. As dynamic duos do.
But I'm so damn grateful for every single second of every single Saturday morning for the past seven years. Living in LJ's world has been a privilege and the best fun a Daddy could ask for. Thanks, kiddo, for letting me dream aloud with you.
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF
As foreshadowed, LJ has decided it's time to move on from her Saturday morning epics and into the realm of prose. Toys simply don't cut it for her anymore; her ideas are too big to be encapsulated by chibis and minifigs. Ironclad, Sunburst and their peers need - nay, deserve - the unlimited special effects budget that comes with writing and drawing. Now is the perfect time to make the change. So too do LJ's other ideas... her burgeoning ranks of non-super hero stories... warrant chronicling.
Rest assured that, even in notebooks, her adventures will continue. Sunburst is destined to meet Millicent, a time-traveling juvenile delinquent determined to make the Last Daughter of Krypton "relax and unclench" while proving "the greatest hero of all history" has feet of clay "just like anyone else". Their chronology-bending adventure will not only serve as an update on the classic Superman/Mister Mxyzptlk dynamic, but also tie back in to one of LJ's earlier triumphs.
SHIELD, now run by Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, will be attacked by a lithe female assassin. Recognising her moves as the product of the infamous "Red Room", Steve will call the Black Widow in to investigate. Assisted by Shield Maiden, the semi-retired Avenger will discover those who created her are back in business... and, in shutting them down, will inherit a new generation of Widows to rescue, train and repurpose as an elite fighting force on the side of right.
Tony Stark, the Mayor of Super Hero City, will receive an invitation to an inventor's conference. Ironclad, suddenly bereft of projects, will grudgingly accompany him. Together they will discover the conference is for evil inventors, specifically those who serve as mad scientist lackeys for the big villains of the world! The armoured heroes will have to fight their way out of a convention centre filled to the brim with the craziest gadgets ever devised - most of them malfunctioning in even more lethal ways!
The tragedy of Damien, son of Batman, will be explored. As Robin, he watched his father give his life to save an innocent couple and their child from the Joker; the villain sought to break Batman's spirit by re-creating his origin. When the police arrived, they found the family safe, Batman dead... and the Joker with a Batarang buried in his head. Now the criminal element fears Damien, the "new Bat" who is prepared to kill. But is all as it seems? The heroes must discover whether their friend truly has gone rogue...
And, in the most shocking development of all, Thanos will finally escape his Oan sciencell... murdering Kilowog in the process! A quirk of fate will have freed the Mad Titan; Mysterio, the dimension-jumping master illusionist, crossed his path while escaping his own incarceration and must now serve the powerful being! It will fall to the heroes to stop Thanos' dream of galactic genocide. Fortunately, they will have a brand-new web-slinging ally on their side who is keen to stick around and fulfill his responsibilities.
Will I miss Saturday morning playtime? Yes and no. Like LJ, I recognise it was no longer as fulfilling for her as it had once been. Her occasional frustration with my write-ups was another factor; she'd want emphasis on moments or lines of dialogue I'd not prioritised. And we've been having even more fun together through new shared pursuits, like video gaming, than we were lately rolling around on the floor with toys. This is a really great moment, in her life and our relationship, to step up and move on to bigger things. As dynamic duos do.
But I'm so damn grateful for every single second of every single Saturday morning for the past seven years. Living in LJ's world has been a privilege and the best fun a Daddy could ask for. Thanks, kiddo, for letting me dream aloud with you.
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF